New Boom - to go monocoque, swaged or bolted

you should be able to pick up an alloy monococque fou under 300,,,
try a pro limit or aeron.


in my experience they perform better and last a lot longer than their bolted brother.


all of my bolted booms ALWAYS snapped on the bolt, life would be anywhere from 7mths to 14 mths,,, the weakest spot for sure as seawater gets in down the bolt and corrodes the alloy into butter

monocoques snap too so far; only had only one go though,, that one lasted 2.5yrs

I've had a great run from 'North' alloy booms
where the arms are glued, instead of bolted, on to the much thicker tube which runs thru the head

A mate had a alloy monococque break right on the bend near the head after only a few months use.
The tube on the break was less than 1mm wall thickness were it was stretched at the bend

My 200cm -250cm monocoque aluminium snapped only after 19 sessions (3 months old) at the head where the inner alum stiffener tube stops - manufacturer warrantied it immediately (much to the disappointment of the retailer - go figure that one) In fact the retailer commented that if he'd known how much I weighed (87kgs) and was going to use it with my big sail he wouldn't have sold it to me even though it was only at half it's max extension.

That said this boom was thinner diameter (29mm), very stiff and was the most comfortable boom I have sailed with. I have a carbon on order and bought a cheap ($150 on sale) 3 piece ali as a fill in until the carbon arrives. Sailing with it is really horrible as it flexes and twists like it's made out of rubber.

I had heard that the one-peice booms alleviate the corrosion issue (no bolts, no crevice corrosion or bi-metallic influence from SS bolts) but at the expense of strength - the alloy has to be a lot softer to form it into the tighter bends around the mast clamp, resulting in thinning of the tube at the bend. Also, not all of the strength can be recovered through post-bending heat treatment.

So fat guys like me can't get any of their gear covered by warranty anymore?
80kg recommended weight limit for a boom at only half extension is a bit rough Paul.

Not blaming you though, even the small print on my NP sails says "not to be used in more than 20kn" or 25kn or whatever (dependent upon size onbviously) and those are the wind strengths I'd start having fun with that size sail!!!!

As stated before I'd rather have the extra kilo in my sail and boom and have them last a few seasons not one or two.

Having said that I've never broken a boom? Trash them for 3 seasons and they're still fine, I only buy new ones cos I feel like something shiny.

lol ....... it is the reason I'll never buy carbon!!!!!

I get 3 yrs from a $300 boom. All my mates with carbon get 3 yrs out of a $1000 boom and it needs a new head or has a crack somewhere. Thus I get 9 yrs of trouble free sailing with no worries about "is it maybe cracked somewhere I can't see" for the same $$$ as a carbon.

I'm with Mark on that one, I have not yet seen the justification for me to shell out $800 - $1000 for a boom when my $300 alu lasts 3 or so years.

I know I wont get 9 years out of a carbon, the grip alone will be trashed in half that time and I am the sort of person that would rather buy a new one than bugger around with glue and grip etc...

But there are many who swear by them.

This is becoming a very interesting debate.
I have 3 booms (2 ali and 1 broken carbon...like you say Paul they all break)
One boom is ten plus years old (triple clamp Chinook) and use it up to 7.5mtr and I am currently using after breaking my carbon boom. Bought the carbon in March, broke it in October, and at 800-900 dollars that does become a tad hard to swallow as it would seem warranty is being dodged by the manufacturer, and suffice to say it did not have much use.
Yes it was a tail slide and resulting hard fall, but I have fallen just as hard or harder and have never broken a boom. Bent them and replaced arms yes, but never total destruction as has occured with carbon resulting in the need of full replacment.
What I did find in "my opinion" is that the 32mm diameter alluminum boom that I am now using does not feel that different to my carbon, given it is at 50% of max extension.

What I do find disturbing is the suggestion that larger sailors need to go carbon for extra strenght when it would seem the end result can be the same. From my observations, the average weight of the male sailing community would possibly be over 80kg (flame suit on here[}:)]), hence I would have thought the equipment would be pitched at this?
This is a report from the ABS
Over the four surveys conducted in the 15 years to 2004-05, the average self-reported weight of Australian men increased steadily from 77.4 kg in 1989-90 to 83.6 kg in 2004-05 (an overall increase of 6.2 kg). Across the age groups, the increases ranged from 3.5 kg (for 18-24 year olds) to 7.5 kg (for 35-44 year olds). The average height of men increased marginally over the same period, with the greatest increase (1.6 cm) occurring in the 25-34 years and 35-44 years age groups.
Given that this was 2005, it is fair to assume that this would have remained constant or that we may have followed the trend indicated and hence the "observation" I note.
Should not the equipment we use service the population in general?

My undersating of going to exotic material eg carbon was for increased performance from the product. Yes it could be argued that increased perfomance is longer life, I look a performance as result, not just in life span.

OK flame suit on zipped and ready

sausage,

mate that was the biggest stack i think i have witnessed!

Climber,

i am almost certain the boom you broke was the same brand that i use.

i am not saying that carbon booms don't break. i agree that any boom will break regardless of brand or construction and having a high speed hooked in crash will certainly accelerate that.

but it is a reality that some brands/shops/people recommend that heavy weights buy carbon. i myself haven't bought an aluminium boom in years so i am practicing what i preach.

there are other things to consider apart from sailor weight.
some of the other reasons i use carbon over ali.

1. you can run carbon booms on full extension without too much negative impact. an ali boom on full extension is waiting to explode. i have 2 booms that cover 4.7m to 8.5m and regularly run them on full extension. if i was using aluminium i would need 3 booms maybe even 4

2. no corrosion - i don't wash my gear

3. carbon booms are stiffer and stay stiffer longer. (that's the performance increase) especially in the bigger sizes which means a more stable sail. to me it is something i notice. that could be related to hanging 105 kg off the rig. if i use anything over 6.4m i would never consider aluminium.

that said i don't buy carbon booms that aren't mono construction or have thin arms. as i've broken them in the past. i also know lots of top sailers that use aluminium.