RE this:
www.seabreeze.com.au/News/Windsurfing/North-SHOX-The-new-mast-base-system_2956795.aspx
60-80mm of travel.
Opinions?
I think it's a really interesting development. Certainly should work for slalom and free-ride. I'm a bit dubious about adding pop to Freestyle, mountain bike suspension doesn't make bunny-hopping any easier, quite the opposite (although now I think about it...). Dunno about waves.
makes sense that it would provide a smoother ride.
but give me an indestructible cup base any day 
thinking about it a bit harder.
when i rig up, what do i do with the 20mm difference.
do i downhaul my recommended length minus 20mm or just downhaul the recommended length. 
My first thoughts are what happens to constant MFP if your mast base is bouncing up and down.
You head over a bit of chop and your extension unloads the board and you lose MFP. Over powered on slalom kit and a springy mast base. Sounds like fun
I agree Bender, funny how racers of old wanted everything as solid as possible.
Haircut is right, a similar system came out from Chinook??? Don't know what the difference is apart from the north system looks a bit more compact than I remember. Might be alright for landing big jumps.
Well this may solve a problem, but not one I've ever had. Except perhaps when I had a solid uni joint. Using a tendon or Boge uni has always had enough shock absorption for me.
I can't help thinking this is simply stupid... maybe if you like to go slow in super slop and have really unpredictable board/mast pressure, then this is for you...
Would love to hear the opinion of some more speed freaks...
Waves??? Bouncing down the face???
In addition to above comments that I agree with:
I can see it is just another thing to clog with sand and jam up.
Doesn't matter how ofetn you wash stuff, leave it on the beach in 30kn with dry sand blowing around and I give it 5mins before it is stuffed.
i've still got parts from one here somewhere. it was buggered when i got it and i kept the tubing to fix my normal mast base in 2004. i'm sure it had a soft rubber cylinder for the suspension which had gone hard and brittle. the whole thing was heavy
I'd like to see what happens when the resonant frequency of your rig is the same as the chop you are sailing over...
it would be worth a try in the chop and see how it is.bet you they are dear considering just the power xt are up there.
yeah - good point about the mast foot pressure. I would imagine that you would loose pop in freestyle and waves as you want direct response, not a squishy slowed down rebound... hmm i think it feel like riding a cheap full suspension mountain bike - crap.
