I have recently retrofited the Maui front end onto 1 of my carbon boom with good results.
The kit comes with 2 sets of shims to suit your existing boom dia. and is an easy task to fit.
I have used it a couple of times now with both sdm and with rdm masts and its seems to be a very secure attachment much better than any front end I have had in the past. The unit itself is slightly more bulky than a Pryde or a Chinook but thats not an issue.
I did this mod on a cheapo carbon slalom boom years ago and it's still going strong and working great.
Of course the diameter of my boom was in between the supplied shims so I put a few layers of glass on to build it up to the right size.
Same here, fitted the MS boom head to two fiberspars and a HPL formula boom. Made a big difference, no more slipping boom and feels rock solid. In the UK, the MS boom head kit is ?125. I did not buy the kit, I bought two secondhand MS alloy Wave booms for about ?50 each on ebay, and the third was a special offer brand new wave alloy boom for ?85. Simply removed the boom heads on re-fitted. But I did have to get the shims for Fiberspars from Barry Spaner. He sent them free to me. Worth while upgrade.
How to retro fit:http://www.calema.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=67
I've put them on all sorts of booms from NP's to Point-7 booms. They are by far the best head on the market and actually can make a soft carbon boom suddenly feel very stiff, as a lot of the play in the boom when you pump your sail can come from the head being soft.
On some booms like the P7 ones which don't have an oversized diameter at the head section, I just wrapped a few layers of duct tape around the front section and put the MS head over the top. Have run that for 18 months without a worry :-)
Bought a couple of Maui Boom front ends as well fitted them to my generic autima carbon booms and the transformation was amazing the booms felt heaps stiffer straight away just goes to show how much of the flex was coming from the old boom heads.
I purchased mine direct from Maui sails online store great price quick service, you could also try Remi at the Windsurfing Shed but I dont see any listed on his page so he may or may not have them.
I've used the Maui Sails boom head to transform my HPL booms from average to really good booms. www.isthmussailboards.com was a good choice as the boom heads are not available in Japan. If you have a chance to buy them local, do it. The service is worth extra money.
The only down I faced was when I tried to the MS boom head on a ProLimit boom, because they do have a slim diameter like the P7 booms. (All made by Aeron sports.)
The new Aeron boom head is also very good and fits perfectly. I would recommend looking into them, cheaper and similar performance.
~Shinobi
The Mauisails front ends are indeed in stock.
They retail for the same amount as in the US I believe.
Best to wrap a few layers of fiberglass if the tube is too small as duct tape (or any other tape) will compress and become the weak point of the assembly overtime.
MTB Tyre innertube also works well as a home made shim if you don't fancy putting a layer of carbon or fiberglass on your boom. Doing it this way means that you put the original clamp back on if you sell the boom at a later date, and keep the MS clamp for your new boom, just a thought:)
