Just thought I'd post a quick review of the new Neil Pryde X6 RDM masts. Sam (from Windsurf and Snow in Sydney) was nice enough to let me take a 430 X6 RDM out to test.
I used it on an '09 NP Alpha with an X9 boom... in a nutshell I like it!
From my observations I would say this is a no brainer for lighter sailors, especially if you have any of the recent Neil Pryde sails that will work with XCombat Masts. The Mast did feel a bit softer then last years X6 SDM (but then again I do weight about 110 kgs). However, the sail seems to gain a bit more range with the new X6 RDM masts. Given that there is only a small price difference between the RDM and SDM masts I would recommend anyone interested in a good value RDM wave mast to take the X6 into consideration.
Fair enough it's not quite as performance oriented as the XCombat but then again it's also a few hundred dollars cheaper.
I now know why Sam happily let me test the X6 RDM... he very well knew I would end up buying it anyway. I am not giving this one back for sure... as Charlton Heston said: "you'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands".
I thought about this mast vs the Powerex 85% RDM. Roughly the same price. However I haven't bought either so far as I was really unimpressed by the staff at the shop, don't really want skinny jean/moon boot wearing kiters telling me what mast to buy.
Appart from that it seems that the X6 RDM's warranty doesn't cover it in waves (seems rather retarded to me) can you confirm whether or not this is the case? The Powerex is covered in the waves according to their warranty page on their website, thou no idea how easy/hard it is to claim.
Eitherway, I'm probably gonna pick up an RDM mast sometime over summer, definately open for other suggestions as well... possibly Ezzy, or Loft? GUN masts maybe? Sails are a 5.9 North Duke, and 5.3 Naish Force... not the most compatible of sails I think, but I mainly want the RDM for the 5.3 Force.
p.s. North and Naish RDM's from what I have seen are way out of my budget, closer to $900 then $600.
I picked up a Gun Cross 430 65% RDM last year for my Loft Lip Wave 5.2 and NP Combat 4.7. I have been maxxed out with both sails both on flat water (Sandy Point 
) and in heavy swell (can't call Port Philip Bay a wave spot) and found the mast really nice. The 2yr warrenty and $600 were the main factors.
from the powerex website:
"The Wave 60 is the only Standard diameter mast eligible for replacement if broken in surf conditions. Any RDM mast broken in surf conditions is eligible for replacement."
Seems that powerex do?
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10741 <<thats some reference as well.
Would be interested to see what industry standard is thou, haven't really spent the time to go around and read all the manufacturers info.
I haven't personally used Powerex masts but know a guy here in Sydney who has. I have had a chat with him the other day and seem to remember that mentioned he went through about 15 masts in a season. Yes, they did replace every single one of them. But in the end he got tired of swimming all the time...
... this was a while back mind you. I am finding that these days the quality of brands can change quite dramatically from season to season. Take Neil Pryde for example. A few years back I they had some real problems with their performance X9 racing masts. Yet I still have a couple of X5 masts from around 2000 that are still going strong.
Apparently Neil Pryde has just shifted their mast production back to their own factory in order to keep a closer eye on quality. I have also heard that the new Neil Pryde pre-production masts get tested for at least 100 hrs on the water in Maui first before they go into production. I guess at the end of the day no company wants their products to continuously fail. Not much profit in warranty claims.
Re industry standards I think this is down to the distributor in each country. without naming names here some are certainly better than others.
I remember when I used to live in Germany I only used Sunshine booms... this was back in 1997. They trusted their products so much that they replaced any broken boom no questions asked. I used them for about 5 years and they sure replaced every single broken boom and extension... then I discovered Chinook.
of course these days carbon booms rule the world...
