Until about 18:45 last night I had a Neil Pryde UJ that I bought in February brand new.
It's been sailed a fair bit at the end of last season, and the beginning of this one, but last night the bastard snapped clean off, taking with it both pieces of back-up string and I went for a swim!
It's not like I wave sail or give my UJ exceptional punishment. I do some freestyle, and some jumping, but nothing seriously stressful. I seriously do not expect a UJ to die that early in it's life.
Anyone else had this problem, or am I just unlucky? Also, anyone got any thoughts on a replacement brand? Not overly happy about getting another Pryde one....
Uni's dont last forever. They are the most important part of your kit. As they are fairly cheap to buy i would recomend replacing them at the begining of every season. i keep the old one as a spare. Replacing a uni joint is just running cost of windsurfing. I would rather spend the $'s every season to replace it.
Think about it when you are sailing your uni is doing sh%t loads of work.
My 2 cents
I agree, but this UJ has done less than a season's sailing! It got sailed for Feb and March, then nothing until September, a bit of October and virtually nothing in November (no wind!)...
Yeah, if it was over a season old then I'd take it, but given the lack of abuse it gets and the fact it's had probably 30 sessions on the water, I'm pretty p1ssed at it.
Was it tendon:
Or, was it boge:
I do not use tendon joints at all. I had one break after 5-6 months of limited use. If your base had a tendon joint, and the tendon lasted from February to now, that sounds about a tendons life span. This has nothing to do with brand, just how tendons are...
Yup, it was a tendon.
Seriously, that's how long these things last? It's my first tendon UJ - previously I've used a plastic mechanical UJ (old-style, but never any issues after lots of hard sailing) and the thick rubber ones that I think are the boge you're on about. Will def go back to boge - I'm not paying good money for something that's going to fail on me after just a few months!
Thanks for your help...
PS - why would anyone use a tendon joint if that's how short their lifespans are???
One thing that amuses me is that you call yourself FlickySpinny and are surprised your UJ didn't last a season.
I use the Boge type as well and doesn't even look close to breaking yet. Bought it in Nov last year so a season old. I'll probably wait until it breaks before I buy another. Could be a while.
This did occur to me too, but this is the first UJ I've snapped since 2001, and even though I freestyle, I don't reckon the loads are anything like what the wave sailors and big jumpers put their kit through. Trying to find a boge now...
I'd say that was a bit of a short lifespan.. I've had one tendon (which was 2nd hand when I got it) go 18 months of sailing - freeride, mast and a half waves and general learners abuse before it developed a hairline crack on one side and I replaced it. That included being vigorously mauled by a several big waves that had a go at breaking MY tendons, never mind the gear!
On the flip side - one of the guys bought a new NP tendon base and had the double pin part fall to bits on him after only 2hrs of sailing.. So perhaps NP quality isn't what it could be? 
I wash the base/extension/boom out in fresh water after every sail, and have a quick look over them for splits or damage maybe every 3 months.
Brand wise.. I think there are only 2 places that manufacture tendons globally, so you probably don't get much choice. I use the yellow tendons in my streamline bases, but that's only because that what the shop had.. I get the impression from comparing them side by side that the yellow ones are a bit tougher than the black ones.
Those reserve bit of string things rarely work.. Streamline bases are cast aluminium (not plastic like some other brands), and I use 400lb plastic coated stainless fishing trace as a backup 'string thing'. Hopefully that's enough if I ever need it!
Edit: You do know that you can just replace the tendon without replacing the whole base eh.... seems like a silly question, but it just occurred to me! About $40ish..
Hey 555...
I hadn't realised until today that you could just buy the tendon... but to be honest, I'm not happy having read another thread on here where loads of people said they broke theirs. I'll prob get another tendon and keep that base as a back-up (and wire it up as you suggest), and get one of the Chinook Boge bases as my primary.
Cheers!
I have an older NP tendon base '05ish and have done 4000km on it in the last year including some pretty big crashes. Bolts are a little more loose than they used to be but have just replaced the tendon (just to be safe, not due to splits) and still going strong.
I have 3 NP bases with tendons and I've used them for about 3-4 years now in all sorts of conditions. Some are getting a little loose and wobbly but no breakages...touch wood. 
Now that I have said that I think I'd better go out and replace them to test fate no further.
I think the one you had may have been faulty. With the tendons, if you have a close look while you flex them you can see excessive stress marks or the start of a shear.
I've been using the NP cup base and a Chinook extension (no dramas or loseness that I noticed), so changing to a Chinook base wouldn't be an issue.
The boges that I've had in the past have at least given some visual warning that they were about to go - splits, tears, etc, whereas from what I've read elsewhere the tendons give no warning - certainly fits with my experience.
Plus the webbing is a loads better on the boges than bits of string.
I'm talking to the shop this week anyway as my new RDM should arrive - will let you know what they say.
Can't believe there's so much opinion and differences - I thought I knew a lot about windsurfing... how quickly one can be proven wrong... :
the uj setup nebbian posted is tops, and if you want to go that one step further to minimise stuff that can break, exclude the chinook 2 bolt deck plate and put your old tendon type base on the bottom. Only one moving part and all bolted together.
Buy yourself a pice of 1m threaded stainless rod ($10) and just cut the lengths u need and superglue into the thread each time you bust a boge joint, which isn't often
My turn...
Snapped a euro pin today
Massive respect and thanks to the coppers and their boat - who conveniently appeared 5 minutes later took me back to where I launched
Presumed they only lasted X time with the flogging they get
I had the same prob with an NP tendon.. lucky for me it broke just as I stepped off the board at the beach. it was just over 12months old but it was replaced no probs and at no cost.
I was told that when NP changed their manufacturing facility they had some probs with quality control.. given all the other stories I hear, you'd have to wonder how often they change their facility!
I have a mix of other NP gear though, including the replacement tendon, and it's all been good so far! [touching wood, crossing fingers]
The fine print on my last one said you should bend the joint a full 90 deg all four directions to spot for splits starting. Seems lie a good idea to save the swim. It was a NP tendon type.
Hey Flicky,
At what point did the tendon break across the middle or at one of the attachment holes? I use both types of joints and havn't found the lifespan much different between the two. To check them properly you need to take the tendon completly out to check the holes for stress cracks. I use the genuine chinook tendon and the boge rubber, even if they don,t show any wear after 18 months I replace them. You should be ok with the warrenty on yours. Yours must of had one vulcan to many 
I had a black NP tendon lying around as a spare for years. I dragged it out a while ago and it was broken. It was fine when I put it away. I don't remember when I bought it but it didn't have a lot of use before I put it away.
The Streamlined (pink) tendons seem to be made of different stuff.
Mine snapped where the bolt goes through it to connect to the mast end.
Will have words with the co. that sold it today and see what they have to say for themselves.
There are tendons and then there are copycat's that just happen to use asimilar sized piece of rubber.
Get Streamlined or Chinook genuine tendons, I've had them last 3 seasons wavesailing.
As for the thin string, I dunno why they do that. Again the original system uses two bits of downhaul rope as failsafes not two bits of braided pussy fluff.
