Cracked Carbon Mast

Hi Miles,

The C100 is quite a strong mast and I am surprised you were able to break it. Generally the best way to discuss these these things through your dealer or local distributor. I'd love to know more given the age, as it is very uncharacteristic of this mast.

I'll send you a DM to discuss if you wouldn't mind.

Kind regards,

JB

I cracked two carbon masts, but it was in the early experimental days.

- On one the outer layers delaminated on the mast, peeling away.

- On the other, cracks appeared at the brass nuts in the tuttle head. Carbon is very sensitive to junctions with other materials or sharp angles. Nowadays the design of the ends of carbon masts seem to have reduced a lot this risk.

Carbon is strong in general, but VERY weak in face of repetitive stress or hits on hard objects (E.g. Titanic submarine :-) ). I would avoid stressing (flexing) a carbon mast as much as possible, as you kind of eat away its life expectancy in an undetectable way.

See all things that can degrade carbon fibers:
carbonfibergear.com/blogs/carbonfiber/carbon-fiber-durability

carbon fiber is stronger and stiffer than aluminum. But material is only 1/3 of the story, along with design and manufacturing. Looks like this mast suffered from compression failure due to large bending moment. You can see the fibers buckled. Carbon isn't as strong in compression as it is in tension, but it's still stronger than aluminum, if adequate wall thickness. Here's a blog entry I wrote about the use of composite materials in foil masts if you'd like to better understand the technical details: projectcedrus.com/general/solid-mechanics-composites-101/

Big shout to JB and Naish. A replacement under warranty was agreed in less than 48 hours after JB posted on this thread.

After sending proof of purchase and a few more pics of the mast (incl serial number) a new one was shipped out straight away.

I've been with Naish since the start of my foiling journey and they have always stood by their products and any issues have always been sorted quickly. In a fast growing sport where we the consumer are often the guinea pigs it's good to know!

Naish is very attentive to its customers and are liberal about their warranties. I find them reputable and dependable