Hi Folks
I have just aquired an old Windsurfer SA Brand board and despite its age every thing is very good condition. Searching this site has given me a lot of useful information but I was hoping someone would be able to tell me how to attach the Boom to the mast.
There is a length of rope tied to the mast and I believe it is used to tie the boom to the mast but I understand it has to be done in a particular way and this is the info I am looking for.
Cheers
heres a test of the memory!
tie the rope to the mast in a secure fashion...possibly using a clove hitch or a prusik type hitch?
you should have a couple of hundred mills of rope hanging off the mast
lay the boom along the mast (i think the go was to have the back of the boom pointing towards the top of the mast?)
pass the end of the rope through 1 of the holes (should be 2 holes side by side?)
in the direction of away from the mast.
pass the rope back down the remaning hole in the opposite direction.
leave a slight gap in the rope where it intersects with the 2 holes so you can feed the remaining tail of the rope back under this gap/loop
pull tight by hand
slowly lower the boom down to the clew. this is the tricky bit, be carefull not top crush the mast as the levering of the boom effectively adds tention to the rope and thus compresses around the mast.
thread up the out haul and that should be it...
as i said this is from memory so i wouldnt be surprised if i have missed something but iam sure some one will chime in.
good luck!
good one snides, you've triggered this old brain.
I don't remember tying the rope to the mast, in all the heads I had there was an additional hole for the beginning of the rope, which just had a knot in the end, to stop it pulling thru.
So these clamps had a single hole at one side of the head, and 3 at the other side.
So the rope came from one side of the boom, wrapped round the mast about 3 X, went into the hole on the other side of the boom, that is closest to the mast. Loops thru one of the other holes, then out the 3rd hole and under the loop.
Think you could point the boom at either end of the mast, depends if you prefer the rope above or below the boom.
wave slave is the expert he used this style of head, right up until he went to the other side, only he used webbing not rope.
500 different boom heads from that era.......post a picture.
everything else is conjecture.
........( i have a car without a motor, what motor should i put in it?)
Hey Guys
Thanks for all your replies, yes I am on the lookout for a more modern boom.
echunda unfortunately the angle on the Hydrodynamic front fitting doesn't suit.
snides you were spot on what you said made perfect sense, the front fitting has two holes as you described, my only other question to you is should I loop the rope around the mast a couple of times before passing it under the loop between the holes.
Thanks again guys
ok photos
yes you can wrap the rope around the mast before puting back thru the loop but make sure you leave a little slack so you dont crush the mast.
there are 2 booms in these pics 1 a windsurfer brand circa early 80's and the other a bombora with the etra holes as decrep mentioned..tyronsea did these as well.
ohh and i recon DONT BUY A CLAMP ON HEAD FOR THIS!!!!!!! if you have original windsurfer branded gear of a particular era...dont ruin the set by buying a clamp on boom...bit like putting a hyundai motor in a monaro
...imo
Thanks for the photos snides, makes it very clear,
My main aim was to get the board up and going quickly (and cheaply) to give my teenagers a taste (me as well). Then if they are keen move on to something more modern. Hopefully it should be a nice stable board for them to learn on.
Cheers
yeah thats where i am at the moment, just getting the basics down on 20yo gear before i upgrade all my gear (maybe with the help of k-rud). just have not got the boom tying properly but then again what i do seems to work so ill keep with it. 
Great pics on old crappy boards (which I still sail in 13- knots).
Those pics are right: if you do it like this, the boom will be stiff, not loose.
Two important warnings though: firstly, make sure you don't make them too tight. Bring the boom to 90 degrees slowly and test it out. Make sure the boom is somewhat higher than the knot, but not too much. Else you break the mast, simple as that. Me broke a few in my days.
Second: the little black U-shape part is glued onto the hard plastic end of the boom, and tends to come out as it slides across the mast. Once it's lost (falls in the water), you're toast. I duck-tape mine so I can't lose it.
A lesser warning: sometimes tying like this makes the boom come loose again after 5-10 minutes sailing at first. If so, then come back to shore for a quick adjustement: undo the clew, pull the rope at the boom by about quarter-inch, and go back out again. Will be stiff for the next 2 hours after that.
Watch out for the stock Windsurfer masts as the one on the pic. There are 3 kinds of Windsurfer masts. The older ones are really brittle after all these years. The one on the pic is the spiral model - 1982 to 85 about. Then the red masts are way more solid - and heavy too.
All in all, said guy was right: do pick up clamp-ons. But if not, the instructions in this thread will allow for OK and inexpensive fun sailing still.
...imo
Just realised I'm missing the little U-Shaped fitting off the inside of the boom front fitting. I guess they will be pretty hard to come by.
Oh well
