Author Topic: Looking for a way to mount a foil mast plate 2-4" forward of current mast tracks  (Read 4201 times)

SUPeter

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Having recently completed a downwinder foil board, 8' x 20" x 6", I am thinking of trying different mast positions which would necessitate me either putting more mast tracks further forward or.... creating a strong adapter which would utilize the current mast tracks and allow a further forward mast placement.
My current set-up works well but my curiosity is piqued. My current mast track construction is absolutely bomb-proof as well as the area in front of mast track box.  I am not concerned with having the two rear bolts in my current boxes and the two forward bolts in a strong carbon fiber/Innegra extension plate. 
Any body out there have any experience in doing such a thing, or as usual, Ill just overbuild something and wing it. I really do not want to cut into this new board to just experiment with different positions.


burchas

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There is a product on the market designed for that. Can't remember the name of it
James Casey was giving an in-depth review of it in one of his podcast so should be easy to find.
in progress...

JohnnyTsunami

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You could just get a 1/4” g10 plate and cut it to size. Drill holes for the bolts in the rear and a slot for the front bolts for the tracks and countersink the front holes so the mast plate can sit flat on it. Then you could thread the g10 to accept the m8 in the front. Thread like metal and then wax the bolt and epoxy the bolts in to make the threads perfect - then remove the bolts. Regular threading g10 isn’t amazing especially thin stuff since the layers like to separate, hence the step at the end.

Haven’t done this.

I HAVE drilled plenty of holes into aluminum base plates to get them to work. You don’t need the full length. I think drilling into carbon would be just fine as well since it’s solid carbon but a bit hairier - maybe use a dremel  instead of a drill bit? I would do this instead of the plate since the plate would be adding zero advantage over this and just add weight and complexity.

I did this in 4’6” boards with footstraps that were maxed out. You have an 8’ board - why are you worried about moving 2-4” ?

clay

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I rode 8+ foot foil boards for several years and found that mast placement made a huge difference.

An extension plate sounds like putting a pipe on the end of a wrench, and then wondering why the boxes ripped out of the board so easily and being stuck 2 miles offshore.

I put a second set of boxes in several boards, even some of the second box installs were lazily done (we didn't know what would work back then), seems like spreading the load over 4 boxes allowed us to get by with just setting the second set into weak foam.
Aloha, I welcome and appreciate all responses of positivity and good feeling.

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surfcowboy

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DM me or hit up ElFoilLoco on Instagram. He makes them out of aluminum stock.  They work great.

Clay, the pressure is on the front which is braced by the bottom when you press down on a pump so the force is actually distributed over more area, not less. There's very little pressure peeling back unless you hit a rock or bottom which is rare off shore. I've ridden them a few times. We have no reports of blown boxes.

Dontsink

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A Barracuda ancestor:


exiled

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Looks like he was out there trolling for Cthulhu

SUPeter

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Thank you all for the great responses.  I will carefully experiment with a plate ( Carbon/Innegra) .  I agree with the comment that the cantilevered forces will be pressing down on the area forward of the boxes. I currently have 3 Carbon arrow shafts covered with carbon cloth , Innegra and glass in this area.  The boxes themselves are placed within a carbon box, with carbon skeleton and attached to the hull and deck with carbon tubes. I think I can get away with the the type of forces being applied.  If after experimentation I end up liking the setup, I will consider putting boxes in if needed.

surfcowboy

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Peter, one note. These adapters that we're using are 1/2" thick aluminum. So they are seriously beefy. Are you thinking you'll forge carbon or what? Not doubting just curious as you have really creative carbon skills.

PonoBill

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This does sound like an opportunity to use forged carbon, though it's simple enough and strong enough to make a laid-up carbon plate for a mast plate extension or just use 1/4" aluminum plate. I'd make the plate twice the length of the mast plate. Drill and countersink holes for two 8M screws with countersunk heads at the front of the plate to attach the front of the mast plate with the screws going up through the mast plate and attaching with nuts. It would be nice, but not necessary to use countersink washers to match the mast base holes. The rear holes in the mast base get attached to the tracks as usual through holes drilled in the plate, then the rear of the adapter plate attaches to the tracks as usual. A plate with the extension section as long as the tracks would be marginally stronger but wouldn't be adjustable unless you drill additional holes to use shorter sections of the plate.

It would work fine as long as the bottom of the board is strong enough to handle the pressure--most boards would be. And if you hit anything the result could be very ugly--or just a bent or shattered adapter plate. I wouldn't go much further than I wanted to belly crawl back from.

A more permanent solution is another track set or replacing the current track with the long chinook tracks. All this is fairly obvious, I'm just writing what I'm thinking to clarify how I'd build it for myself.
« Last Edit: August 11, 2022, 07:38:30 AM by PonoBill »
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

 


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