A friend had his rig and board separate in the impact zone recently, which got me thinking about my longstanding choice in mast feet and how it would be a good topic for the Peconic Puffin to tackle (or muck up.) Let us sing the praises of the two-bolt mastfoot, which I believe to be superior to the one bolt mastfoot without exception or qualification. There have been plenty of debates on the topic (and as a gearhead I have followed them all) but I believe there is a clear answer that is right for everybody. (I must be a jerk to believe that, yes? So if you're playing at home, please reply with why I'm wrong ASAP so I can learn something.)
Anyhow here is my reasoning:
1. (The big one.) A two-bolt uni is far less likely to separate from the board than a one bolt. The first time I saw rig separation I was a mile from shore, sailing about 100 yards behind a friend in 4.0 conditions in heavy chop. All of a sudden he was sinking...I thought "what a lull!" (He was on a sinker). But actually his board had shot out from beneath him when his mastfoot slipped out of the track. A gust picked up his board and tossed it 50 feet downwind, from where it proceeded to continue away from him. Fortunately I was there to sail to his board and stop its escape. Most single bolt slip-outs can be blamed on the sailor (didn't tighten the mastfoot enough, didn't wash out sand that was holding the foot in place giving the illusion of a tight fit etc) but...do you want to blame or do you want to keep your rig attached to your board? There is also the rare breakage of the mast track nut (I had an industry rep once tell me "it never happens". I told him my story of the nut from my WSH mast foot cracking in half (happily I was on the beach.) With two bolts, if you've somehow failed to tighten the thing and one of the bolts somehow manages to slide out your rig will still be attached, and you'll notice the flopping long before its possible for the second nut to slide out.
2. You don't have to remove the mast foot in order to roof rack or bag the board. Just pop out the uni joint and leave your mast foot where it's presumably dialed in for the board. Speaking of which,
3. The two-bolt mast foot does not limit your useful mast track range. How can I say this when the two-bolters most definitely limit the extreme forward and backward range? Here's how: I was lucky enough to have a conversation with Peter Thommen, master board builder (Bjorn Dunkerbeck's board builder in Bjorn's heyday) about mast tracks and the proper position to set the foot of a mast track. Thommen said that mast tracks offer way more range than anyone should use, that they are as long as they are because they need a long mast track so there's enough material to attach the thing strongly to the board. He said for any given windsurfer on a given board there's only about 3 cm range of mast track adjustment that benefits the board and rider no matter what sail is used on it, and that board designers center the mast track around that ideal area for an average sized windsurfer. I found this a revelation at the time. Thommen continued "so if you ever are out on the water and find the board seems to be sailing in perfect balance, mark that spot, and never move the uni more than 3 cm in any direction from it." If he's right (and having played with this for years since that conversation I believe he is) then all any of us need is about an inch and a half of range. Unless you find that you own a board that is only dialed in when the mast foot is jammed all the way forward (or all the way back) for one sail (in which case if this theory is true then all your sails should be rigged way forward or way back on that board) there's no reason to need all that range. For myself, I own two boards that I sail a lot of sails on ("Candy 77"...a 77 liter freestyle wave, I sail from 3.4 to 5.5, and "Calamity Too" a 109 liter freestyle board that I've sailed 5.0-7.0) I've been able to dial in with two bolt mast tracks.
4. If you own several boards, you can own many mast feet bases but fewer unis. We have 6 boards total (all with two bolt bases) but half as many unis. The newest uni is reserved for wave sailing, the oldest for nonplaning freestyle in the creek, and a "middle" uni for any non-wave sailing (if the Mrs. and I are sailing together she gets the wave uni because NOTHING IS TOO GOOD FOR MY WIFE!)
I know two people who were rescued by boats a mile from shore due to rig separation...they could not swim fast enough to catch their boards as they blew downwind. That will always underscore for me the best reason to choose two bolts over one.
(Photo: A Chinook two-bolt mast base. This one features a rubber U-joint. I prefer the tendon...some other folks opt for the mechanical joint.)
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