Michigan Windsurfing

Windsurfing & Stand-Up Paddleboarding in Michigan

Rubber U joints usually begin to crack right at the thinnest part of the hourglass giving you some warning of the impending disaster.

This tendon just broke catastrophically last weekend with no indication that it was about to let go. Fortunately I was on shore when it exploded. I had been out sailing it the previous week!

The last one I had that broke let go at the bolt hole that passes through the base so it was inside the mount and I could not see it beginning to break!

Hey Brian used to be, Surfer don breaks more stuff than anyone, but that is because we do sail a lot! My motto is becoming I can jury rig almost anything now!

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Surfer Don,

I agree with you.  I keep an eye on the rubber hourglass and replace them occasionally.   I don't get the TOW that you get, but I guess the rubber just ages as well.  I prefer the rubber U-joint.

The tendons usually break through the hole - I'm surprised yours broke how it did.

BTW, I still break plenty of other stuff!

Brian ( Surfer Don Wanna-be)

Yes the first tendon that broke on me was at the hole, so now I occasionally take them apart and inspect for cracks,  of which I have found several so I immediately replace them and replacing any U-joint can be a chore!

Any guess how many hours ya think you got out of that tendon Don. Just curious on the life expectancy.

Not a lot of hours of actual use because I usually use a rubber hourglass but it has sat in my equipment box for a few years!

Continued,,, I stopped using tendons most of the time back a few years ago because they broke inside the cup where the bolt passes through them that holds them together and you could not see the cracks developing unless you took them apart. Rubber U-joints usually begin to crack at the skinny point on the hourglass and a quick visual will let you  know not to use it any more!

If the windcast holds up,, St. Clair will be good here this afternoon!!!

OK here is the second one! I bought this one new in Hatteras a few years ago as a spare replacement, threw it in my toolbox and there it has sat for the past 4 or 5 years untouched.

I used it to replace the one that broke on me last week for my beginner board. I set it up on the simulator and as soon as I attached the mast and put it down it snapped.  It has never gotten wet!

I guess laying in toolbox unused is not good for them either!

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Ok Don, you can't use hot dogs in place of tendons! It's just not the same thing! ;)
I'm kidding of course, but the black chinook tendons I hear are more durable. Carbon being the factor that makes them black and also the reason they last longer.

Ironic???? Sailing at Rondeau Bay today. A fellow windsurfer Keith Finney shows up to sail. Conditions this morning are very well powered 6.5. I have been sailing already for about an hour and a half when he gets in the water. I see him blast across the second time well upwind and then I don't see him again for at least half an hour, at this point I am thinking he is well powered and just tracked well upwind and I did not see him! I had a prepaid CPR class at 3 pm and had to cut, unfortunately but as I just finished packing my gear one of the other sailors came in and said to me Keith was on the other side broken down with a broken in half black U-joint. He had the broken one with him and was in to get another from Keith's vehicle and to sail it back across to him!!all went well after that!

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