windsurfer mase base foot

Question
Hi,

i have been given an old 80's windsurfer set up. The board has 2 holes rather than a slot to fit the mast into. The mast is a 'ten cate' single piece with a mast foot that slides into one of the holes in the board. By screwing a large plastic 'nut' at the top of the mast foot a rubber washer type affair expands keeping the mast foot in place. Though the rig had been stored for many years this mast foot still works ok, however there is  slight perishing to the rubber u/j. My question is are these mast feet or spare u/j's still obtainable? Could i fit a new design mast foot to the board if the old one does fail at some point?

Answer
Hey Paul,

You can get a replacement u-joint here;

http://www.chinooksailing.com/products/index.php?cPath=2_76

When changing the u-joint, be sure to apply some penetrant to the bolts/nuts on the old part. Let them soak overnight with extra applications during the wait time. There will either be a stud in the old u-joint with nuts holding the base parts on or a bolt with a lock washer. Use a strap wrench on the u-joint to hold it while wrenching off the bolt/nuts. You can also put the u-joint in a vise as it will not be used again. Grip the u-joint at the thickest part of the u-joint. There is a machined part that is like a spool with the rubber molded around the spool. The shaft of the spool is the threaded part and the wide part of the spool is what you can grip to with a vise or strap wrench. Removal of the nuts/bolts is pretty straight forward. If your system uses studs, you may need to use a double nut to remove the stud after you have gotten the nut off and the parts are removed.

When you are ready to reassemble the base, use some BLUE locktight on the threads to secure things. DO NOT USE RED locktight. Blue is removable, Red is almost permanant. If there were any washers, reuse them or replace them with similar. If you have to replace any nuts/bolts/studs, they are ALL metric. The new u-joint will be a METRIC thread. If you have nuts and want to replace them, get the nylock type nuts for extra security.

The key thing is be VERY careful to NOT damage or break any of the plastic parts. The top part can be replaced but the bottom part that goes into the board is NOT replacable. If it breaks or you lose it, your board becomes a Stand Up Paddle board. The part that goes into the board is exclusive to that board and a replacement will be next to impossible to find.

Hope this helps.
Keep on sailing,
Windlover