Re: Broken Universal & Rescue (long)

From: Pierre St. Hilaire (pierre@interval.com-DeleteThis)
Date: Wed Jun 14 1995 - 10:52:16 PDT


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Date: Wed, 14 Jun 1995 10:52:16 -0700
To: wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis
From: pierre@interval.com-DeleteThis (Pierre St. Hilaire)
Subject: Re: Broken Universal & Rescue (long)


>> > I wonder if we could do some sort of a large survey, maybe thru
>> > "Windsurfing", on how many hours equipment lasts so we can replace it
>> > before it gets close to the -2 sigma breakdown time?
>>

I have found out that a thorough check on the equipment at the time of
rigging goes a long way towards avoiding equipment breakdown on the water.
Hang glider and sailplane pilots perform such a check at the beginning of
each flight for obvious reasons. I think that at sites such as 3rd Av one
should inspect his or her rig with the same attention that a hang glider
pilot does. Many breakdowns could be actually prevented by examining
critical parts such as the universal (bend it to see if any hairline cracks
are present, check if the nut is unscrewing), boom front end (corrosion,
cracks), clew, skeg saver (cracks), mast (cracks), lines, etc... Last year
while doing such a check I noticed two cracks forming on the plastic part
of my Nautix front end. This maybe saved me a long swim to shore.

                                                Pierre St Hilaire
                                                Interval Resesarch Corp



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