I’m currently riding the Cabrinha Gen-1 carbon mast (aka “the noodle”) with the HA-800 and 1000 foils. Living inland, I primarily use the 1000 for dock starting to catch passing wakesurf waves, and switch to the 800 for proper wake foiling or when I wing in Gulf waves during coastal trips.
I’ve gotten pretty dialed into the flex of the Gen-1 mast and it doesn’t bother me much, but after letting a friend try my setup, I realized how tough it can be for others to control.
Now, I’m wondering how much performance improvement there really is if I upgrade to the Gen-II hollow mast. If I’m spending the cash, would it be better to go all the way to something like the NL-V2 or Cedrus Evolution, especially to gain more brand flexibility? I’m 150 lbs, so I’m not particularly demanding on my gear. Any thoughts or experiences with this switch?
the Aluminum cedrus is FANTASTIC. I recomend you just grab a used one. I got mine for $150
It is super stiff and even if you hate the weight its a good way to decide how much of a role stiffness plays for YOU before you shell out for something more
I have a cab cedrus adapter i’ll ship you for free (just pay me back for shipping). DM me your address and i’ll send it this week.
I would only recommend Cedrus Evolution if you strongly want to ride multiple brands in a quiver since it costs $1800+. It takes more maintenance and care to clean out and prevent corrosion also but worthwhile if thats your intention. Don’t mind the extra maintenance anymore, it’s kind of a zen ritual to me in a way.
At 170 lbs and 900mm span wings, I have not yet felt any flex or vibrations on it. I was especially attentive to this in my last 2 sessions because there were some recent comments to the contrary you may have seen. But for me it’s felt solid.
I wing the cab 800 + 1000 with a cedrus classic carbon 65cm
Really enjoy it! Could be a tad bit longer but I got the mast for 50$ and was given the adapter (had to buy baseplate).
Coming from the alu cab mast this was a big upgrade - I hated the 130 mm chord.
You might lose a tad bit of glide/speed, but I have a friend that made the switch from noodle → alu cedrus and he says he prefers it. He mainly rides the 1300 though which is a bigger foil. I think you will mainly feel the slightly added drag when riding the 800, but that might not matter if just riding wake so power is consistent
I’ve been pondering taking my carbon Cab fusion 80 mast and trying to stiffen it with an add’l carbon wrap from baseplate to 2/3 down the length of mast. Taper the thickness after it cures with careful sanding. That earlier carbon mast is pretty flex, but thinner than the hollow masts, and if I can keep the thinness down near the foil (so, when riding reasonably high on the mast), could be pretty sweet, for me at 74kg. Anyone done this type of DIY upgrade to a mast?
I wouldn’t bother. Extra carbon on the outside won’t do much because being laid after the fact it wouldn’t be in tension until far after the existing carbon. Maybe if you have some really good unidirectional.
. If you do, don’t worry about that feathering, the lines would be parallel to flow so they wouldn’t impact performance much
Hard to pass up on the benefits of the thinner Cabrinha mast IMO https://youtu.be/NgHHxmIsJ4Q
Their site publishes it at 14mm min and it’s monoblock, that’d be my choice if I were you.
I actually have the hollow 74cm–and I like it. The older masts (the non-hollow, more flexible ones) are thinner, though. Super slippery. And I have an 80 of one of those, so I was just scheming on being able to use it, but have it be a little stiffer. Then I’d have a longer mast for more sloppy DW conditions.
But in my ideal world–I’d have a whole new AFS setup! Just can’t swing the $ at this point.
Cheers!
I totally missed the “7 months later” element and was responding to the OP. My bad for any confusion!
I’ve got to try the $529 AFS mast in the next week or two so I can finish up my mast article. My buddy somehow managed to piece together a brand new AFS Silk 850 kit with that mast for $1400 (he’s the ultimate deal shopper, no one can get that price ever again) and he seems happy with it.
