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Forestay cover - no more inner tube

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 10:08 pm
by Bruce
For those of you who use inner bike tubes to cover the terminals at the bottom of the the forestay, I can recommend 20mm braided sleeving instead. You can use larger diameter sleeving, but it will just be slightly bulkier. It has much less friction for kite sheets and kite, is smaller (probably lighter) and looks better then inner tubes. You can get it from electrical suppliers. I got mine from here: http://www.rawcomponents.co.uk/20mm-bra ... eving.html , but you can also find it on cpcfarnell, ebay, etc. Use a lighter to melt the ends slightly to stop it from fraying. I use insulation tape to tape the top of the sleeving above the boat-breaker terminal. The sleeving can fold back over itself so that you can easily access the terminal for the boat breaker. I use a slightly smaller diameter to cover the sta-masters on the inners, but I am sure 20mm would also be fine there.

Re: Forestay cover - no more inner tube

Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 11:57 am
by GER170
This is also great for covering the forestay (Ptfe tube 14mm)

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/e11400.m1 ... ADE%3A3160

Re: Forestay cover - no more inner tube

Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 1:55 pm
by Bruce
Hi Iver,

That looks a bit heavy and industrial for you :D
I would have expected an aerodynamically shaped carbonfibre structure instead.

Re: Forestay cover - no more inner tube

Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 9:20 pm
by Rick
Bruce wrote:Hi Iver,

That looks a bit heavy and industrial for you :D
I would have expected an aerodynamically shaped carbonfibre structure instead.


Solid plastic tube is a superior solution as it creates a larger radius for the lazy sheet to run over thus less friction leading to slicker light wind gybes.

Re: Forestay cover - no more inner tube

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 10:42 am
by DangerBoy
Just about to add this to my boat as I get grief for having a nicely set up boat and then a piece of hose pipe on the forestay; Is 14mm i.d. big enough to fit of the boat breaker fitting? Not got chance to measure the length of hose. How long does the pipe need to be?

Re: Forestay cover - no more inner tube

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 10:23 pm
by GER170
you need approx 1.5m length and 12mm ID.

Re: Forestay cover - no more inner tube

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 1:01 pm
by Bru
Wandering the isles of B&Q, looking for something suitable to cover the forestay, I came across radiator pipe sleeves. Light and flexible, they even have a split up the side which means they are easy to attach/remove without having to undo the forestay. Ive tried using one (they come in packs of three) in the last few club races and no complaints so far. The sheets slide over them nicely. The only question mark may be durability. Time will tell.

I bought myself the chrome ones. If that isnt "pimped" then I dunno what is!

http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/plumbing-central-heating/radiator-valves-accessories/pipe_sleeves/PlumbSure-Chrome-Pipe-Sleeves-Pack-of-3-11477989?skuId=11988696

Cheers,
Bruce

Re: Forestay cover - no more inner tube

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 3:37 pm
by bigdave
I was searching around for the right braid to cover the forestay and ordered this:

www.hilltop-products.co.uk/expandable-b ... ex-pg.html

The right stuff is the 20mm braid

Seems it's the right stuff for the musto! As they only sell it in 10m rolls I've now got loads of it If anyone else wants some

Re: Forestay cover - no more inner tube

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 10:16 am
by Serega
great, I've already bought similar stuff twice. First item was too small and the second one too large :x