Wormy

even though you have never had a problem with delam, what can happen is moisture in the board will turn to vapour and it works it's way under the paint causing it to bubble. I've seen boards look pretty awful from that.
Still structurally sound but resale value - zip

I'd just be safe and leave it closed in winter and crack it open in summer

The only problem with normal vent screws is that we sometimes forget to do them up.

Why don't manufacturers just put the screw at the entry end of the mast track and then you have to do the vent screw up to get your mast base in?

Alternatively find an alternative to EPS so we don't have this problem. (I still believe in hollow boards....)

BTW. excellent concept Decrepit

and in addition to Keefs post.....

you only need one footstrap plug, mast track or finbox to have a tiny crack and it will seep in. Out of 5 or 6 boards I've had there was only one that was totally air tight after 5 yrs and would hiss when undoing the plug. If air get's in and out water will eventually

wormy said...

This may sound a little simplistic and I don't mean to sound arragant,
I leave all vents done up all the time, I don't store boards in the sun or car ever, I do not fly, I never have to worry if have I done up the vent before sailing. I still replace O ring 12-18 months, if I remember.
I have not had any problems (now patting my wooden head).

I agree wormy. I live by the beach, while I was only wave sailing I did the same.
It's only since I've started to speed sail, that I'm driving to other places, that's when the trouble started, loosing plugs along the way, if not taken right out, getting sand in the hole when it is out, etc.

snides8 said...

I have 3 boards with the gortex vents fitted
none of them are full of water
none have delamed(sometimes it can get hot here as well!)
they are all over 1 yr old one is 2 and a half years old with no noticeable sign of leakage there is no sign of salt crusting.
none of the boards have ever seen freshwater.

That's encouraging snides, I haven't heard of any CA trouble with goretex myself either.

(if water can get in then it should be able to get out
as well?)

Keef and I are talking about converting boards with the standard vent, over to goretex. They may already have water in them.

Goretex in a new board shouldn't be a problem, but as a general rule, water gets in a lot easier than it gets out.

Ok so i dont forget my vent plug this weekend im going to drill and tap a thread the same as my plug in the part of fin that is in the board. Means i cant put the fin in with out taking the plug out. Cant see that it will cause a problem for the fin. Anyone think this might be a bad idea?

Just a few thoughts...
Ive spent a fair bit of time working on daggerboards for large racing yachts. They are hollow clear carbon so black and bloody hot in the sun. Half the board is in the water when its down. After about 5 set of these at 100000 euros a set (no ****) we still couldnt stop them from taking on water. There are no fittings to leak so the theory was the air would expand vent out of somewhere then when they cool down suck water in. (i know this is going on but i do have a point i think). Anyway one day a set rocked up with a goretex vent. They still leaked. My theory is that with the expansion and prob more importantly panting from the board flexing the vent will ... well vent then when there is negative pressure inside it doesnt work so well the other way. If the gore tex is wet it will suck water through it or another hole somewhere.
So after that dribble ill bring it back to windsurfing...My point is that i would prefer the standard plug cause as your board exhales from heat or pressure from landing and hitting waves it will want to suck in too and if the board is in water and everything including the vent is wet its going to be water.
Thats my 2 cents worth and by far the most ive ever written on a forum

over a period of a hot week i managed to drian a good half litre (a large puddle) onto the floor by standing the 120litre board on its cracked nose. only a very small crack, with a couple of fractures on the rail as well at the time but its surprising how much gets in, and how well the board put up with it. why not a plug on the tail or nose for draining?

Hi, All,

Sinker said: "The only problem with normal vent screws is that we sometimes forget to do them up".

When I loosen my vent plug, I make sure that its top surface is about 3mm above the level of the board, so that this is a physical indication to me that the plug is not seated.

Also, all of my boards have the vent positioned at the rear of the mast track so in order the fit the mast base, I HAVE to tighten the plug otherwise the mast base fouls the vent screw.

Double redundancy.

Hope this helps.

Rider5 said...
>>>>>>
My current board of 3 years doesn't have one as it's closed cell foam.

>>>>>

Yes well obviously, the ultimate answer!!!!!!
(my speed board is also made this way)
I wonder why the rest of the world is so slow to catch on???????

Is there only 2 small West Aus manufacturers doing this?

DL, that was the point of the last 2 posts.
Stone Surf, and rider5 both use closed cell foam. It doesn't breath, same as old style surfboards. So it's pointless venting them, the foam doesn't breath, so nothing can vent anyway!
But once you start using open cell foam, (as about 99% of modern sailboards do). That's when the fun starts.
The difference is that air (or water) can move freely through the board if it's open cell. If there's a weak spot, and there's +ve pressure in the hull all the air in the board can travel to the weak spot and rapidly delam it. Typically repeated use, stress the foam in the impact area (under the feet) and that's usually where the delam starts from.
It also means if there's a hole somewhere, and -ve pressure in the hull, (putting hot board into cold water), it's going to suck until the pressure equalizes.

I did hear that some of Mark's Euro customers insisted he put vents in their boards. They wouldn't believe him when he said they aren't necessary in his boards.