An email came from Taiwan three months ago.
Subject is:Mast stock sales. SDM 490 100% carbon is US $ 110..etc.
Then mail come again last month.
OK I was asking JAPAN GPSTC team member.
Condtion: Soooo cheep.. No Warranty ,COD....
Then we ware trying to buy. I said It is Gambling or Joke.
SDM 430,460,490 RDM 370*3,400,460.

This Taiwanese company is a professional maker of the
carbon composite.

we tested it in Morito two weeks ago.
1)430 SDM 100% carbon. North sail 2cam 6.6
Start to pull down hole. Creak sound!! Stop to pull.
Hold it.It was broken suddenly from boom postion.
NOT SET out hole. Five minutes and no sailing.
2)490 SDM 100% carbon. Gasstra 8.5 3cam
Non is rigging. But he was not 100% pull down hole.
then Start sailin. Eiji comes back to the beach and.
@@He said Non's mast was broken. ShXXT. Eiji took SUP..
*it was south wind, it was safe condtion and not strong wind.
*swim 500m help SUP.

30minutes sailiing only.
3)460 SDM GPSTC Saka (This one is Ao ).
He said " I will test only south wind "

RDM 400 and 460 ware OK.
I report to Maker.
They said(R&D) :
*Our product is following windsurfing Industry standard.
*Constant bend cave, so must use such spec sail.
I would like to say "It is joke mast."

Do they give a warranty on their masts?

B14 thanks for the advice! Nice to have a warning as somebody may import them and put them on eBay or something.

What brand or factory?

Yes I think, they sent mail anywhere who is windsurfer.
Pls do not buy cheep mast.. it is Danger for open water sailing.
That is why Non did not go Long distance and we looked.

http://www.dodge-carbon.com.tw/wind01.htm

we just check and test . if work fine it is OK. if not we spend Money..
But Today Yen is so strong 75yen=US$1.
For this reason, we bought them.

Other matter.
The windsurfing product is expensive. In Japan too.
However, it is strong yen. dose not become cheaper.
I know?A An importer, a shop needs profit?iAn interest rate, a warehouse, promotion?j ..But Now I can buy it on the Internet directly from the maker?
I do not know which is good(Direct or shop).

That's a classic name! No one from Australia would have thought that was a real company and wouldn't have bought them.

Bad luck on the masts though. I hope you didn't lose too much money.

I guess in retrospect, if the factory doesn't offer a warranty, there is something fishy happening.

that is interesting, perhaps you could sell your broken masts back and they could refabricate them into betel nut rods. They seem to specialise in these as well, an entirely different set of conditions come into play in a betel nut farm I would imagine.

Is it possible the broken ones were damaged in some way?
I've had a new mast go just like that, conclusion was airline handlers, possibly a badly aimed forklift.
Because carbon springs back into shape after impact, sometimes fatal damage is hard to detect.

A broken position of 430 and 490 is the same position.
The label of the mast is Billows.
Packing was very good (DHL).

I referred for a Bend carve level by the email three months ago.
But The answer did not come. them mail come again again.
*Yen is hi price so try to buy.

I think SDM 100% carbon is ??
430 and 490 ware so hard to pull down hole,, That is point.

SDM 75% 460 , Ao(Saka team) will test it soon.
Ao said not fit NP sail, Mast is so hard.
RDM 100% 400(Beacboy) and 460(b14) OK
RDM 100% 390(eiji,non, naka) will test soon.

in case of 390 testing is strong wind ..
400m or so from beach is better.1st try.

sausage said...

B14,
Did some digging around and found these previous threads regarding "Billows" masts (that is what I could see they were called on the Dodg E Carbon site). Looks like some pimping done here previously.
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Review/billows-masts/
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Review/billows-masts-2/

Windsurfing Perth have them listed for sale on their home page but no specific info in their gear pages www.windsurfingperth.com.au/

Also this guy sells them in Oz and offers a 12 month warranty on new masts www.cyclonic.com.au/

Incredible retail mark-up if you can buy a 100% carbon mast (albeit 2010 stock and potentially dodg e ) direct from manufacturer for $100 USD as opposed to around $400 in oz.

EDIT Just found this ad in Buy and Sell from Jesper selliing brand new ones www.seabreeze.com.au/Classifieds/Windsurfing/Accessories/~b0rtj/2012-Billows-Sdm-And-Rdm.aspx?search=Ya%2b6AFVcXZZ4ljLmqPEzHw%3d%3d
Maybe he can shed some light on them.

Someone has a sense of humour..

geared4knots said...

A friend purchased a 60% carbon Billows 430 rdm 2 -4 years ago, used at least 3 days a week in summer/spring in waves and flat water and still going strong.
My own personal 100% carb rdm 400 has been great in the short time i have had it ( used twenty times on both North and severne wave sails).
Perhaps a bad batch? of sdms in 2010. Can happen with any manufacturer.

Good to hear the RDM s seem ok, I bought a Billows 370 75% carbon rdm last week and used it for the first time yesterday......

Until we hear more about people using these masts you cant really tell how good or bad they are. Like anything anyone can have a bad experience while the majority have good ones. So until more people have good/bad experiences you cant come to a conclusion.

You never know other known brands could come out of the same factory and i certainly wouldn't be surprised if they do!


Sorry to hear about your experience though b14

Report come from GTC West Japan Saka (Ao). His SDM 460 75% was broken , 30minutes..
So 3 SDM masts ware broken. Do not use it.

Wood Duck said...

If you pay peanuts you get monkies.

Monkies? Are they small monks?