Buying a 29er for youth

Next purchase is likely to be a 29er for the club, but I would rather that parents buy a couple or at least committ after some trialling.

TIps from SAer

"Over and above what I wrote in the above post which was mainly about hull condition, when buying a 29er for use as a 29er, you need to look at the condition of the mast.

Problems in a heavily used 29er mast will manifest themselves as loose mast joints or occasionally, if it has been stuck really hard in the bottom, perhaps a bent mast.
The mast is in three sections which are replaceable individually. Hold the bottom section and try to wiggle the mid-section. There should be barely any play. Similarly, hold the middle section and wiggle the top section. Again, it should be tight.

Examine the mast for straightness by looking down the track. Masts can go soft, whereby the bottom section bows around the gnav attach point. While masts can be straightened, they will bend again in short order. To stiffen the lower mast temporarily, you can put a wedge, or a penny coin, under the mast heel to restore its shape somewhat when racing.
Small broken sections in the top mast track are readily replaced with a spliced-in section if required. Glue it in with Plexus MA425. If it is really bad, replace the entire track per the instructions on the US 29er class web site. http://www.29ernorth...o/masttrack.pdf

Look over the mast and boom carefully for corrosion due to inadequate washing down after sailing in salt water. Inspect all rivets looking for evidence of corrosion lifting or loosening the fitting. If you end up re-riveting the fittings, make sure you use bigger stainless rivets and re-seat in an anti-corrosion gel (Tef-Gel, Duralac, etc) to slow corrosion. Another corrosion point is the hounds bolt that attaches the shrouds. The stainless bolt runs through an aluminum tube and the corrosion that results can enlarge the holes the mast sides.

Pay attention to the top spinnaker halyard block. If it breaks, or has broken, the spinnaker halyard will slice a line down the top mast section just like a zipper. If it has been repaired, you find extra carbon sleeve over it as a patch but the bend characteristics will never be the same. The class has just voted to adopt an internal sheave to eliminate this problem going forward. We are awaiting the exact positioning and fastening details.

With sails, beyond any obvious rips, tears and delamination, the main problems concern jib batten pockets and broken jib battens. A jib is about USD500. It is always nice to have race and practice sets of sails, so it you're a beginner buying a boat with a sound but mediocre set, then don't worry, you've got 100 capsizes before you merit a new set! Spinnakers generally wear out by stretching, but should last at least a season at the highest level of competition. Jibs can last two years and mains three if you have a practice set for general use.

Boat price depends on local conditions. The price is really the sum of hull price (USD 2000-4000 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 2000-4000 end_of_the_skype_highlighting depending on condition), plus mast (500 - 1500), plus sails (0 if trashed -2500 if new), plus trailer, plus covers.
In other words, a beater boat might be USD 2500 and a nearly new one about USD 8000, and anything in between. A boat in an obscure area might be $500+ cheaper.

Hope that helps. "