60: Day 8 – GoPro Mast Mount

The aim of the day was to figure out a mast mount and test it on the water. Yesterday I bought the GoPro Roll Bar mount which set me back about 30 bucks. It seems strong and is big enough for a mast. To mount I first had to decide where to position, this was done very roughly and about two thirds the way up the mast (from reviewing pics it could come down slightly). The mount has 2 bolts, one which goes round the front of the mast and one that has to go through the luff so I used a sharp screwdriver to make a small 4mm or so hole for the bolts to go through. I was careful not to tighten too much and put any strain on the mast.

Once on the water the weight was not a problem and I didn’t even notice anything different. I had it set up for photos every two seconds but this meant that I developed a new jibe so that all the memory is not used up instantly; it is called the GoPro Jibe which I shall attempt to describe;

Must check it out before going on the water!

1. enter at full speed as per a normal carve jibe
2. carve hard, keeping constant pressure
3. flip the rig, and then comes the important bit 
4. perform a controlled crash so that you can turn off the camera otherwise you will run out memory card space and you’ll have a ton of wasted pics.
5. water start away and the GoPro jibe is complete!

On reviewing the 800 or so images it seems that there is a little blurring, I am not sure if that due to condensation or something else, however I do hypothesise that it is due to the mast bending too much when loaded up because the images which are taken for example when the sail is lying in the water are clear. It was super windy and choppy so I am keen to try on a smoother day (hopefully one with waves). Despite some of the problems that I am having I am pleased with the results even if I know that they can (and will) improve. The pics would have been good today but I was struggling to find any ramps. Looking forward to trying out again with a few slight adjustments.

What’s on tomorrow in Maui? Looks like it should be a fun day!

1. 9am: Sprecks beach clean up
2. 11am: Maui Race Series starts
3. 12 till 4pm: Windsurf
4. 5pm, Home Gym

More to follow...