Boom Re-gripping Windsurfing- with Heat Shrink Fishing Rod Magic Material

Seen a few examples recently of using this novel material to re-grip windsurfing booms. Some nice examples on the old school threads on facebook etc.
Traditionally, replacing the grip is done by stripping of all of the old grip and then gluing on new grip that comes as a roll to wrap the boom (i.e. not as a tube), and is hard to apply, especially butting the material together accurately and given the curvature of the tubes etc. This material, sold for a variety of purposes including fishing rod grips, is widely available on amazon and ebay. Main things I found-
Chose to leave the old grip on, just removing the loosest bits that were no longer glued. This gives a base for this new material as it is quite thin- but have seen examples where the boom is re-gripped to bare metal and looks good that way too.
35mm is the size (diameter) used here - you don't want loads of excess 35 gave enough to go over the old grip but you do need to disassemble the boom- in this case got away with it by removing the back end.
material gathers up where the tubes curve but shrinks really well to size- some of the sellers claim you get 1:1 shrinkage ratio, some that it shrinks by 1/5, 1/6. Some new booms have narrower grip I believe- but there are a range of diameters on sale so adjust accordingly.
the material 'feels' good- felt-like texture as per normal boom grip- should be comfortable to use.
Goes without saying really but the material shrinks rather than sticks into place longevity will therefore be a question- I suspect if it gets a nick and starts to peel, big sections could be off quite quickly. On the flipside, for an easy tidy up of an old boom, just so your hands are not on bare metal whilst windsurfing, seem ideal for the cost.
cost £20 to do 2 booms- 1m lengths as sold cover the harness line area and a wide back hand for gybing. Where people have made a 'better' job than mine, longer lengths of the material and tuck into/ trim to the clamp/ tube and tube/ back end junctions- you then have a boom that looks 'brand new'- I wasn't bothered about this, though.
That's it!
Enjoy!
Happy sailing!!

[@flamingskoda]

Nice job. Thanks for sharing.

[@pinewho]

just ordered some now from aliexpress... seems good idea.. hope it will work on water.. Thanks 🖐🏻

[@andysworldofoldschoolwindsurf]

Cool- I had the chance to try this weekend, only for a short time as I used the boom with my 5.5 and then needed to change to a smaller sail and used another boom so that I could have both sails rigged. The material seemed to work fine for a first outing. Look forward to seeing how yours goes if you post. Happy sailing!

[@pierutube]

Thanks for the tutorial Handy. Yet I am a bit concerned about how to remove the boom collars without damaging them ... 🤔

[@andysworldofoldschoolwindsurf]

Ah yes, depends on the boom, often just glue but you might also find a slot in the aluminium of the boom arm that the tensioner fits into. Your other approach is to detach the boom clamp and go on from the front end?

[@denniz122]

Great idea :D just orderd some, got one old boom maybe i can make it nice again :) did u go sailing with it yet?

[@andysworldofoldschoolwindsurf]

Good plan denniz! Not tried it sailing yet but it feels nice and secure on the boom.proof is in the pudding though 👍

[@johnhesten9189]

Does water get under it and allow it to slide over the old grip?

[@andysworldofoldschoolwindsurf]

Its not glued so it has twisted a bit in use. Works ok, still using the boom