Is my O'Brien Contra Broken?
 

Not sure exactly when this happened but a week or two ago my buddy noticed a crack in my near the toe of my boot.

http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/...psycfenuyu.jpg

http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/...psbtqxtyd3.jpg

http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/...psfgfbdizq.jpg

A few more pics..

http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/...pscwlqlydy.jpg

http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/...psnfrndhnr.jpg

My guess is that either the laminate cracked or one of the stringers cracked. But the board seems to still have it's pop and soft landings. Could Any body chime in?

yes but not broken all the way across

The third pic in your first post, it looks like impact next to the crack. Was it damaged by a handle strike?

It looks like a handle strike.

Come to think of it, I may have had a few handle strikes to the board. Can a handle strike really cause that kinda damage ?

It could. It looks like dirty water to me. Seal that crack up, keep water out and it should be fine - unless it actually is broken... but it doesn't look like the core is broken...

I would put the board on, then rock back and forth, tail to nose, on grass, trying to pause and balance on tail and nose.

If the side with the crack flexes more than the other side, then yeah its broken.

If it doesn't seem to, then I'd just seal it up and keep riding.

See if the crack gets bigger too...

Warranty it asap. Looks like a handle or a partial span.

Update: she's definitely broken. Shredded the Gnar today and looked closely and found another crack across to the heelside of the board

http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/...pste2fy2js.jpg

http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/...ps51yehkbm.jpg

Just by looking at the first picks it looked like the core foam was broken. If you need any help with the warranty let me know.

Thanks Andy and I may take you up on that, I got her in October of 14 on ebay but not quite sure if O'Brien will honor a warranty on an item purchased from a non authorized dealer. . .

I'll be curious to hear about your warranty experience.

I just went through three broken Ronix boards this summer with warranty experience ranging from awesome for two of them, to still TBD on one.

Do you still buying foam filled boards?? Try to change your life for better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsfDG3yxvno

Aint nothing wrong with foam fill boards.

DC,
Shoot Stacie at Obrien an email with a few of your photos, description how it happened, and she'll take care of ya!

stacieb@OBrien.com

-Cheers!

I was a little confused by your comment but thanks for posting the video. That really cleared it up for me...

Hey DC,

I've never broke an O'Brien board before, but if I did, I wouldn't be worried since they use closed cell foam, so it's not supposed to get water logged.

Also, Ross just stepped up with who to contact at HQ. I put a couple of my friends who had warranty issues in touch with Stacie and she always did a great job in resolving their issues.

Thx Alex, but I'm pretty much hooked on the Obrien Wakeboards. The fusion core (now I think called feather core) + delta base (I'm a big believer) + 3 stage = a board fast like a continuous rocker with the 3 stage pop and soft landings.

Thx Andy Ross and Ryan, I'll shoot her an email. Should I get some better photos or are the ones posted good enough to use? And yeah im pretty sure it was from the G23 double ups, never thought I could break an Obrien until I started charging those tsunami swells

Alex You have no idea what you are talking about

Lol. You are mistaken.

Dc the photos you have are plenty. Obrien is still producing the Fusion Core which is combination of foam and wood stringers while the Feather Core is 100% foam construction.

-Cheers!

Yes, I know you are fan of O'brien & BTW my first board was O'brien http://www.wakeworld.com/products/in...detail&p=53433. OK, if you are so great supporter of O'Brien why you bought this board on Ebay not from official dealer for better support of brand? (I'm now not about money - just about love :) ) All of these features of board with new base, foam etc. are 98% marketing and do make no any revolution or REAL difference in quality of boards. (crack on your board is proof of my words). Shape - yes, it's first that real difference between boards. But if you wanna see more differences you have to change the core and technology of boards. Foam technology will be alive because it cheap and checked by time China based "money maker". And one more: "+ 3 stage = a board fast like a continuous rocker" - I may be mistaken but I always hear that 3 stage board is more fast in compare with continuous.

Who care?

I will be glad to know what kind of foreign language you can fluently to write at least, man.

I have no issue with your language. Did I say I did?! You said I may be mistaken but I always hear that 3 stage board is faster than continuous.
You are mistaken. Due to shape the opposite is true. Continuous boards are overwhelmingly known to be faster.

And for the record the crack on a board is not proof that only wooden boards are quality products. All boards break or crack and have issues if you ride them long enough, all of them.

I ride a wooden board. I don't like foam boards overall, but that doesn't make what you said correct.

The 3 stage shape makes it much slower than a continuous. Think of comparing a skateboard deck to a long board deck. And I purchased it thru eBay as an old stock item as it's a 2013 model board. I liked that model years graphics and the price for old stock. Also did said digging and found seller was an authorized dealer before stock was sold off, so hopefully that was a good thing.

I think your lost here.....

Update: thx wakeworld riders and stacie over at Obrien! My replacement board came in the other day! Just in time for this weekends double up comp. That was definitely the fastest warranty turn around time frame that I've experienced :)

http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/...pspxznq8xf.jpg

Durty-durty,

New board looks sick!

I notice you are in az. Is the double up contest around here
Somewhere? I just moved to mesa.

It's at canyon lake az at 2pm. It's on Facebook. Check out action water sports page and you can see the event info and register for the surf comp or double up comp

DC, glad to hear you got your replacement board so quickly, but I'm not surprised at the speed and great customer service. O'Brien is second to none IF you even need CS. Good luck in the double up comp!

http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/...psbk8wqcb1.jpg

New .5 Fin will take a little to get used to. But she held up! Unfortunately I couldn't beat the winning TS 900