Ideal Sail Quiver - 5

Hi

The last sail to discuss is the smallest one and like the boards, this may be a contentious recommendation.  For this board and sail collection my small sail is going to be a wave sail of 4.7m.  Wave sails are really not that good for day to day blasting but for wickedly overpowered conditions, I find that a small wave sail works well.  This is because you can instantly de-power it and then quickly power up again when required just by sheeting in and out.  This gives control, a degree of comfort and sufficient speed over the chop.  Flat out speed is not really of prime importance in these conditions.  Another advantage is that if you want to have a go in the waves, this is the machine.

 My particular choice for this sail is going to be Severne's Blade 4.7m.  The Blade is both powerful and easy to control.  The strong winds which occur here are sometimes quite gusty and you need a fuller sail to keep you planing in the lulls (you will be on your smallest board remember).  The sail also needs to be able to handle fierce gusts and this is one of the best for that purpose.

I notice that the new 2013 Blades are on the Severne site - check them out.  They now come with "SpiderFibre" which has allowed them to lighten the sail and to spread the forces over the area of the sail more effectively.  I hope this is more than clever marketing - knowing Severne it is probably a real advance.  We shall see when these sails hit the water.   
Beautiful things!


OK so that concludes this series of articles.  I hope they have been of some help.  You may not agree with every one of the board and sail sizes I have suggested and that is not a problem.  We are all different and our sailing conditions too, differ.  The main thing is to have a plan, specify exactly what you are going to need to get the most out of our sport given your specific circumstances and preferences.  You can then set about filling in all the sizes you have specified. This may not happen in one season but over time, as you replace equipment, you can build the optimal sail/board quiver.


Talk to you soon