At 65 kg I can't imagine why you want a 8m sail, there is no reason you should not be able to crack it on 6.5m and 15 knots. A bigger sail won't necessarily help you at this stage.

Save your money for when you have totally cracked it then by a 5.4m for the bigger days

7.5 at most imo

Hi mate, I'm sure I shouldn't be posting this but I randomly ended up buying a Neil Pryde Excess 7.4 as part of a set of kit at the weekend. Its never been used and I'd be up for letting you have it at a very good price to get you going with bigger kit. Sure that would be big enough.

PM me if interested.

confused said...



Hi mate, I'm sure I shouldn't be posting this but I randomly ended up buying a Neil Pryde Excess 7.4 as part of a set of kit at the weekend. Its never been used and I'd be up for letting you have it at a very good price to get you going with bigger kit. Sure that would be big enough.

PM me if interested.

I think he'd be better off buying a new sail, than paying freight service from Australia to Austria :)

I have a Naish stealth 7.6 and selling it to buy 7.0 freestyle sail, the 7.6 with 4 cams is not my thing and my board can't carry a 7.6...to compare I got 79kg and I use mostly 5.3m sail...

Waiting4wind said...

DrJ said...

At 65 kg I can't imagine why you want a 8m sail, there is no reason you should not be able to crack it on 6.5m and 15 knots. A bigger sail won't necessarily help you at this stage.

Save your money for when you have totally cracked it then by a 5.4m for the bigger days

As he said. Invest your time and money in improving your technique. If you're not in the straps yet then your not exploiting the full capability of you existing gear and you probably won't benefit from a bigger sail. With your weight and 140L board you could be planning at 12 knots with good technique.

I'm about your size and I agree with them. get in the footstraps and learn to waterstart your 6.5 before contemplating an 8m sail.
I doubt you'd ever need more than 7.5 anyway...

Hi scuka zdravo,

Where in Slovenia do you sail or do you go to the Croatian coast for the summer holidays.
I have family in Maribor and they are telling me it is quite cold and not a lot of snow left.

I would go for a 8.0 as a start with your 140 litre board.

Enjoy your holidays won't be long now.

Kind Regards
Walt

8 is too big for you with only 65kg.

Try Exocet Fusion 7.0, very light with only 3 battens ... or even 6.5 to replace your old arrows sail... A guy in Portoroz is selling them for 250? (new sails)....they are quite strong sails...If you want additional information, call Mr. Alan 040633999...he seems very arogant on the phone, but don't be freightened, he is an ok guy, he can transport any stuff to Ljubljana, if you find it closer...he also sells a lot of equipement at low price, older models...

www.exocet-original.com/

I think technique is the most important issue here, you said your boom was set very low, this needs to go up to your shoulders at least. It also depends how you rig your sail...you don't have time to surf on weekends? 1 day trips and you can get to stronger winds to expand your knowledge and see the progression ;)

Out of the sails you quote I can recommend the Gator. I use these up to 6.5 and would like a 7.5 to match. I dont think you should go bigger than this with your weight unless it is cammed, and then you need a lot more experience to use cammed sails.
A 7.5 gator would be light, get going easily and have a huge wind range. They go floppy well at the top to dump excess power, and have a deep profile for easy early planing and fast runs.
A 50cm fin is also a little on the large side, get yourself a 40/42 to use a 7.5 with at your level.

Hi skuka. You might consider a Tushingham Lightning 7.8 - it rigs on a 460 mast (a lot of 8m sails rig on 490), it is quite powerful, easy to use and fairly light.

I am your weight. I wouldn't recommend anything over 7.5m based on my experiences. I sail in the ocean. When don't fall in with a big sail, it's all good. When I fall in, they are a pig to water start.

Part of the pit falls for beginners is not understanding how to rig their sails. The adjustments are very subtle, and during these times you have to compensate bad technique with a bigger sail. As you get more experienced, you will be able to do more with less. .. but if you are only sailing 14 days a year, then a big sail is the way to go.

scuka said...

I am optimistic, becouse my new 7,5m rig will weight almost 1 kg less than my old 6,5 m rig.

I generally find the bigger sails control me, not me controlling them (particularly doing gybes). Give it a go anyway. I think at your level, the advantages of a big sail will outway the negatives you would incounter with more experience. Definitely make things as light as you can get them (1kg makes a big difference) and get a nice floaty life jacket so you don't have your energy zapped when water starting. I think somebody mentioned attaching a pool noodle to the mast tip to make the sail float in another discussion. Damn good idea - might try that myself.

how light wind are you planning to go out in?

I can go out in about 14-15 knots with a 7.5 on a 100L jp freeride thats only 55cm wide and I'm 90kg.

at 65 you should be able to get out in about 11-12 knots with a 7.5 and 140L starboard go.

But once the wind gets to around 18-20 its not going to be very nice to sail on such a big board.

russh said...
What about a severne MOJO 6.7 or 7.5

Hi Russ. I would be err'ing on the side of caution with the Mojo, since these are a specialised sail for big guys. I was considering getting one, but I read an article about the Mojo and Hucker, and it turned me off buying this style of sail. I can't remember exact description, but I seem to remember something about the centre of effort being much higher than normal. The Gator's are bloody awesome. They so configurable. I own three of them: 4.7, 5.3, and a 6.

russh said...

What about a severne MOJO 6.7 or 7.5 - aren't they supposed to get ya flying in less wind for a smaller lighter sail with more power than the relative size Gators?

Hi Russh. Severne Mojo 6m is the same weight as Severne Convert 7,5m. Because of that I think Severne Convert is better for my needs.