Hi,
I am after a sail to match my Fanatic Falcon 133 litre board (79cm wide) for light winds of 12-15 knots.

I was thinking of getting a 8.6m blade loft, comes with matching loft 490 rdm for this board as a lightwind rig. Option 2 is a Loft Switchblade 8.5m, comes with a matching loft SDM mast.

These are the 2 rigs I have to decide between. I wont have the oppurtunity to pretry any of this gear, so have to decide without trying 1st

My specs are 6ft tall, 95 kgs. Sailing style= maxed out, aggressive, like to be challenged.

From what ive read so far heavier sailors tend to use sdm more, saying that rdm's in 490+ length tend to feel too springy/spongy for there heavier weight.

Dont know how much of this is actually true or not but it does make sense.

So basically would like some input from you heavier sailors (95kgs+) out there
as to what would suit me better

Cheers guys

Some of the racers up here use RDMs on Loft 8.6s. I'm sure if they thought SDM was an advantage they'd use them instead. Hopefully they'll provide their opinions for you. Lofts are also cut for constant curve masts so you stand a chance of finding a few different brands of mast that will work with them.

aus301 said...

legless said...


Forget Loft get a Hot Sails Maui 8.8m GPS with a match Hot Sails Maui RDM mast. It is better priced (25% off at the moment) and better built than Loft.

Well done on answering the original question.

Considering I am a heavy weight I did answer the question if I was looking for a light wind sail for the kind of sailing Mark is into I would go with a Hot Sails Mail 8.8 GPS with the RDM mast it could be rigged with a SDM mast but I think it will rig better in the bigger sizes as suggested by Hot Sails Maui with a 100% carbon RDM.

divaldo said...

Pretty sure you didn't answer the question, DP asked opinions on two Loft sails, not sure he asked for opinions on someone trying to sell him another brand.

DP do you use RDMs now?

From my experience it's always ideal to have a sail that matches the same brands mast, option 1 would be my pic.

Yes, I mostly use loft rdm masts now for most of my sailing of 7m and under sizes.

Option 1 and 2 both have there respect compatible loft masts, just that the blade would come with rdm, and the switchblade would be sdm.

I need to work out which will be more suitable for my weight and style??

Any heavy sailors out there that have used an 8.6m loft with 490 loft rdm?, If so, did it feel "spongy" of "springy" ??

For a lightwind setup I think SDM will be superior. They tend to be stiffer in the lower section, around the boom area which generally lets the sail set a bit fuller in the lower half.
In theory if the 2 masts, RDM and SDM have the same bend curve then there should be little difference, but my experience with KA Koncepts in the larger sizes has been that the SDM gives a marginally more powerful setup.
I think Monty may have a bit of a discussion about this on the Loft website, could be worth a look there.

vando said...


Hi Martin Ive had a chance to try both types of mast in the Blades as they come with both types of cams and agree the SDM is marginally better in Bottom but I do find the RDM much nicer to pump and more forgiving, speed wise I don't think there is much in it. Durability wise RDM rules

Darkplague; pay attention to Vando, not me!

Valid point about the extra durability of an RDM Vando. I am running RDM's on my smaller Koncepts ( the speed sizes) as I am much more likely to have a big off speed sailing than lightwind cruising. Like the Blade you can use either RDM or SDM on the Koncepts just by changing the cams.

correct - RDM = Reduced diameter ...

sboardcrazy said...

I know I've been told before but i still keep getting them mixed up..SDM = standard diameter? RDM = skinny?

I use an RDM on my FWS FSW for B'n'J not GPS.

I can give you my experiences from some recent experimenting I have done with a HSM GPS demo sail. I'm around 92kg and I like to rig big so i can stay powered in gusty conditions.

Rigging the GPS with the reccommended skinny (RDM).
The sail felt springy and soft and seemed to twist off better (but I havent had a lot of time and tuning).
The whole skinny thing is new to me, but what I liked is that the softer sail had a lot less shock and impact transmitted through rig, board and my knees. This meant that I could charge harder through chop, not tire as quick and probably end up being faster.

Rigging the same sail with an NP SDM there was a noticeable increase in the the belly below the boom and you could really feel the extra power. I needed more DH to improve the twist, which didn't feel as good. I felt the bumps more.

I would encourage you to give the skinny option a try, you may like it for the sort of sailing you do.

choco said...

The Loft pro riders/while testing new sails found there was no difference in top speed between the 2 mast types, the SDM masts accelerated quicker than the RDM, RDM's however were less tiring and easy to close down in rougher conditions + alot more durable, only downside is that they are slightly heavier than equivalent SDM mast.

yes RDM is noticeably a heavier on land than a 100% SDM carbon rig but on the water feels much the same.

nosinkanow said...

I'm paying close attention to this discussion as I might look into a 8.5-ish in the future and I'm also 95kg-ish. I've been lead to believe the future was in RDM and SDM will eventually be phased out? Because of this I've only looked at sails and rigs to suit RDM...have I been mislead?

If your into racing SDM will give you more power and acceleration, in saying that if it's windy 20+ knts wont be alot in it, I'm 100kg and use all RDM in all my sails including 8.6 have used SDM masts as well can't really tell the difference in the wind, RDM lot more comfortable SDM feel more physical.
For doing GPS sailing or fun RDM masts will do the job nicely as stated before they are more durable plus you can use them in your wave/free ride sails eliminating they need for 2 sets of masts

sboardcrazy said...

So for a lightweight a RDM would be more comfortable in choppy stronger wind..?

definetly

did you cut down the mast Lao?