Still doing my research for replacing my 80's setup. Seems all the boards are half the weight, but the weight hasn't disappeared, it just went to the sails !!

Weighed my two late 80's sails last night.

5.3m2 RAF style - 2.3kg
6.2m2 CI Gaastra - 3.3kg.

According to the Neil Pryde website, the lastest comparable sails are around 50% heavier. What's going on?

Do you sail at littel island???? Have seen a few guys out there with 80's gear. FLASH BACK.

The weight difference is most likely due to the stronger materials used these days, or perhaps due to your old sails being so old they are breaking down and decaying.

Go the news sails, you will be blown away....

Hey Harrow, try weighing your old sails when wet! That should convince you that it's time to update to these new fandangled techo sails.

Why worry about the weight, back then if you could carry it by yourself it was as good as it gets.

Leski, I tried the SF, but I've the always preferred the KHJYO's that DRGTYL make.

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Originally posted by Harrow

So what are todays equivalent sizes?

For the same wind strength, do I buy a smaller modern sail, or get the same size sail and enjoy the extra power?

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I don't think modern sails have more power!
They have much better range and stability, you can rig a bigger sail flater, feel much more comfortable and go faster.
My new Avalon Sail Co. 5.3m wave sail has a range of about 15 knots.(can plane about 15knts on my medium waveboard, or blast around in 30knts. wouldn't wave sail at this wind strength thou) My old dacron wave sails weren't much better than 5 knots.
Definately don't go smaller, the main performance increase in modern sails is their top end, the botom end hasn't changed much. So if anything go slightly bigger.
Saying that, they need to be rigged differently to old sails, more downhaul mainly. Maybe that's where some of the extra weight goes, reinforcing the modern downhaul loads.
You'll also need a modern carbon mast to get the new sail's optimum performance.

Well if you've got heaps of money, you can go overboard. But for best performance a sail needs to be on the mast it was designed for. A new carbon mast probably wont improve an old dacron sail, that was designed for a fiberglass mast. I don't think any modern sail is designed for old fiberglass masts.