Put my 18-20' Blades out to pasture last year and got 5.0+5.3+5.7 pros with the new carbon material. Been using the pros since October last year and it's been a good windy season out west. Sailed the NW, Gero, Lano, around Pertho and Marg's. The 23' and 24' are the same product other than colour.
These sails seemed quite tough out of the bag. Not noticeably lighter or heavier than my old standard Blades but physically stronger to roll/touch etc... This translates on the water with great stability at the top end and taking a beating without damage so far. Bottom end is usual for Blades, top end very damn impressive. The mono windows are really tough and wonderfully transparent, have no creasing so far and zero concerns considering the beat ups, all's good.
I like a powerful sail and find that -2/3cm on the downhaul allows for the grunt I'm after and generally just pinch up the outhaul. The recommended #s are my maximums and allow for great control when reaching the top end. In average and smaller waves I've zero fear of being overpowered and am generally sailing one size larger than usual because the top end is so controlled.
Probably my favourite aspect has been how stable the sails are transitioning from powered up bottom turn to full control cutback/lip-smacko. Not something I've ever really considered but it's noticeable how the whole string of events seems to flow better the harder/faster I push.
5 star sails, damn tough and happy to have spent the extra pesos.
I have been using 4.7 to 5.7 since early in the season as well. Can't fault the sails. I find them a bit more stable than last years Pro without being overly stiff in feel.
I find they are very sensitive to downhaul. +/- 2 cm can make a difference between planing and not planing or on the other spectrum being totally overpowered or being able to still control the sail. So definitely something worth playing around with to get the most out of the really big range these sails have. I do find myself using about 2-3cms more outhaul than is printed on the sail. Could have to do with how high I put my boom.
Design is nice but to be honest I don't care much about the screen printed camo pattern. Would look just as good in plain red.
Super versatile sails... great in waves, awesome for just blasting around in bump and jump condition and work well for wind foiling.
I moved on from an older 2015 Blade Pro to regular 2022 and '23 Blades (4.2-5.0, 4.7 is my favourite) and while the Pro felt slightly lighter in the hands, 7 years of improvements makes the newer non-pro version better than the older pro version for sure. The new sails are more stable and deliver much more power compared to the 2015 one. I can sail a size smaller if I wanted but I really enjoy sailing the Blades fully powered up and as said above, the range is impressive. I have 4 different sizes but could easily get away with 2.
I also give it 1-2 cm more downhaul and it might be because of my stance, boom height, or the fact that I use Gorilla masts. The difference is mind blowing. If I don't give it the extra downhaul, the sail feels underpowered and it makes the board a bit sticky as well. Maybe with a Blueline or Redline this is not required.
If I can get my hands on a used Pro in the future, I'll pick it up for sure but because the regular Blades are already so ridiculously good, I can't justify the additional spend (probably until I tried a newer Pro lol).
