I am searching through buy & sell for a 2nd hand sail.
There are some pritty large price variations between some brands ive noticed,
Any Sail Brands you should just not buy?
Post Advantages and Disadvantages please.
example ;
-best brand ever-
amazing sail, light weight, will last forever
but ridiculously expensive for a learner like myself
example ;
-cheapest brand ever-
cheap, cheap, cheap, fits budget
but will turn a beginner off the sport
take note, im a beginner, interested in 5.5-6.2, waterstarting, wave/freeride preference
In my opinion, it's not so much about brands that you should and shouldn't buy, but types.
Yes, there are some huge price differences to do with brands, but generally most sail brands are well respected these days. People prefer one brand over another (for example, I prefer Gaastra and Naish to North and Pryde) but it's largely down to preference.
There's probably a hundred windsurfers on here that will tell me that North is the only brand to ever own, and a hundred that will tell me that Severne is the best.
However, the type of sail and the age is more important for you right now. For example, a Gaastra Manic is a light, blade like sail that is really easy to throw around and can take a bit of a bashing. The Gaastra Poison is a more powerful, but still easy to handle sail that is designed more for hardcore wave sailing, much like a Naish Force.
Then you get into the range of cammed and speed sails, which are a completely different proposal altogether.
Now, I'm not going to talk about them too much, because I don't sail them / don't own them.
In my opinion you're probably wise to look for a wave sail with some reinforcement (to take the punishement of a catapult whilst you're learning). They also tend to be fairly light and easy to handle, and not too tricky to get out of the water whilst water starting. Some sails with Cams (freerace, race, speed, slalom sails) can be quite tricky to waterstart.
You're also looking for something from 2006 or later. Sail evolution has in my opinion made a difference in the last few years. Get something from 2000 and you'll regret it and it'll slow you down.
I used to sail Gun sails a lot in Europe - they were half the price of anything else and I had a blast on them. The reason they were half the price was that they refused to pay for advertising and much in the way of pro-riders, and the price of the sail reflected that. Price isn't everything, and neither is brand.
I would also advise that a half-decent boom, board and mast are also important for you to progress quickly.
Good luck!
because of were i live and only haveing a small windsurfing shop to buy from i buy .. sailworks and the odd random brand as a used sail .. sailworks rev's ( bomb) proof .. just tuff as nails in the 2years ive used them .. and they seem to peform well compared to other sails ive had .. not 2 pricey ruffly level with most brands
If you already have a mast buy somthing that is compatible with it.
Wave/freeride suggests a crossover type sail
Begiiner suggests your goin to be hard on your sails - look for something with a full grid type construction such as Ezzy's or NP Excess, most brands offer a full grid construction is some form. For used sails, the grid type sails are also mostly likely to have fared well with wear, uv exposure and/or any previous abuse.
Ive only ever had Sailworks revos ( same reason as nicko ) but found them great..not too heavy & although my old ones are delaminating they are 20years old !
& still handle me catapulting into them without busting or any obvious ill effects....
Hey Andrew..if you read this I want a discount off that fin I'm going to buy!
..
Hi Scully,
Be aware that monofilm dies from uv exposure. The trouble is you can't tell if a sail has been cooked or not without destructive testing and they wont let you do that without paying and once you've paid you don't want to destroy it do you :).
Xply lasts a lot longer. Aerotech used to claim 3 times the life of monofilm (seems dubious) but even then some utter dorks dry their sails in the sun so even xply can be cooked.
Dacron lasts and lasts. Ten years or more according to Hot Sails but they are about the only people that make dacron sails.
Beginners can't go wrong with Ezzy sails. Very strong construction, balanced, forgiving and have a good tunable range. They're fairly cheap and there are a lot of good condition 2nd hand ones around (they really do last well).
Once you are at the stage where you can tell apart different sails by feel, then you might want to consider a more performance oriented sail such as Severne.
so rdm ...reduced diameter masts ...skinnies ... are only available i 100% carbon?
for alltypes of sailing?
require a new boom head?
if i had the exact same mast in sdm and rdm .. with would set better an a the same sail?
extra cost for same carbon in a rdm and sdm?
skinnies make the sail feel?
thankyou
Okay, I've only had Neil Pryde since 1998. I know for sure the NP skinnies don't work with ultra cams.
Must admit I know nothing about KA, other than seeing the heads rip out at the racing a few times on some unfortunate riders.
