Naish Force 3 2016 version

Hi all, thought I would share my thoughts is the 2016 Naish 3 batten forces. I have been using Force 5's for a few years now. I bought a 2012 quiver originally and upgraded to the 2016's last year. The main difference I noticed with the 16's is they rig with a lot less down haul and tune more on the outhaul, similar to the newer Goya banzai'. The result seems to give the sails more stability over a wider wind range. Both he 12's and 16's have loads of power as we've come to expect from 5 batten sails.
Having sailed the Banzai's on trips away and being very impressed with the performance of the 4 batten setup it started me thinking about the 3 batten Naish's. long storey short I got a 4.5 and 5.0 for my 85 and 105 Quatro cube's respectively. I've had a chance to use both in cross off conditions and have to say I really like them . They rig with a touch more down haul than the Force 5's and just enough outhaul to keep the sail off the boom when powered up . I would recommend longer than normal lines, I'm on 34" MFC's which seem to work well as my stance is a bit more upright when sailing with the Force 3's.
General sailing is fine, obviously the sail isn't as solid feeling as a 5 batten ,but getting upwind quickly isn't a problem . Dealing with gusts is easy enough as the longer lines and slightly more upright stance makes sheeting out very natural. Lulls, well the sail seems to find a bit extra to keep u planing effortlessly. Jumping is great as the light feel of these sails will give confidence in rotations . Which brings me to wave riding . On dropping in for my first bottom turn I was stoked with the combination of light feel and power as I bottom turned, moving up into the lip I felt the transition is a lot smoother and easier than the pull that my 5 battens offer.
Would I want a full quiver , probably not, however as 80% of my cross off wave sailing is on a 4.7 having a 3 batten in your most used size will definitely come in handy if you are lucky enough to sail in DTL conditions.
See you at Maheroraty
Rob

Nice write up, did you by any chance consider or tried the Force Four?
Considering them to replace my Naish Sessions, but can't find any write ups.

Hi Nat, I have the Force 4 in 3.7m for those super mental days. I rigged it on a 370 firestick but wasn't happy with either shape or how it sailed. As luck would have it a mate on the beach had a Maverx 340 85% brand new for sale. I quickly re-rigged using the 340 and hit the water. the difference was amazing, the sail feels very smooth compared to my old 5batten 3.7 force. Power delivery seemed very steady and the sail handled extremely well. As Naish seemed to have binned 3batten sails for 2018 I would say the 4 batten is a good option .Just make sure to get the right mast.