Can anyone recommend a super light weight powerful approx 5.8 wave sail for very light days.
Hot Sails Maui Superfreak UL is probably the lightest. Can't comment on what it's like to use though.
I have a 5.3 SuperFreak.. they are not very powerful... they need a lot of wind. Not such a good light wind sail.
The deep drafted Ezzy Waves (ie since 2007) develop heaps of lift. The New Wave Panther also, and seems even more tuneable than the Wave SEs because it stills feels good bagged out fat. Apparently the latest Panthers are lighter than the last ones too...
Cheers, Jens
PS I replaced a 2007 5.8 Wave SE with a 2009 5.5 Wave Panther, and haven't noticed a loss in drive. I have however noticed that the sail feels smaller and is easier to throw around
Thanks Jens
The wave panther has been the sail that I was thinking of getting. I have a 5.8 2007 Ezzy Wave (stock standard) which I find has the required power but it just feels heavy and really not that fun to use when bagged out. Hopefully the panther has a more agile feel. I can't seem to find anywhere what the weight difference is between the older 5.8 and the wave panther... not sure if you know? Cheers
Hi Bucket,
Having just moved from the 2007 SEs to 2009 Panthers in 5.5, 5.2 & 4.7 I reckon the key differences are that tuning is easier because for some reason it's easier to see the luff laying off towards the wind markers when you downhaul the sail, and the sails are nicer to sail fat. I still prefer sailing the Panthers with a reasonable amount of outhaul (ie as recommended by Dave Ezzy), but unlike the 2007 SEs, when you do bag them out they don't feel too bad.
The other thing I've noticed is that the Panther SE differences seem more apparent in the larger sail sizes. When I got the 5.5m Panther it really was a big improvement on the 5.8, but when comparing the 4.7 I wasn't so sure. I've still got my 4.2 SE and have no qualms about using it along side the newer Panthers.
I can't remember the Panther SE weight differences, but according to the Ezzy propaganda the 2009 Panthers were significantly lighter, and the 2010 ones even more so.
I've never sailed a 5.8 Panther, but would expect it to be more agile based on my experience with the 5.5. When I first used the 5.5 I thought it pulled like the old 5.8, but handled more like the old 5.2, so I was vey impressed and rushed to replace most of my other sails.
Cheers, Jens
