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Swat

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Created by windgeorge > 9 months ago, 25 Dec 2010
windgeorge
WA, 108 posts
25 Dec 2010 8:42AM
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Used my new Severne Swat 5.7 for the first time yday.What great sail easy to rig was light ,heaps of power Here is the best bit $650 brand new sail .Severne are on to it, make windsurfing cheaper.

swoosh
QLD, 1928 posts
25 Dec 2010 11:51AM
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Good to see other people who love this sail as well. I bought a 2010 5.7 second hand on a whim at the start of the year to try out and haven't looked back. Just got a 2011 5.2, and I'm thinking about a new 5.7 and a severne mast to suit.

For me 75kg wannabe freestyle/ wavesailor and part time free rider-
Pro's:
-light sail that rigs on a 400 mast which saves even more weight. Light weight means I'm trying more stuff then ever, with such a light sail it doesn't fatigue you as much constantly up hauling and water starting. It also means that I can now cover my whole quiver from 5.7 to 4.5 with one mast.
-performance, has an awesome amount of grunt down low keeps up for me with any other sail out there in a similar size and many other sails in larger sizes.
-build, 100 percent x ply.
-price, ridiculously low. A similar np sail for example is 1000 retail, with questionable benefits for being 50 percent more expensive. Nothing against np, the story is the same with most of the sail brands as well.

Cons:
-range, I find that I definitely will change down earlier with this sail then I did with my previous sails. This is a trade off I think you make with most sails giving up stability and top end speed for weight and manoeuvrability. Thou I'm using mine with a powerex mast so performance is probably better with the manufacturers mast
-top end speed as mentioned above, its just not as fast as my old sail which was a simmer icon.

For me this sail hits the spot for a great combination of light weight grunt and manoeuvrability for an unbeatably low price. There are sails that perform better in certain aspects for example the s1 is I believe even lighter, but none for anywhere near that price.

Call me a fan.

windgeorge
WA, 108 posts
25 Dec 2010 12:01PM
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You hit the nail on head ,

CJW
NSW, 1726 posts
26 Dec 2010 2:55PM
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Count me in as a convert too! I used to be a bigtime Ezzy fanboy, still am, but due to a few factors such as weight, wanting to do more freestyle, cost and super positive feedback from those who own them I bought a 5.2 SWAT to try.

The first thing I noticed was the weight, it is MEGA light, as swoosh mentioned the S1 is about 100g or so lighter but the SWAT is still an incredibly light sail. The low end grunt seems really good, better than my Ezzy's i'd say but it definitely suffers in the top end stakes; then again I don't think you'll find a non cammed sail that is more stable than an Ezzy panther, they are insanely stable. They also run a large boom cutout hence have a very short boom (5.2 swat runs a shorter boom length than my 4.7 ezzy) and also have a straight cut foot which is great for FS and waves as you hardly ever chafe your shins on it.

Basically if you are after a light, cheap, strong, grunty, super flickable wave/freestyle sail I don't think there is much else on the market at the moment that can compete on price/performance, I have since ordered a 4.7 and a 5.7

Note: I rig mine on an Ezzy 400 (similar to powerex), it seems to rig ok, would be interested to see it rigged on a Severne mast to note the differences, it might improve the top end somewhat as it looks like it wants a slightly stiffer top mast, someone else might be able to add some light to this?

Pros:
-weight
-cost
-short boom
-straight cut foot
-low end grunt
-100% xply

Cons:
-top end a bit sketchy
-fairly bland if you're into bling but they are that price for a reason and I applaud Severne for it...legends!



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