So wots the diff btween the blades and s-1? I'm keen 2 try sumthing new this season and get a quiver of severne's but not sure which sail is right 4 me. I sail at scabs and currently use ezzy's.
Cheers.
DTL
the blades give you more power in the bottom turn in onshore stuff, as they lock the drive into the mast foot. The power comes from closer to the mast so you get instant response to sheeting in. they are grunty without being overbearing and as the boom is quite short they don't have too much back hand pressure if you don't want it. IMO they give good push thru the shore break for places like scarbs. I found stability to be excllent when overpowered and I don't weigh much so they don't throw me around.
the s-1 is a bit flickier and softer but still gives good power and suits dtl conditions where I haven't heard anyone not like them for the light feel.
If you like the pulling feeling of the ezzy's you may like the drive from the blades most. As with most sails now they are all good but just have slight differences in feel that are getting harder to describe with out speaking garbage.
Pm me if you want to arrange a go on my sails. I have a 5.3 and 4.7 you can demo.
cheers
Paul
Thanks Paul. I know wot u mean about not speaking garbage. I use 2 have a couple of Tushie rock's and didn't really like the way they sat behind the mast once rigged. The Ezzy's seem 2 have that preset profile. How do the severne's sit on the mast once rigged?
Cheers
DTL
I have S1 experience;
lower-2 battens are connected to the mast, all the upper battens are free to rotate
(using them with powerex RDM 91)
The "where do the battens sit on the mast" question is a bit of an untidy question.
Where the battens are supposed to set and where the punter rigs the sails are two different things. As most people have a different idea/ view / experience that they like.
eg. the ezzy's set so different to anything else - it either suits you or not but is nothing like you would set any other sail.
Many people who complain about one sail type do not even set it according to the instructions but "its the way I rigg all my sails..."
Or you need to consider if you like "preset sail rotation" sails like the blade, alpha, poison, where the battens sit in the middle of the mast at all times around the boom area and then pull away at the top of the sail. ie power sails
versus
flatter sails like the session, zone, manic and S-1 that have less rotation at the boom - more like sitting 1/3rd behind the mast and then very flat from just above the boom all the way to the top.
there are sails that allow both settings and others that feel like rubbish rigged any other way than designer intended.
Having said that I do know people very happy with sails rigged completely wrong, so so much if it is now how you like the rig to feel.
A classic example is the article in windsurf mag with Kauli - a whole new sail has been designed and marketed around him from two different manufacturers. But he says he rigs with almost no real downhaul and no outhaul. His battens sit behind the front 1/3rd of the mast. Now most people who buys these sails will rig them completely differently and more likely as the designer intends. That is why he was on a 4.4m in 15 knots at Cabo verde with all the other sailors on 4.7 to 5.8 sails.
The blades have a full set until you pull out more outhaul while the S-1 has less fullness but It also depends on if you run the skinny mast (S-1 is a must) whlie the blade pefers a skinny.
longwinded I know.
I got both, but are tending to the blades for waves. I think the inside section at scarbs would prefer the blade rather than the s1. I find that for the evo 75 I need a bigger fin and bigger sail for the s1's. DTL the s1's are real sweet when your powered up and they can handle a lot of power. Then again I had a 5.0m2 blade last weekend in 15 to 30 knots and the 30 knots was just managable.
I used the 4.7 blade today in survival sailing mode as the mother load of a gust came through. It was rigged very flat but behaved beautifully. I actually commented to the others on the beach how it was quite amazing how the modern sails can be used maxed out with out pulling you around or slamming you into the water like they used to. Some slamming got done but mainly when trying to gybe. I would not normally consider trying to use a 4.7 in 25 to 35 knots, but inside in the impact zone and near the beach there was no wind, so it required all or nothing.
The battens were not set on the mast, but pulled right away. Normally this would not be good for general sailing but it felt fine when hanging on for grim death. The sail still worked very well.
Sloth was on his s-1 at the same time and just did not look bothered by anything the wind could throw at him.
Everyone was getting thrown around by the wind but no-one was blaming their sails. The moral of the story is that you would like most sails in these conditions if you pull them flat. But for summer scarbs sailing Poida is spot on saying the blade will give you a bit more power to push thu the shore break, but you can pull the battens away from the mast if you want to.
cheers
Paul
I tryed severne for the first time last season,I brought a 2007 S-1 5.3,I used to sail Ezzy but will never go back,loved the s-1 5.3 and used it for most sessions last season, i have just brought a 5.6 s-1.i have a mate who has Blades and isnt to happy with them.The S-1 feels so light gives you the power of bigger sail but feels like a smaller size,suggest you demo them before you buy a whole quiver.
