Hi all,
Wondering what bend curve mast other than severne would work for 2017 7.5 gator, I have a 460 RDM gorilla but I've been told the bigger gators are meant to have SDM masts and severne says their masts are severne bend curve, which I have no idea what that means. I really don't want to buy another severne mast at the moment but I have a 2011 north gold 70% sdm mast and an old year unknown fibrespar sdm, wondering if either of these would work?

Why not just try the RDM 460 gorilla and see how it going. Might work great ???

I have A 2017 GATOR and it works better on my 460 gorilla rdm than on a SDM mast ! despite what serverne says , try your gator on the gorilla you will; be pleasantly surprised !! cheers john

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mob dog said..
Hi all,
Wondering what bend curve mast other than severne would work for 2017 7.5 gator, I have a 460 RDM gorilla but I've been told the bigger gators are meant to have SDM masts and severne says their masts are severne bend curve, which I have no idea what that means. I really don't want to buy another severne mast at the moment but I have a 2011 north gold 70% sdm mast and an old year unknown fibrespar sdm, wondering if either of these would work?

Thought gators were built with both,
Im pretty sure i've used a gator with an rdm with no issues.

I've used a Gator 7.5 with a 460 rdm Ezzy Hookipa and it was fine enough with a little bit of overpower, but it is also a 2021?

In 2017 I had a go on a 2 cam Severne Turbo with RDM mast and it was fine. I would have thought the Gator would be fine too.

I normally use on lake Como an 8 meter Gator (2016?) with a 460 gorilla mast. It works great for me. It's probably less stiff than an SDM but that's actually a plus, because it bends under heavy gusts and remains usable even with stronger winds than it's made for. So perhaps not the fastest sail with this combo, but it's very light, manageable and covers a wide range of winds.

It depends a little on the specific mast but a North mast is unlikely to work very well. The North bend curve is way on the flex-top end of "Constant Curve" and the Severne is near the hard-top end of that range. One thing you can try is mating the top section of something like a Nolimitz 460 with the bottom section of a 430. That yields something more like a hard-top. For a subtler, more CC curve you could mate a Sumo 460 top with Skinny base section. You can do the same thing with Ezzy Hookipa masts. The old Fiberspar may actually work ok - many of those had a bend around 11.5, where older North/NP run 14-16.

When I got back into the sport. I went to the 2012 Gators 4.7 right to the 7.5. All on RDM Gorillas. No issues. And how good was it was, a 1 boom set up as well

Then I went to the Overdrives same 5.1 to 7.8 RDM Gorillas. Later changed to RDM 90% which was blue from memory.

Use it, enjoy it, have fun and then send it!!

My 2 cents worth!

Guess I'll just keep using the gorilla then, just wanted to try an sdm because severne says that for the larger sizes, I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway

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mob dog said..
Guess I'll just keep using the gorilla then, just wanted to try an sdm because severne says that for the larger sizes, I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway

You have the other mast already - try it, I bet you would be able to tell the difference could be good could be bad !

Search for Unifiber mast selector which compares masts. I have Severne 2-cam Turbo on a Simmer mast. The selector says mast is too flexy at the top but a sail tester was on the beach one days and says it sailed fine. Only problem I have is that it sometimes looks OK if I've rushed rigging but cams pop off, so I apply another 1-2cm of downhaul and all good.

Tried 3 different additional masts in the sail now
1. 2011 North gold 70% sdm
2. Old fibrespar sdm
3.2021 chinook 70% rdm
They all seem to feel and look the same as gorilla mast in the sail, then I run in to a guy yesterday using a neil pryde mast in a 6.5 gator, now that's a "flex top" mast in a "hard top" sail and he said it works fine for him. I'm starting to become a bit sceptical about all this different bend curve business. What actually makes a full blown hard top differ from a flex top at the opposite end of the scale? Is it wall thickness/ taper of the mast or something else? Can't find an explanation for this anywhere, not even in unifiber website. I smell marketing hype so I will buy same brand masts as sails which I have always tried to do but now I'm not so sure.

There are definitely differences in the bend curve of different masts. Even within the same brand one will find noticeable differences, like e.g. a severne mast from around 2010 compared to what they use today.

Severne mast were hard-top before about 2012 I think and after that they have moved towards constant curve.

Can you rig and post photos? Recreational use? What type of conditions?
Freeride sais are usually more cc anyway.

People of lighter weight will often find a flex top mast works better for them as it usually flattens the mid section of the sail and gives more twist.

I remember an interview with Dunkerbeck when he was at Pryde saying he always uses a mast at least 1 usually 2 stiffness's more than the recommended as he likes it fuller with less twist.