I've got a Severne Enigma 160-210. Luckily it accommodates all of my sails - from 4.5 to 6.5. The smaller size booms, e.g 140-190 are a lot narrower and are marketed as "wave specific". Is there any advantage to be had by using a smaller boom on the smaller sail sizes?

The main thing I notice on my enigma 140 vs my largers is: it's lighter, smaller (easier to put in the back of my car), and the smaller grip diameter is much more comfortable for me.

Weight starts to matter when I carry it 1/4mi to the beach from the parking lot, which I haven't had to do lately because this isn't the windy season...

Totally different feel from the larger 210 race Enigma which has a very thick grip, and from my midsize booms which are a little bigger but not as thick as the race boom.

-How much do you use your small sails?
-Are all your masts rdm?
-Do you have a second mast extension so an extra boom will allow you keep a whole extra rig set up on the beach?

My thought is that a 140 enigma boom is only 1mm smaller in the grip than the 160 but the 140 has alot narrower tail. So If you're a wave guy into small sails most of the time get the smaller boom cause it will be worth it when throwing the rig around. If you're into bump and jump and the 4.5 rigs OK on the 160 I wouldn't worry because the 160 is great for this purpose and then spend the $$ on something else to make your quiver better.


For reference I have an enigma 150 but looked at all of them when buying.

I find the narrower diameter really nice to hang onto.

Does anyone make a 180 -240 carbon boom any more? Or is it 190 - 240 or 180 - 230. Sizing is all over the place from what I seen

As the booms get smaller, the width between the boom arms gets narrower. This puts you nearer to the sail. So for small wave sails, I guess this is an advantage in how they sail feels and handles. I don't wave pro, so I could be wrong.

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AusMoz said..
Does anyone make a 180 -240 carbon boom any more? Or is it 190 - 240 or 180 - 230. Sizing is all over the place from what I seen

If you buy the same brand sail/boom you'd think that they'd match sizes in a fashion. Same with mast sizes too. I use NP and use 3 booms but 1 is really only for 4/5&5.0 wave sails otherwise it's 160-220&175-215 depending on the sails needs (draft depth & adj outhaul options)

I had a favourite Enigma. As a female , light weight is very important to me.
I put an order in for another the same but when it came they'd changed it to a wave end so I couldn't use my adjustable outhaul.
I had to change it to the next one up which is heavier with a bigger diameter....

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sboardcrazy said..
I had a favourite Enigma. As a female , light weight is very important to me.
I put an order in for another the same but when it came they'd changed it to a wave end so I couldn't use my adjustable outhaul.
I had to change it to the next one up which is heavier with a bigger diameter....

I think you can swap the race/wave cups out on enigmas but I'm not 100%. I ended up with a chinook boom because it seemed like the only option for the size I wanted that could also do adjustable outhaul. Hard to find smaller rdm/sdm booms that have the pulleys in the back.

I use an old carbon Windsurfing Hawaii 160-220, a little long (6 cm) for the 4.5 at 160 and fine for the 8.0 at around 196. Grip is good size, but I have XXL large hands, so relative. Has adjustable outhaul tail and feels light compared to my carbon Epic 200-260.

I use my 140 - 190 NP X9 on my 5.0 m.

Also used 180 - 230 Enigma with 15 cm excess boom length.

No performance difference though with he heavier Enigma it felt more solid and the extra weight possibly helps to keep the board down in the gusts.

The feel is lighter with the shorter boom. More throw about yes. For wave sailors it might make a difference.

Going from a 160 to a 140 boom for slalom sailing i see no benefit.

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aeroegnr said..

sboardcrazy said..
I had a favourite Enigma. As a female , light weight is very important to me.
I put an order in for another the same but when it came they'd changed it to a wave end so I couldn't use my adjustable outhaul.
I had to change it to the next one up which is heavier with a bigger diameter....

I think you can swap the race/wave cups out on enigmas but I'm not 100%. I ended up with a chinook boom because it seemed like the only option for the size I wanted that could also do adjustable outhaul. Hard to find smaller rdm/sdm booms that have the pulleys in the back.

I'll ask about that although I think the smaller one may have more of a wave type shape..