First of all - great to find a windsurfing forum this active! This is my first post here.

I would categorize myself as a progressing beginner. I have learned basics using a bic techno 183, and an old north vulcano sail, 6,4. I can beachstart, use harness, get onto the plane and tack. Cannot get through a jybe with dry hair yet.
Bought a 2019 starboard carve 131 in october, and used it a couple of times before winter (nothern europe climate) - but still getting used to that board.
I also bought a Goya nexus pro 6,4 with a 70% 430 mast - and just a few weeks later I found a 2nd hand severne apex pro 460 - so I bought that as well - as they are rarely seen 2nd hand where I live.

So.. my question would be: as a progressing beginner - wanting to build a long lasting quiver - Should build around my existing Goya rig - or sell it, and get Severne Gators/NCX? Or - can I get a Gator/NCX 7,5 as my "big sail" and then get a goya nexus 5.4 ish in addition to the 6.4 I have?)
I am asking since it looks like the two sails have pretty different characteristics from reading reviews.
My rationale for switching to Severne would be shorter boom lengths, easier to learn jybes and waterstarts - ,more mauverability? Or would the difference between the sails be minimal for me as a progressing beginner?

Also is the Gator more like a Blade in small sizes and more like the NCX in larger sizes? Is there a sigificant difference between a 7.5 Gator and a 7.5 NCX?

My wind range would be 13 - 20 knots - sailing in mostly flat water/lightly choppy. I am 40 yrs and 78 kgs. Recreational sailing between job and three kids - so want something that is plug and play when I can get away for a surf.

Thanks:)

Gators are good for progressing sailor's. Built tough and good wind range. I have 7.5 Gator and it's pretty good, I think ncx is a lighter weight sail with mono film in it Gators are entirely x ply and they look weird compared to other camless sails when rigged in that they look flat and the battens almost stick out past the mast but when you hang in the harness and get some power in there the chambered shape sort of inflates and is fairly rigid so its a bit like a cammed sail, pretty stable at speed, I guess this is how they can get a good wind range out of it. For this reason when I first got mine I had some trouble with it only because I was trying to rig it to how I think it should look but it felt terrible on the water so I took some photos put them on this forum, got the answers I needed and have had excellent sessions with it ever since. Can highly recommend a gator especially for progressing windsurfer

You're overthinking it if you think minor differences in boom length etc will affect your learning all the intermediate skills.
Just stick with whatever brand you can get where you are.
The only consideration would be durability (I like Gator for that reason) - but any no cam crossover or no cam freeride sail under 10yrs old will work for what you're doing.

^^^ additionally to my last sentence.... any sail - on the right mast..... so stick with a brand if you can, or ask here before any mix n match experiments

Select to expand quote

Gummun said..
...My rationale for switching to Severne would be shorter boom lengths, easier to learn jybes and waterstarts - ,more mauverability? Or would the difference between the sails be minimal for me as a progressing beginner?

The shorter boom length on the older and larger Gators comes predominantly from a clew cutout and not from a different aspect ratio.

The batten immediate above the clew sticks out a fair way beyond the end of the boom. Hence the 'shorter boom length' does give advantage in the practicality of not needing a longer boom and (in theory) some (very small) performance benefit in reduction in swing weight, but I am not sure it makes the sail perform like a short boomed, high aspect sail.

You could argue tall and narrow sails may feel easier to gybe, but they will also feel twitchier when sailing. They won't have as locked in, sit back and relax feel and do you have to be more active in trimming the sail all the time. In any session you spend more time going than gybing and I have never liked the feel of proper short boomed sails (the old old NP RAFs being the ultimate example), twitchy and always 'active', almost fighting against you all the time. Great for that one special session you get once in a blue moon but for the average day just too annoying.

I am not sure you will notice a difference in a Gator performance related solely to boom length. They are great sails quality, price and performance. The idea of one model with changing characteristics from 3m to 7.5m also works quite well.

If you are planning on going out and purchasing an entire quiver from 3.5 to 7.5 then heading towards Gators does make sense, one brand, one model, one 'feel' but wave to freeewave to freeride as the sizes change.

Otherwise, like Mark_Aus says, not sure it makes that much difference either way.

Instead of spending so much on building a quiver at this stage of your windsurfing career, consider spending it on a windsurfing clinic.

Learning the jibe is a journey that takes a few years for most recreational windsurfers which can be exciting and frustrating at the same time A 5 day clinic can speed things up massively, correct your bad habits before they become too hard to unlearn, are good fun and the skills you learn last longer then the quiver you can buy for the same money. I attended a few Guy Cribb clinics and can highly recommend him: his tips instantly improved my overall sailing and the few core skills he will initially focus on, are really the foundation for everything else in windsurfing. I have seen other clinics that were not so great, so a bit of research might be a good idea before signing up