Seeking some advice on the choice of some sails for my son who is just outgrowing his childrens rig and needs to move on to sails in the 4.2 to 5.3 range. As a flat water sailor would wave sails be OK or do we need to go to freeride style sails? Having not used a wave sail for over 20 yrs I'm not sure of their suitability for just general purpose sailing, have they become too specialised?

Thanks

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gh said...

Seeking some advice on the choice of some sails for my son who is just outgrowing his childrens rig and needs to move on to sails in the 4.2 to 5.3 range. As a flat water sailor would wave sails be OK or do we need to go to freeride style sails? Having not used a wave sail for over 20 yrs I'm not sure of their suitability for just general purpose sailing, have they become too specialised?

Thanks

Height and weight?

Age and skill level?
Has he shown particular interest in a specific discipline eg freestyle, slalom, waves or formula?
How long has he been sailing?
What boards and sails has he been using?

Height and weight - 1.7m approx, 45kg

14yrs old and just starting to get into the straps, setup at present is JP young Gun 114litres and a Gaastra Maverick 3.4.

Hasn't shown any particular interest in any discipline as basically still developing skills. Been sailing for about four summers, unfortunately don't get a lot of water time.

Height wise is just about outgrown present rig (not weight wise) and as stated just considering which way to go in the future.

maybe look at some of the smaller four batten wavesails. they are strong, versatile and very light. especially on a decent skinny mast.
if he wants to start getting into freestyle or wavesailing (both of which are more likely than racing etc) in the future then it will do the job nicely.

wave sails work fine as flatwater sails.

I agree with Gestalt.
I only have wave sails, and they work jest fine as general purpose sails.
They are light, stable, good wind range and plenty fast enough.

Agreed - wave sails work just fine.

Knowing young people, he will not be far off trying flash stuff and before you know it he will be chucking spocks and vulcans etc so the durability of wave sails may be a great benefit. I'd think about X-ply wave sails, probably more stable 5 batten models as they will be a little better in freeride usage

Thanks everybody thats what I wanted to know. As I said, haven't used a wave sail for so long wasn't sure what they are like for general use.

Cheers