Bought a gun sail bag prior to xmas due to the familly wanting more room in the station wagon on trips away which enabled me to get all of the kit out of the car and onto the roof.

i now have a gun mast bag, boom bag and sail bag and they are all exceptionally built and tough.

the sail bag is great. it fits all of my sails easily and has plenty of zippers to access the gear from different locations. it also has tie down points that allowed me to tie down the bag to the racks without crushing the sails. it's long enough to take a 490 / 2 piece mast inside and can also connect to a gun mast bag aswell, which is how i had it setup.

i tested all the gear out over the last few days with a trip to the goldcoast.

once tied onto the roof i could easily access all of my sails and mast through the end zippers without the need to untie or remove anything. then when i finished the session i just pushed the masts and sails easily back into the bags still tied to the roof racks. it was all very easy.

the trip to the coast was during 30 knot winds and heavy rain. the car was then parked outside over night and driven to the sailing location in the morning. when i got to the beach to rig up i pulled the sails and masts out of the bags and everything was dry. even after all of the rain.

next is to see how much gear i can fit into the seperable compartments in the sail bag.

I am well impressed with the gun gear bags and it's cheaper than a trailer.

update,

i sorted all of my gear this morning and tried the sail bag a few different ways.

at the short length for the bag i managed to fit my 8.5 sail in as well as my shorter wave sails.

the compartments in the bag are split into 2 areas sewn into the floor of the bag. the first is the built in mast compartment and just in front of that is a small compartment that can receive extensions etc. both of these areas could be used for other gear and the great part is that the bigger compartment for 1-2 / 2 piece masts is still accessible from the end flap of the bag meaning the bag can be left on the roof while accessing the gear.

still my preferred setup is in combi mode with the seperate mast bag attached.

Gestalt, I bought the Combi setup aswell, really gets everything together in a very organised maner - very happy with it

I've been looking at sail bags for the same reason, a quick question though. How far apart are the "metal loops" that you can run a strap through to secure to roof racks?

hi slamdunk,

i'll measure mine tonight and let you know.

i can say that they didn't line up with the racks on the comodore station wagon but this wasn't a problem cause i have the mast bag underneath. i would assume if you put your masts in the sail bag in the bottom compartment this would have the same outcome too.

anyways i'll post the outcome tonight.

Thanks for that - I was looking at using the mast bag as well, but thought it might need the extra security?

I think it's time to buy my own van again. Ever since I moved to WA from NSW I've missed my old van, and having to share the car with the wife and kid is not working too well.

The Neil Pryde all in one bag has the mast compartment below. Zips on each side, front and back, then allow you to strap the mast section to your roof rack. The two upper sections then have room for up to 3 booms and 4-5 sails, that are also collapsible so they wont flap around too much if not fully loaded. The upper section has no tension applied to it when strapped to the roof. Some have wheels at one end to make moving em around really easy.
I had one before getting a Delica. It was a great bag.

I'm now starting to think that the Delica would in fact be the perfect "sail bag"

You know it makes sense.
The perfect windsurfing vehicle is a van.
6 boards, 13 sails, 5 booms and 8 masts all fit in a LWB Delica.
You still have room for camping gear, food for 2 and the engel full of beer

Its good that the Gun Bag seems waterproof. I went on a 5 week trip last year with an Aerotech sail bag on the roof, and it was'nt waterproof, luckerly it did'nt rain much otherwise it would of meant drying the sails out or face the mildew monster. I wanted to buy the Gun bag at the time but they were all sold out

Another thing to consider is fuel consumption, with a board or 2 and sail bag full of sails on the roof, full consumptions takes a huge hit.

hi slamdunk,

i measured the rings, they are 920mm apart. measured my roof racks and they are 1250mm apart.

Hi Hagar,

i wouldn't say the bag is water proof. but as i said in my review no water got into it during rain. i think Gun refer to it as water resistant or something like that.

prob does chew more fuel having all the gear on the roof but we must make sacrifices for the familly.

Thanks Gestalt.

Did you find the sail bag secure when combined with the mast bag and only putting straps over the mast bag?

Hi Slamdunk,

i tied it down by threading the strap through the sailbag eyelets while going between the mast bag and sail bag.