Hiya ... anyone got any advice on small blades ... how twitchy / size'y they feel ... have down to a 4.0 already , cant decide wether to go 3.3 & 3.7 ... , or just a 3.5 (and dare I say 3.0 ?! ) .... does the 3.5 have enough range for mental days ... Im 76 kgs , and use maybe a 3.2 maybe 6-7 times a year , and 3.7 alot more days - good cross / cross off DTL riding etc where getting on smaller sails easier ... anybody got experience with these sizes ? Noticed for instance a big boom drop between 4.0 & 3.7 , 154 down to 146 (way more than other size jumps) .... suggesting 3.7 sits with way enough gap under a 4.0 ... And my thinking is 3.5 might be too small and twitchy sometimes sitting under the 4.0 ? Blown away by handling of bigger blades , so i'm expecting a big jump in comfort / range vs what Im using at mo in 3.2/3.7

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seabreezer said..
Hiya ... anyone got any advice on small blades ... how twitchy / size'y they feel ... have down to a 4.0 already , cant decide wether to go 3.3 & 3.7 ... , or just a 3.5 (and dare I say 3.0 ?! ) .... does the 3.5 have enough range for mental days ... Im 76 kgs , and use maybe a 3.2 maybe 6-7 times a year , and 3.7 alot more days - good cross / cross off DTL riding etc where getting on smaller sails easier ... anybody got experience with these sizes ? Noticed for instance a big boom drop between 4.0 & 3.7 , 154 down to 146 (way more than other size jumps) .... suggesting 3.7 sits with way enough gap under a 4.0 ... And my thinking is 3.5 might be too small and twitchy sometimes sitting under the 4.0 ? Blown away by handling of bigger blades , so i'm expecting a big jump in comfort / range vs what Im using at mo in 3.2/3.7

Make sure you get at 340 mast if you are going 3.6m or below, makes the sail a lot less twitchy. I even run my 4.0 on a 340 mast which works a lot better than a 370 for me at 70kg

I have a 3.3 blade with 340 severne 100% RDM (I'm 78kg). Often sits in the garage gathering dust, trying to convince me to sell it, but then last spring we had 40 knot northerlies in Melbourne where this kit came into it's own. With the 3.3 was still able to loop and shred bay waves with control. Probably could have held down a 3.7, but in that wind, every inch of control you can find becomes important, so I doubt I would've got as many loops and rides on the 3.7 and a 4.0 would've been too much. Having a good quality mast is pretty key too. Many sailors go for a tiny sail with oversized mast poking out the top. Actually better of going sail size up with correct mast and lots of downhaul, or, even better, get a decent 340 mast. Good flex in this wind is so beneficial, compared to a stiff oversized mast.
Not sure about the 3.5. Tend to get a lot more 3.7/4.0 days than 3.3 days. On a 3.7/4.0 day, the 3.3 or 3.5 will feel twitchy when underpowered. So, if you want to sail well, more than just survival on those rarer nuclear days, 3.3 would be good option, complementing 3.7 or even 4.0.
cheers,
Andy

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seabreezer said..
Hiya ... anyone got any advice on small blades ... how twitchy / size'y they feel ... have down to a 4.0 already , cant decide wether to go 3.3 & 3.7 ... , or just a 3.5 (and dare I say 3.0 ?! ) .... does the 3.5 have enough range for mental days ... Im 76 kgs , and use maybe a 3.2 maybe 6-7 times a year , and 3.7 alot more days - good cross / cross off DTL riding etc where getting on smaller sails easier ... anybody got experience with these sizes ? Noticed for instance a big boom drop between 4.0 & 3.7 , 154 down to 146 (way more than other size jumps) .... suggesting 3.7 sits with way enough gap under a 4.0 ... And my thinking is 3.5 might be too small and twitchy sometimes sitting under the 4.0 ? Blown away by handling of bigger blades , so i'm expecting a big jump in comfort / range vs what Im using at mo in 3.2/3.7

Hi, i use 3.7 and 3.3 and jump to 4.2. However in the past, going from 4.0 or 4.2 to 3.5 never gave me good result. The problem I had, when I was over on a 4.0, I was also over on a 3.5...those nuclear wind was just a notch too much...if gusty, get on and off planning quickly on the 3.5....and over on the 4.0.

I have a better result with a 3.7 that I use once in a while and it,s less on and off than the 3.5....those sail size below 4.0 don't really like gusty wind. For those super nuclear wind, I have the 3.3 and it does the trick...but probably depend a lot on the spot your sailing.

cheers feedback ... some good advice there ... looking at replies , think maybe I should have gone 3.3/3.7 ... and have the luxury of not having to take on the edge 4.0 because 3.5 seems too little etc , but made a SNAP decision to go 3.5 and see , mostly on the fact 3.5 rigs with smallish extension , but 3.7 needs 27 ish ?! , dont like using long extensions if waves are pumping ...and Ive got a couple of different rockerlines I can take to smooth out or add top-end ... if 3.5 I find is too crazy on mental days with lots of rocker I will for sure buy a 3.0 ... its always interesting dilemma getting that small sail size right ... And for sure going gorilla 340 >..

@acker - dont even think of selling that sail - I think on nuclear days theres alot of cudos in being able to still do your moves ... and that extra comfort control is everything ... I would argue Ive had a few 'glassy' 3.2 days waveriding , because when your overpowered chops seem alot bigger on the face ! , but comfortably powered you hardly notice them ... and when I have had a few some big faces nicely powered on a 3.2 , it feels like pure surfing as the tiny sail feels like nothing in the hands ...

4.0 to 3.3 is too big a jump in sail size regardless of your weight. I think the area of the sail that provides drive on a 3.3 is minuscule. I'd say 3.5 is the lower limit for what makes sense. Also remember the force of wind increases exponentially. So a 5 knt gust from 40 to 45 knots has a simnifically higher force in your sail then say a 5 knot gust at 15 knots.

I suppose on some places , once its over 4.0 , its REALLY really over ... and so might as well go super small 3.3 ... I guess that was his angle/argument which I can see as well ... Me snap picking a 3.5 as well , there was some logic in NOT having to decide between either go 3.3 or 3.7 as generally the water state is not giving any clues to either ... if its crazy windy - just rig the safe bet 3.5 (and usually more a clear difference between 4.0 & 3.5 weather visually ) ... time will tell if I need smaller ... as I can remember quite alot of days on 3.2 fully powered ... but Im hoping also a blade 3.5 has say the topend of other 3.3's & 3.4's etc ...