I recently read an article from Peter Hart for lightweight sailors, its mentioned that full carbon masts are better for lightweights. I am assuming it's because they flex faster therefore exhaust the gust faster, or do they flex more too?

I only have 400 G2 and 430 Blue masts from Severne so its hard to conclude for me considering many different things effect the feel. But i feel 430 Blue mast at 26cm extension (6.5 gator) is softer than 400 G2 at 34cm extension (5.6 s1). My problem is i feel 4.7 blade feels too stiff with 4cm ext (recommended) on G2, at 5+cm it feels a little better but sail looks out of shape with wrinkle at all the way to mid panel.

Anyone who tried g2, blue and red in a comparable way?
Do you think its worth upgrading g2 to blue or red mast?

I use G2 and Blue RDMs in different lengths also. G2 for my smallest 3, blue for my largest 3. I do not notice any sail set difference. Feel - well I don't know as it s different size sail on a different mast in much stronger / lighter winds, and I've not tried the same size sail on G2 / blue /red masts. Feel is pretty damn close though.
But as I said, the sail sets exactly the same for me on G2 vs Blueline.

The numbers are not always correct, so if rec downhaul is still not enough, just give it more.
Picture of your sail at rec downhaul would be a help?

I think your comparison on feel is not very valid, as a Gator is a powerful wavesail crossover to freeride....with lots of forward drive.....and the S1 is a very new school wave sail with high CoE and lift due to it. Opposites....

I have a mixture of Redline, Blueline and Gorilla masts and all work with my Severne sails.
Before you can feel differences in carbon content I find altering downhaul and outhaul settings makes a bigger or more noticeable change to the sail's performance.

With downhaul, even an extra half cm can make quite a difference sometimes and it's then important to note that the sail settings given are just for guidance.
Note too, that a different extension will need a different setting than the numbers marked if it's not a Severne extension.
Plus the collar used on our extensions has changed and the metal hinged collar sits lower than the plastic collar with a separate pin - with the latter therefore giving you more downhaul for the same extension number marked.
In short, don't be afraid to add another notch of extension if you find that makes the sail feel better.

When you add more downhaul, you usually need to tighten the outhaul too, to keep some positive cloth tension at the sail clew.

The main benefits of a higher carbon content mast are in the weight savings, and having just a few less grams waving about in the air means the rig is more chuckable in the transitions, less tiring, and therefore perhaps you can sail longer. The whippiness is also felt when pumping the sail and when driving hard as gusts hit.
I'm a relatively lightweight sailor, and like a lightweight rig with a high carbon mast. But the heavier guy will probably also like the same rig.

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Sea Lotus said..
I recently read an article from Peter Hart for lightweight sailors, its mentioned that full carbon masts are better for lightweights. I am assuming it's because they flex faster therefore exhaust the gust faster, or do they flex more too?

I only have 400 G2 and 430 Blue masts from Severne so its hard to conclude for me considering many different things effect the feel. But i feel 430 Blue mast at 26cm extension (6.5 gator) is softer than 400 G2 at 34cm extension (5.6 s1). My problem is i feel 4.7 blade feels too stiff with 4cm ext (recommended) on G2, at 5+cm it feels a little better but sail looks out of shape with wrinkle at all the way to mid panel.

Anyone who tried g2, blue and red in a comparable way?
Do you think its worth upgrading g2 to blue or red mast?

Lighter..us lightweights need as much help as we can get....can't comment on the stiffness

Thanks for the replies.
Upgrading an old aliminium boom to a good carbon one made a huge difference in weight feel of rig, now i have no problem in weight department, so if its mainly for weight savings then i prefer not to upgrade, plus G2 should be more durable.

I use 32cm(rec)+2cm for S-1 to make it feel good but sail looks ok, when i do that with blade its harder to downhaul and sail looks bad and loses some power, i will take pictures with 4cm and 5cm extensions next time and get your opinions.

I once had the oppurtunity to change straight from a sail rigged on a gorilla to the same sail rigged on a red rdm (a friend and me swapped to feel the difference.). The difference was quite noticeable when pumping at the very least.

on what PH said. I don't think the benefits are limited to lighter sailors. He probably said it knowing a lot of lighter sailors steer clear of stiffer masts as theres a general perception that softer is better if youre lighter, and stiffer is the realm of the larger sailors.


stiffer is better for everyone.


until it snaps

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Subsonic said..
I once had the oppurtunity to change straight from a sail rigged on a gorilla to the same sail rigged on a red rdm (a friend and me swapped to feel the difference.). The difference was quite noticeable when pumping at the very least.

on what PH said. I don't think the benefits are limited to lighter sailors. He probably said it knowing a lot of lighter sailors steer clear of stiffer masts as theres a general perception that softer is better if youre lighter, and stiffer is the realm of the larger sailors.


stiffer is better for everyone.


until it snaps

I thought stiffer masts meant that the sail wouldn't twist off enough for a lighter sailor?

I prefer the higher carbon content masts like the redline and new blue 90, i'm a heavy sailor and find the lower carbon masts tend to feel spongy where as the higher carbon content masts react faster, hold the sail shape better pumping, through chop and when the bigger gusts hit, i also use the carbon enigma booms which makes a massive difference.