Hi. I've recently come back to windsurfing after a bit of a hiatus, and am looking to replace my dated hodge-podge of gear with something a bit more coherent. Currently while I get going again I'm doing a lot of freeride, but in the not-too-distant future, would like to get into wave and dabble in freestyle. My question is where best to look for an all-round sail. ie, if I buy a quiver of wave sails, will they do me okay for freeriding, and if so, does the type of wave sail (number of battens etc) matter?

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DoktaDave said..
Hi. I've recently come back to windsurfing after a bit of a hiatus, and am looking to replace my dated hodge-podge of gear with something a bit more coherent. Currently while I get going again I'm doing a lot of freeride, but in the not-too-distant future, would like to get into wave and dabble in freestyle. My question is where best to look for an all-round sail. ie, if I buy a quiver of wave sails, will they do me okay for freeriding, and if so, does the type of wave sail (number of battens etc) matter?

Just one aspect to think about. If you like freeriding on flat water with other windsurfers, what you'll find is that people on more dedicated freeride, freerace, slalom/race sails will be faster than you and always overtaking on all points of sail, if that doesnt bother you, then wavesails are fine, if it does bother you then thats when they're limiting.

What hardie said, and:

most of the major sail brands have crossover sails which serve you a share in both worlds. Eg severne gator.

Its ultimately down to what you want to do with your sailing. If you want to spend a lot of time wave sailing/freestyle with the odd bit of bump and jump out the back then a more dedicated wave sail quiver would be better.

If you want to do some wave sailing/freestyle but still do some dedicated freeriding time, then a crossover sail quiver might better suit your needs.

more battens =more sail stability but also more weight.

less battens=less weight (things are easier to flick around/more nimble) but less sail stability.

For sails under 5.5 or so, allround wave sails (four or five battens) are fine for just about anything. Above that, a cross over or freeride sail is usually a better choice. But, as been said, more info is needed. Conditions, skill level, board(s), type of sailing, budget...

Wave sails can work anywhere, with some limitations that have been mentioned, but most any other kind of sail works horribly in the waves.
If that helps or simplifies things for you.

Thanks for your help! I think your comments have helped to sort things out for me. I'm not too concerned about getting passed going in a straight line, so it sounds like wave sails or a crossover are probably the way to go.