Yoohoo wave freaks,

I sail cabarete, side-side-on to side-on. 1.4-3m.
Gusty, lulls of about 15 knots, gusts short annoying bursts of 25 not super strong. Wind can be quite low in the waves.

For my 70kgs, I really like 4.7 as a do everything surface. From surf sailing in 13-21 knots to solid 18-25 knots. Preferred boards are mid-80L pure wave boards (need to turn nicely off of the front foot).

Sail requirements:
- Nice range
- Easy power dialing
- Smooth but can be quite direct power delivery
- Super flicky, depowerable, throw about
- Durable
- Pumpable to move about when light
- Not physical
- Stable / Reliable

What's your sail recommendation?
Some suggestions: hot sails superfreak, Neilpryde combat, Ezzy Taka, Sailworks revo.

I thought the Ezzy elite was nice, very easy, maybe not quite as depowering, a bit slow reacting, boring? I love being just right to maybe slightly underpowered, throw forwards and backies. Love shedding waves and sending wave 360s. I love the north sails zeta, perfect for me in all aspects.

Water state often a total mess.

Thanks all and I know I'm in denial, I should be on fsw boards with a 5.0!

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Manuel7 said..
Yoohoo wave freaks,

I sail cabarete, side-side-on to side-on. 1.4-3m.
Gusty, lulls of about 15 knots, gusts short annoying bursts of 25 not super strong. Wind can be quite low in the waves.

For my 70kgs, I really like 4.7 as a do everything surface. From surf sailing in 13-21 knots to solid 18-25 knots. Preferred boards are mid-80L pure wave boards (need to turn nicely off of the front foot).

Sail requirements:
- Nice range
- Easy power dialing
- Smooth but can be quite direct power delivery
- Super flicky, depowerable, throw about
- Durable
- Pumpable to move about when light
- Not physical
- Stable / Reliable

What's your sail recommendation?
Some suggestions: hot sails superfreak, Neilpryde combat, Ezzy Taka, Sailworks revo.

I thought the Ezzy elite was nice, very easy, maybe not quite as depowering, a bit slow reacting, boring? I love being just right to maybe slightly underpowered, throw forwards and backies. Love shedding waves and sending wave 360s. I love the north sails zeta, perfect for me in all aspects.

Water state often a total mess.

Thanks all and I know I'm in denial, I should be on fsw boards with a 5.0!

For Hotsails the KS3 is the sail I would recommend, it ticks all those boxes. It has unbelievable range, yet is very "flicky" & depowers extremely well. The low & forward draft makes the sail very fast but not too settled. I would say the only sailor who will not like the KS3 are those that prefer a more back hand power delivery & like to feel more locked down in a straight line. I have heard that the latest Ezzy Taka is very good as well. The Hot Superfreak is what I would call a "marmite" sail: some love, it some hate it. Personally I liked the "ME" version but I think it may be a bit soft & sedate feeling for you.

Thanks for the quick feedback! How does the ks3 compare to TheFly 2016?

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Manuel7 said..
Thanks for the quick feedback! How does the ks3 compare to TheFly 2016?

I don't know for sure as I have not sailed the latest version... but I have heard the Fly has less top end range & more centered pull(more back hand...) Also I believe the 2016 Fly is going to be quite a bit heavier. Could only find weights on 2019 Fly 4.5 weigh over 3kg where the KS3 4.6 is 2.75? I can vouch that the KS3 is very light!

I found TheFly very fast, quite direct (too much?), when overpowered my confidence would drop. A bit more finicky to tune. It's great on a wave, a bit difficult to finesse when slogging, had to move front hand forward to quickly pull power off when needed.
It was 4.8 but felt like 5.0 and yes I could feel the wide boom.

I don't think anyone liked the Fly.

S1 Pro.

Point 7 Salt r worth a look - luv my 5.3 and 92 goya tri or 2020 105 fanatic freewave

Nobody mentioned masts. If you have Ezzy masts already why not look at the new Ezzy Wave?

I would tell you to buy the hands down best wave sail I've ever used (KS3), but they prefer a flex top mast.

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philn said..
I would tell you to buy the hands down best wave sail I've ever used (KS3), but they prefer a flex top mast.

goya fringe 4.7 2020/2021

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philn said..
I would tell you to buy the hands down best wave sail I've ever used (KS3), but they prefer a flex top mast.

Thought he was on Neil Pryde which might work .. but if Ezzy go Taka...

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philn said..
I would tell you to buy the hands down best wave sail I've ever used (KS3), but they prefer a flex top mast.

Seems highly praised, how about the short and tout profile?
Running Ezzy masts. Wonder if they'd flex enough to bleed up top while retaining some profile down below.

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sprayblaze said..
goya fringe 4.7 2020/2021

How does it compare with simmer tricera.
Had the banzai, felt similar to TheFly. Plus, the banzai got destroyed fairly quickly.

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gorgesailor said..

Thought he was on Neil Pryde which might work .. but if Ezzy go Taka...

Isn't the taka even less direct than the Elite? Precise power dialing?

My pick for your conditions would be the new Ezzy Wave, it ticks a lot of the boxes. It's light, manoeuvrable, planes early, easy handling, massive tuning range. The only thing is it doesn't go quite as neutral when de-powering as the Taka, but I think that would be a positive for your conditions, more usable power in gusty/ onshore winds. If sailing predominantly DTL I would pick the Taka, but anything with a bit (or a lot) of onshore, or gusty conditions I would go the Wave. They are both awesome sails though!!!
Ive ordered a new set of the 2021 Waves, just waiting for them to arrive in the country

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sprayblaze said..

philn said..
I would tell you to buy the hands down best wave sail I've ever used (KS3), but they prefer a flex top mast.

goya fringe 4.7 2020/2021

I have a 2019 Fringe. It's great in slog and ride or barely planing wind in cross or cross off conditions. But it reaches its top end very quickly (the sail kinda "collapses" in overpowered gusts unlike the KS3) and isn't so great in cross onshore.

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Manuel7 said..

philn said..
I would tell you to buy the hands down best wave sail I've ever used (KS3), but they prefer a flex top mast.

Seems highly praised, how about the short and tout profile?
Running Ezzy masts. Wonder if they'd flex enough to bleed up top while retaining some profile down below.

I have not tried the KS3 with Ezzy masts, but some who have say it's not a good fit.

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philn said..

sprayblaze said..

philn said..
I would tell you to buy the hands down best wave sail I've ever used (KS3), but they prefer a flex top mast.

goya fringe 4.7 2020/2021

I have a 2019 Fringe. It's great in slog and ride or barely planing wind in cross or cross off conditions. But it reaches its top end very quickly (the sail kinda "collapses" in overpowered gusts unlike the KS3) and isn't so great in cross onshore.

My experience with the Fringe is the same, I haven't tried a KS3.
I found a good deal on the Black Tips and my other choices were Bonzai or possibly just replacing my QU4DS as they wore out.

I wonder how different banzai is from black tip. The Banza? I thought was a bit too powerful for me. A little similar to thefly in one way. Power comes from high up. But it was on ezzy mast so many a flex top will bring it down. Also the Banza? was on 5.0. with 4.7 then I could handle more power.

In the end pretty much all 5.0s I need to tighten up otherwise they pull too hard. 4.7 I can bag it up.

By the way on Ezzy... Tried the elite in both 4.5 and 5.0, great sails. They lasted well early on, then failed everywhere especially at the clew.

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Manuel7 said..
By the way on Ezzy... Tried the elite in both 4.5 and 5.0, great sails. They lasted well early on, then failed everywhere especially at the clew.

I can tell something about the Banzai. 5 years I was on Ezzy Panthers and Elites. Good sails but I am done. Then I switched to Manics and IQ Gaastra. Superb sails, especially the Manic but after 6-7 seasons I wanted change. After having a test ride on goya custom 4 the decision was: Goya. I decided to go step by step and ordered only a 4.5 Banzai-in case I dont like it-minimize financial damage... But wow! no wonder Braw is on it.. I am 73-75 kg I like that back hand throttle effect, very,very reactive, on the wave it somehow disappears and lets you focus on your abilities. Amazing skin tension,no flutter,great range whith the two clew system. Not the lightest, but come on this is a wave sail it is not meant to be disposable. I ordered 3.15,3.4,3.7, 4.0 and 5.0.

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Manuel7 said..
By the way on Ezzy... Tried the elite in both 4.5 and 5.0, great sails. They lasted well early on, then failed everywhere especially at the clew.

I've been using Ezzy sails for many years now and they are not AS strong as they used to be, but they are also not as heavy as they used to be. You can't have it all, unfortunately. A few years back, I did change to another brand ( I won't name them but it was a brand recognised for durable wave sails ), but I soon went back to Ezzy. As I mentioned before, they are not as bullet proof as they used to be but the materials they are built of are top quality, as is the attention to detail in their build. Another point worth mentioning is that I have only ever broken one batten in an Ezzy sail. One batten in sixty or seventy !!!! But durability aside, they are also fantastic sails to use. The Elites I am on about......great wave sails....amazing bottom end power.....impressive top end.....light in the hands.....can certainly handle a flogging......a no bull**** product for a competitive price. All I will say is that they feel a bit different to everything else but it won't take long to adjust because they are so forgiving.
But, to address the original question in this thread, all the gear out there is pretty good these days. It's hard to go wrong. Take your pick, and as your wavesailing develops, you will find out for yourself what really suits you.

I changed quiver to all s2 maui catalyst and dragon. A big factor for me is they work perfect with ezzy mast and they are super light, maneuverable and great wind range. I was able to try it also which was a big plus. The power comes on softer than my old ezzy takas and waves sails at the slight expense of some low end. Excellent in gusty side-off. I also tried goya which would have worked but a little harder pull for me as a lightweight.

Hi Manuel,
You are clearly a way more talented sailor than me, but I'll throw in my 2c. You list the qualities below as what you're after

Sail requirements:
- Nice range
- Easy power dialing
- Smooth but can be quite direct power delivery
- Super flicky, depowerable, throw about
- Durable
- Pumpable to move about when light
- Not physical
- Stable / Reliable

I've been using Severne Gators (great versatile sail but yes, not a pure wave sail) but have moved to Duotone Super Heros and find that they're the best sails I've used in terms of wind range, balanced feel, durability, stability in overpowered conditions and manouverabilty. So they would likely fulfill many of the criteria you list above. Ive used many of the brands discussed above, but older sails, so can't compare with the newer ones. Lots of locals use the Severne S1's and love them.
The mast that you rig the sail on will also have some effect on the sail performance, as I've rigged NP and Severne sails on north and Powerex masts and have found the sails don't perform as well as hoped. If you want everything from you sail, you probably need to match it with the recommended mast to be sure it's going to give you what you want.