mast recommendation based on sail design and make (Daunting)

Wavedave38 · Joined: 22 Aug 1997 Posts: 58

I am interested in 7.8 and 6.6 Gaastra sails specifically the savage and I have learned that these sails require a constant curve hard top mast.
Currently have nolimitz skinny sumo and love that brand. The problem is the Nolimtz masts are constant curve which I am unsure if rigging on a freerace non cambered sail from GA would work or not and why? . The masts considering from nolimitz are sumo 430, imcs 22, bend 64.5/77. The other would be nolimitz fast 460, imcs 27, bend 65/76.
The GA 7.8 savage requires a 460 mast imcs 25, and the 6.6 requires 430 , IMCS 21. Unfortunately they don't provide the bend curve which I believe is just as important as the stiffness aka imcs.

Will the nolimitz work on these sails or will it be a total loss in terms of sail performance?

Also am I correct the higher the IMCS the stiffer the mast overall?
any feedback asap specifically on the GA Savage and Nolimitz questions would be great.
thanks

U2U2U2 · Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 9:48 am Post subject:

Wind NC , sell Gaastra:
No Limitz , I feel will offer honest advise.

Their are combos of the original and Sumo masts, NoLimitz ,
That work from reports well.

I have seen written that the newer Gaastra, as real new, are more constant curve than hard top.

Call ANDY at WIND NC, FOR HIS advise and or Ryan at NL

MY Gaastras from a few years back, were sensitive and worked the very best on a Gaastra mast, which are pricy and hard to come by.

Seems you are in touch with the potential of a non compatible couple,
Any mast will work on any sail, it depends on how much range the sail has to begin with ANDY how much you are willing to give up.

If you have existing masts that would work better with other sails, I would consider them as a better option.

coachg · Joined: 10 Sep 2000 Posts: 3550

I have both the Sumo & standard Nolimitz masts. I tried rigging an older MS Legend on them with horrible results. Gaastra masts are identical to older MS masts.

What you will get by rigging the Savage on a Nolimitz is battens poking out way past the mast so the sail won't rotate. You will then have to out haul the guts out of the sail or down haul beyond specs & collapse the leach all the way to the mast in the top panel.

Coachg

adywind · Joined: 08 Jan 2012 Posts: 665

Isthmus started selling GA sails this year. They are offering their own GT mast or the Powerex RDM 60% for the Savage.
http://www.isthmussailboards.com/2015-Gaastra-Savage-Rig/productinfo/GA15SR/
I would guess that the Sumo will fit also. Do you have the new GA or the older Gaastra Savages in mind?

swchandler · Joined: 08 Nov 1993 Posts: 10588

Just like Maui Sails has more recently revised the bend curve of their masts to become more middle of a road constant curve, maybe Gaastra with their evolution to GA sails is doing the same.

One of the Tabou/Gaastra's sponsored pros in Santa Barbara, Kevin McGillivray, is also sponsored by NoLimitz, and he has been using them exclusively in his wave sails for a number of years. To work around some of Gaastra's past use of more hard top masts, I know that Kevin has done some experimentation with NoLimitz's Original and Sumo RDM components.

Speaking for myself, I found that my NoLimitz's Original RDM was a little too soft up top for my older Windwing sails, so I invested in a Sumo top to stiffen things up. It was the right move for me to get closer to the ideal 64/76 bend curve.

To get to a more certain picture of where GA is going, I would suggest contacting Matt Pritchard in Maui.

jingebritsen · Joined: 21 Aug 2002 Posts: 3371

lotsa red on this chart for gaastras

http://www.seabreeze.com.au/img/photos/windsurfing/5881585.jpg

BTW, using an rdm on anything over a 6.8 is questionable. i've wave sailed enough to feel a huge difference between what my 7.5 phantom feels like on an rdm vs sdm to tell you that your 460 should be a sdm. if you are wave sailing a lot, then the rdm is justified, otherwise, it makes a large sail fold over too much.