Hot sails 92% made by Killwell in NZ, interchangeable between sizes, moderately soft top, generally regarded as very durable, no longer in production.
Hot sails is onto a new Eastern European 100% carbon, very lightweight and expensive mast so people may be upgrading and dumping their old Killwell masts which could be an excellent bargain used.
Being interchangeable you can mix and match different sizes to attain a softer or stiffer top to work with different brand sails.
refer to the previous post regarding % of sales.
you'll see more break if there is more on the market.
less sold, you see less broken.
If you have a problem with a particular brand best thing is to contact the retailer or brand.
seabreeze aint the place to name and shame.
unless your going to write a full review on the product
I changed over to Severne S1's last year and after initially rigging them on a Gaastra RDM 75% went for the Redline 100% carbon mast after getting a rave from UWEH about 'em. Very, very light and the rigs always felt great so I didn't think too much about it. For a couple of reasons I had to pull out an old Powerex last weekend instead. For starters the Powerex has been a phenomenon - was the first RDM I bought, probably about ten years ago and still going strong. In that time had seen a lot of use, so much so, that the ferrule has about 2 mm play in it. A total workhorse but the sail felt completely different. No way near as crisp, really hard to handle in gusts and kind of clunky. Long story short, Severne have dealt with the issue that made me have to pull out the old mast and frankly, their after-sales service has been brilliant. I feel like sending them a Christmas Card! In hindsight, I reckon going for the 100% carbon for the sails I use most was worth it, even though it seemed freaking expensive at the time. In my recent experience (and previously when I used Gaastra specific masts on Gaastra sails) using the mast recommended by the manufacturer gets much, much better results. If you are dealing with a rep brand the extra outlay is justified by the service you get. I would also be wary of the mast comparison indexes that are available on-line. According to one, the Gaastra should have been very close in bend characteristics to the Severnes (hard top). I reckon Gaastra product is great (and I've used it for years), and while it did feel better than the Powerex (constant curve) , it was no way near as good as the Redline for the S1. Some of which could have been the lower carbon content, maybe. Either way, the Redline makes the rig feel awesome and dealing with the company has been a pleasure. Go high carbon and stick with the sail maker's recommended mast!
Get the mast that the sail was designed on.... There are small differences between some of the compatible masts and in my opinion the variance reduce the wind range...
i am running severne sails and have to say that my blades rig the best on the severne gorilla mast. just the other day i broke my mast which can happen to anybody. i was super pleased to hear that i will be receiving a new replacement mast under warranty which i was surprised as i broke the flange which was a strange place to brake a mast. spoke to warren at, one knot windshop who got strait on to severne who said they would replace it straight away. hear is a pic of where is broke so you can see that they even warranted this
i would like to thank the guys at severne for their excellent customer service and to warren also for the same excellent customer service. i can happy say i will be continuing to be buying severne sails and mast and recommend them to any body.
cheers tom
