KS3 lithium review

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ozzimark said..

Please make another thread specific to the sail! Haven't seen much first-hand experience with the lithium, or HSM sails in general...

As I said in the review of the Starboard Ultra 110 L I am loving the new KS3 Lithium sails. The material is incredibly light, but also flexing in a way that makes slog and ride sailing easier than ever.

I have long been a fan of the KS3, buying my first one nearly 10 years ago. When rigged to specifications the original KS3 is both powerful and light feeling, balanced and effortless while sailing yet having the ability to plane early and go upwind as well as other 4 or 5 batten wave sails, unlike some of the other 3 batten sails that were rushed to market after the success of the KS3, and just never delivered. I live in a windless location, so I travel often to find wind and as a result have rented a lot of different sails. Each sail that I have rented (Goya/Simmer/Duotone/Severne) has impressed me in some way or another (when rigged correctly on the correct mast, a badly rigged sail is always awful) and I think every sail brand today is making good sails. But despite so many good experiences renting other brands, I still think the KS3 is the best combination of all those things needed in a wave sail. Plus, it is so light and effortless in the hands that I can sail longer with the KS3 than I can with any other wave sail. And the good thing is that when rigged on a HSM mast the specifications are spot on, no need to mess around trying to find the best setting. Downhaul to specification in perfect wind strengths, or less 1 cm if slogging or plus 1 cm if overpowered. I tend to never have the outhaul too loose as I don't like the feeling of an overly full sail. Even when letting off the downhaul by 1 cm for light winds I leave the outhaul at the specification for a slightly tighter leach and better pumping when trying to catch a wave. I have experimented with loosening off the downhaul by up to 2 cm and the lighter the wind the better for a tight leach when pumping. However, if the wind picks up and I can plane, then downhaul less 2 cm feels too heavy in the hands and I don't like it. This feeling can be mistaken for a more powerful sail but in my experience too little downhaul doesn't make the sail get the board going any faster so I only rig this way when the wind is so light that I have no chance of planning (except when on a wave).

So to compare the regular KS3 with the KS3 Lithium: The sail is noticeably lighter in the bag. Some say the weight of the sail doesn't matter, that it is only the way it feels on the water that matters. I agree that a light sail that feels bad in the hands is a waste, but fortunately the Lithium feels great in the hands and is also great when it comes to packing bags for air travel. Then it really really makes a difference.

Unrolling the sail the material doesn't feel flimsy at all. I am going to guess it will hold up very well over time but ask me again in 5 years' time. I still use the very first KS3 I bought 10 years ago, and I hope my KS3 Lithium sails will last just as long. The Lithium mast sleeve is made with a special material resistant to tearing on coral reefs or when breaking a mast. The window is monofilm but I heard that HSM will bring out an xply equivalent window material next year that is more UV resistant than Xply. The window is smaller than on the regular KS3 and I was initially worried that it would be too small, but the window is the perfect shape for a full view of the wave when riding. The mast foot bumper is made of a lightweight material and is slightly smaller than on the regular KS3. So far, my only criticism of the sail is that the mast foot bumper is too tight (remember the Paul Van Bellen video where he puts his flip flops inside the mast foot bumper? Well, no chance of that with this bumper, it is barely big enough to get over the mast extension adjustment collar).

Rigged to specifications the lithium feels like a regular KS3. On the top end the material breathes so the KS3 Lithium handles extreme gusts better. But on the bottom end the difference is noticeable. For light winds I can rig with 2 or 3 cm less downhaul than recommended depending on whether it is slog and ride or drift and ride. With this minimal downhaul setting the sail still retains that incredible light in the hands feeling of the regular KS3 rigged to specifications, but with tons of instant pumping power for catching waves. I let off the boom slightly from the specifications when rigged like this, but I never rig so full that the sail is touching the boom.

So far, I have sailed the Lithium in 6.1, 5.5 and 4.9 and all of the sizes felt great. I recently had a session on the 4.9 where the wind was blowing cross off coming off a cliff, so was incredibly gusty. Maybe 10 knot lulls and the gusts were well over 25 knots. I rigged the 4.9 with minimal downhaul (probably specs less 2 cm) and had a great session. The material flexed in the gusts, so I didn't get jerked around as much as I normally would in gusts with an under downhauled sail. And in the lulls, I could (sometimes not quite) still waterstart. But on average during the session the sail was just right. This was the best experience I've had so far with any sail sailing in nasty gusty winds.

Nice review Philn ! It's a great sail but regarding bigger numbers how can you handle a 186 boom on 6.1 I Never had sails bigger than 5.5 but I've recently bought a 6.2 2024 blade 174 boom amazing sail for its size but as newer blades have become lighter again durability is an important issue now. On the contrary, The KS3 lithium material is TOP Xlight and durable and they have also fixed the battens problem.