Severne Enigma Wave Boom review

One of the most hyped products in severne line, and one of the occasions where marketing hype matches product performance. I bought the 150-200 size and it's the best severne product I've had. So far this my favourite piece of windsurfing kit, that's after 8 years of using many brands and products. 

Good

Ultra light
Small diameter grip
RDM specific head fits perfectly with masts

Bad

marking on the grip wear off, not sure about the grip material quality
at max extension (200cm) tail bends

Wish the boom had
Permanent marking on the tail instead of painted ones that get peeled off
Tougher grip material around the head

Don't know

Still in terms of durability we don't know if this boom is more durable than the category leading Neil Pryde X9 carbon boom.  This is simply because X9 has been there a long time and the durability is proven.  Apart from durability severne enigma scores better on all others.  Severne has a lower price point than X9 so you can argue it has better value for money.  FO some reason all NP products are way too expensive. This may or may not be due to higher material quality as there are no objective tests.

Who should consider this boom?

Anyone who wants a carbon way boom, specially women and those with small hands!

 If you don't have sails with outhaul less than 160cm then you can have one boom with 160cm-210cm with X9 so factor this into the equation before buying. I recently bought a Chinook Pro 1 carbon boom 160-226cm and this size fits all my sails except 4.2m that I rearly use.  So if you want to save money you can still get the  next size up.

 

Why I sold hot sails maui GPX

it's been a while since my last review about hot sails maui GPX sail, now I've sold my GPX 7.5 and I'd like to explain what made me sell it.  At the time of purchase I was expecting this sail to have more bottom end than it provided. Problem with crossover sails over 6.5m is that they could easily end up as not good at anything, my current thinking is that anything over 6.5m should have loads of bottom end and should be light, that is if you are a recreational windsurfing like me. Fulll X ply on this is not necessary at this size as you wouldn't be bashing it in waves or rough conditions. So really I would only recommend GPX unto say 6.5 max and after that you are better off with freerace sail either with or without cams.  Now I've got a 7.5 severne turbo.  Thinking behind this purchase was at this size as teh largest sail in my quiver what I'm really after is bottom end on a day where this sail could make the difference between sitting on beach and going out.  It was a tough decision between severne NCX 7.5 and Turbo , and finally arrived at the decision based on the following two criteria:
a. Turbo better bottom end
b. 2014 Turbo 7.5 still rigs on a 430 mast so I don't have to invest in another piece of equipment

Now I've sold both GPS and GPX , along with teh hot rod big wave mast, i'm no longer a hot sails user.  Was it a mistake to go with hot sails in teh first place? Yes, it is if you are in Australia , whilst hot sails have quality products, second hand market in Australia is so poor and you are stuck with skinny masts of bigger sizes where others ails do not fit in.  This is not a problem if you are in US. Now i'm with severne, I find it so easy to get hold of cheap second hand sails and accessories.

I will kepp you updated on how I go with severne turbo in my next post