Some time ago Christiaan dropped in with a few Kona guys for some long distance, winter cruising. When they finished sailing, Christiaan showed me his new Hot Sails Maui FireLight 6.0 wave sail. This is one fine looking thing and virtually weightless (almost as light as the Avanti Viper). Previously, I had always looked at Hot Sails Maui as a company with heavy products. I based this on their GPS and SpeedDemon sails and also on their masts - all RDM and all really heavy. All this heaviness turned me off a bit, so I paid little attention to the brand over the years. After seeing the FireLight however, I have been having a re-look at them and I have to admit, they have some interesting stuff.
Firstly, the firm has added a lighter mast to their range. Secondly, if you look beyond the serious speed stuff you find some intriguing sails - all of them incorporating light materials and interesting shapes. The one which interests me for our conditions, is the Speedfreak. This camless sail incorporates dacron in its construction but in a fast, high-tech shape. What you get is a fast, stable sail which is also light and very soft. I would really like to try one of these sails here just to see if it can hang anywhere near the big guys on their serious kit. The results may prove interesting.
Even if this sail is not super fast, it could be something to consider for those of us with partners who need light wind sails which are soft and easy to handle. I like the bat-wing shape and the fact that the concept is bound to work well with fast freeride boards like the Tabou Rocket, as well as on pure slalom shapes.
Talk to you soon
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