Sorry about the long break - the lack of sailing for me, means that windsurfing is not uppermost in my mind so I tend to neglect the blog a bit.
Anyway, the next leg of PWA slalom circuit is underway. This is in Awaza, Turkmenistan (??)
As is so often the case - bring a large number of windsurfers into one venue and the wind is very likely to disappear. No wind for day one. I understand that the forecast predicts better wind in the days to come. 47 men are participating and all the main guys are present.
Some equipment occupying my thoughts recently -
- Severne's Turbo sail. Joos has ordered a 7.5 and a 6.5 for the coming season. I am looking forward to seeing them on the water and if I'm lucky, will get to ride them and report back. Based on the pictures, specs and test results, the Turbo seems to be an NCX with added low end power, better control and better speed. Nice!
- GA's Phantom 2014. Regular readers will recall my impressions of the 8.5 Phantom of Julian Field and the speed and control he is able to extract from this (quite big) sail. I hope we get to try one or two of these sails with the new GA 100% masts.
- North seems to be upping its game big time. The 2015 S-Type Slalom Sail, as unveiled at Defi, promises to be something really special. In addition to this, North's mast maker reports a new Aero mast which is lighter than the current model but just as strong. This company is also producing a new boom line (to be called the Aero Boom) which is reportedly lighter and stronger than anything else on the market. I like where this is going! No pictures of the new booms and masts I'm afraid. I think that they are going to unveil them in October.
That is all for now. I will give some commentary on the racing if they have wind
North definitely have to up their game on the lightness stakes, not just the dead weight but on the water too. I recently tried a 2014 8.4m S-type and I can honestly say it is the worse cammed sail I have ever tried, really poor wind range unless you want to be constantly playing with settings.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Turbo, I owned a 2011 8.6m and I have to say that it is the sweetest big sail I have owned, lighter in the hands when on the water when compared to the North and so easy to rig, the cams rotated perfectly straight out of the packet, Joos will not be disappointed!
Thanks for the feedback Martin.
DeleteIt is always so much better to hear from fellow sailors about equipment.
I am now REALLY looking forward to the arrival of Joos's Turbos (not to mention the arrival of our winds)
All the best
Phil