The new Turbo is finally on site and it looks the business. Surprisingly, the dimensions have changed significantly from the 2014 model. The new sails are taller and lighter than the outgoing model. The 6.0, 7.0 and 8.1 sizes have the biggest weight reductions but all sizes are lighter. Yes!
I get the impression that Severne have given quite a bit of thought to this new sail. One always had the impression that the Turbo was something of a "tacked on" model in the range, floating between performance and freeride lines. The reality is, that the Turbo is one awesome blasting machine and the market obviously delivered this message in 2014. Anyway, the 2014 sails were great and it seems that the new ones will be similarly endowed with awesomeness.
If you get one of these sails, please ensure that you apply sufficient downhaul! They are powerful beasts which can spoil your day if not pulled properly. The rear edges of the two panels above the boom should not be tight. The one with the Turbo logo will be quite relaxed and the one immediately above the boom will also be slightly loose and bowed. Outhaul will be neutral but if you are overpowered you may need to tighten slightly.
Tabou have their entire range of boards on the site now. The new Mantas look very tidy I must say. Light and crisp. They have not yet entered all the specs correctly though. They only show sizes up to the 71, and the volume numbers make no sense. Here's a tip Tabou - get a proper windsurfer to enter your data and anomalies like this won't happen.
Anthony, our supplier was on his Manta 71 the other day and we got to talking. His sail was a Phantom 7.1 and his fin a 37cm slalom shape (Select I think). Ant says that the board was perfectly happy with this fin. No problem upwind and fast on all tacks. He says that he felt that the small fin, may cause the board to drag in the water and we were wondering if this is something to be concerned about. I have always been a fan of smaller fins because they are more controllable overpowered but with the improvement in modern fins, do you lose some efficiency unnecessarily with a smaller fin? The logic here is that a bigger fin pops the board out of the water decreasing board induced drag. The increased fin area from a bigger fin imparts less drag than the board induced drag with a small fin.
Maybe the boffins out there can give us some ideas about this. I know that the speed guys use really small fins but in the ferocious winds they are used in, the board pops out regardless. We are talking about normal blasting over roughish water in wind which is not trying to tear your face off.
Talk to you soon
I would concur with your assessment on the fin sizes for normal blasting. For speed sailing, my trim usually lets the board pop out of the water if there is the right amount of wind. But for normal sailing like across the wind and less than 115 degree courses, I find that using a smaller fin doesn't allow me to let the board fly off the fin.
ReplyDeleteFor example, I use a 29-31cm fin for my iSonic 94 (60 wide) for my 6.6 for speed. I get the best speeds when going deep downwind with it. But at the same time, I lose a lot of of speed across the wind and upwind. I tried putting a 33 for general blasting and found some improvement but not much. 35 was just about right for normal blasting but at the cost of downwind speed. Lo and behold, those fin sizes match Select's guide. 35 for general and 31 for overpowered/speed conditions (Vmax )
-Kevin
Thanks for this Kevin.
ReplyDeleteI suppose, like most things in windsurfing, it is a balancing act with trade-offs. One must optimize for the conditions and one's particular requirements on the day.
Phil