Just wondering if anybody is sailing with a Neil Pryde excess 6.9.
I've got one and we dont seem to be on speaking terms, in fact at the moment I would prefer my old 6.5 North Spectra (more power and easier to use) but I broke it.
I cant find any reviews, except the official line. Maybe I had a bloke look.
Any advice about rigging and performance would be appreciated.

Hello, MW,

Plenty of us NP users can offer a bit of advice, but we need a bit more detail please.

Could you please advise the year that the sail was made, was it bought new or 2nd hand, the brand and length of mast that you are using, the brand and length of the extension that you are using and the type of boom (alum. or carbon) and its closed and maximum opening specs.

Exactly what trouble are you having with the sail?

Nebbian/Laurie,

Connection was re-set during my answer and two postings came up. Feel free to remove one and chastise me.

you want some power sell the NP 6.9 sail to some kite dude on the beach and buy a Ka kult 6.6, you will be laughing.. or the Ezzy no cam sails are awesome too

Hey,
I had a NP Excess 6.9 and a 5.9 and Flip is right...they seem to be a bit light on power.
However, they're nice and solid. Make sure you put more downhaul than you think you need and don't put much outhaul on . (i used to run them with no or negative outhaul so the sail touched the leeward boom.)

Thanks drift, I've been doing exactly that, by trial and error. The problem seems to be a lack of power and a sail that feels quite heavy. The old spectra has three cams and is really old and even after I ripped it from batten to batten across the clew it still felt better than the excess. Mind you I had the same stack on the excess several times yesterday in 20-22 knots and it didn't even flinch. Real tough.

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WindmanV said...

Nebbian/Laurie,

Connection was re-set during my answer and two postings came up. Feel free to remove one and chastise me.

One answer deleted...

btw not sure if you've seen it yet, but this button lives up next to all your posts so you can delete them if you want:


hth

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Mumsworry said...

Thanks drift, I've been doing exactly that, by trial and error. The problem seems to be a lack of power and a sail that feels quite heavy. The old spectra has three cams and is really old and even after I ripped it from batten to batten across the clew it still felt better than the excess. Mind you I had the same stack on the excess several times yesterday in 20-22 knots and it didn't even flinch. Real tough.

I had one and it did not have the low end I expected of a freestyle / freeride crossover, but the top end is good.
It is heavy but it is all Xply so they're designed to be! But yes, tough. Tradeoffs....

What mast do you have it on?

The mast is np x3 460 imcs25 30%.

OK so should set right.

Roughly downhaul till the leech is floppy down to the third batten or a smidge more, and give it 2cm of outhaul.
That about what you're doing?
Can you post a pic of it rigged?

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Mumsworry said...

The mast is np x3 460 imcs25 30%.

I owned an 06 5.4 Excess from new and initially rigged it on an X3 430 mast. Wasn't performing as well as I would have liked so traded the X3 in on an X6 430 (65% carbon). Sail definitely performed better with the X6, but still felt a bit rigid and lifeless in moderate winds (X3 appeared to be much softer than X6). Nice handling sail when well powered to overpowered and could take a hammering in crashes!

UK Boards mag did a review on the 5.9 Excess back in 2009 (rigged on X9 ultra) and they said that whilst it was a great all-round sail, they preferred the Firefly 6.1 as the better all-rounder. For rigging the Excess, they said 'set best with a small amount of positive outhaul in marginal conditions, and a bit extra when well powered'. Pretty much what I did, used max downhaul then just played with the outhaul.

Now moved on to KA Koyotes, much smoother and nicer to sail with but with a fantastic tuneable wind range!

Hey bud, im far from any expert but i use Excess sails 5.4 5.9 6.4 and i have found that you really need decent carbon masts for them to set right, ive also found them to be alot more reponsive if you set a little extra downhall. What size mast are you using for your 6.9.

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Mumsworry said...

Just wondering if anybody is sailing with a Neil Pryde excess 6.9.
I've got one and we dont seem to be on speaking terms, in fact at the moment I would prefer my old 6.5 North Spectra (more power and easier to use) but I broke it.
I cant find any reviews, except the official line. Maybe I had a bloke look.
Any advice about rigging and performance would be appreciated.