Have found myself in urgent need (perspective) of the biggest freerace sail I can find that will happily rig on a 430 RDM. I've had Hellcats/Speedsters for years and love them to bits, including a current 6.2. Would ideally love a 6.7 Speedster, but would need to wait. However I might be able to pick up a Ryde straight away. I generally run my Speedsters on slalom boards, but also love that I can comfortably whack them on a freestyle wave for bump and jump. I don't expect to be sailing nuking fast or maxed out if it's light enough for me to be on a 6.7 - I'm happy just to be out there cruising in the endless pursuit of gybe improvement.

Has anyone tried both Rydes and Speedsters? Are they worlds apart in feel or am I unlikely to notice much difference cruising round in lighter winds? Any advantages/disadvantages to either? Am I likely to miss the grunt of the Speedsters?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated

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needsalt said..
Have found myself in urgent need (perspective) of the biggest freerace sail I can find that will happily rig on a 430 RDM. I've had Hellcats/Speedsters for years and love them to bits, including a current 6.2. Would ideally love a 6.7 Speedster, but would need to wait. However I might be able to pick up a Ryde straight away. I generally run my Speedsters on slalom boards, but also love that I can comfortably whack them on a freestyle wave for bump and jump. I don't expect to be sailing nuking fast or maxed out if it's light enough for me to be on a 6.7 - I'm happy just to be out there cruising in the endless pursuit of gybe improvement.

Has anyone tried both Rydes and Speedsters? Are they worlds apart in feel or am I unlikely to notice much difference cruising round in lighter winds? Any advantages/disadvantages to either? Am I likely to miss the grunt of the Speedsters?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated

I had rides in sizes from 5.5-7.5 I enjoyed them a lot, they helped me get back into sailing after injury, i found them quick to rig, they all all fit the same mast and boom so less gear and I know I was a fast as one of my regular sailing mates who used a speedster. The only thing I did not like was the shifting center of effort when they got past their max wind. In other words they were less forgiving when over powered as opposed to twin cambered h2 I had had and no where near as forgiving as my EVos.

I bought a new 7.2m 2020 Ryde afew years ago to upgrade a 2012 North Natural 7.3m. Lovely looking sail and was hoping for some improvement in performance but first time out in 15-20 knots although the speed was fine, the stability was not great in the gusts.
I was pretty disappointed so took it back and swapped for a 6.7m 2020 Speedster which was the biggest that rigged on the NP 430 RDM I had. Waaaay better!!! Love the sail! Now trying to convince myself whether I can justify buying the 7.7m version as well but that would mean going SDM as well. Or maybe the 7.7m v8 would be a better lighter wind option or possibly the new Severne Moto...

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Widget said..
I bought a new 7.2m 2020 Ryde afew years ago to upgrade a 2012 North Natural 7.3m. Lovely looking sail and was hoping for some improvement in performance but first time out in 15-20 knots although the speed was fine, the stability was not great in the gusts.
I was pretty disappointed so took it back and swapped for a 6.7m 2020 Speedster which was the biggest that rigged on the NP 430 RDM I had. Waaaay better!!! Love the sail! Now trying to convince myself whether I can justify buying the 7.7m version as well but that would mean going SDM as well. Or maybe the 7.7m v8 would be a better lighter wind option or possibly the new Severne Moto...

Similar experience with my 7.0 Ryde, stability in the gusts is not great, I have a 8.2 V8 from the same year and I like it much better with its two cams.

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peterowensbabs said..
I had rides in sizes from 5.5-7.5 I enjoyed them a lot, they helped me get back into sailing after injury, i found them quick to rig, they all all fit the same mast and boom so less gear and I know I was a fast as one of my regular sailing mates who used a speedster. The only thing I did not like was the shifting center of effort when they got past their max wind. In other words they were less forgiving when over powered as opposed to twin cambered h2 I had had and no where near as forgiving as my EVos.

What Peter said ... we had Rydes (actually started with Fusions, the foreunners of the Ryde), around 4 or 5 sails all on the one mast and boom, super convenient, not too heavy. As Peter said though they have their limitations, but if you just want to travel light or save money - they did what it said on the packet.

k.

I only sail NP, never owned a Ryde but the fact that it is 6 batten vs 7 for the Speedster answers your question based on my experience. The Speedster will offer significantly more stability and grunt as others above have alluded to.

I've got a Neil Pryde Hellcat 6.7m.

It rigs on a 430 RDM, in fact I've tried it on an SDM too but found it felt a bit more flexible in gusts on the RDM but didn't seem to lose any low end grunt.
It was turned into the Speedster, exactly the same sail.
Its 452 luff and 200 boom.
Really like it, not that grunty but is really quick when the wind gets up, feels really stable and gybes easily.
I also rig it on the Severne gorilla mast, did have it on a Severne race SDM, felt that it worked well and had better reaction time than the standard Pryde mast.

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Orange Whip said..
I only sail NP, never owned a Ryde but the fact that it is 6 batten vs 7 for the Speedster answers your question based on my experience. The Speedster will offer significantly more stability and grunt as others above have alluded to.

Stability,,yes,,,grunt not really.

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peterowensbabs said..

Orange Whip said..
I only sail NP, never owned a Ryde but the fact that it is 6 batten vs 7 for the Speedster answers your question based on my experience. The Speedster will offer significantly more stability and grunt as others above have alluded to.

Stability,,yes,,,grunt not really.

So you're saying that between the Speedster and the Ryde the Speedster would offer more stability and the Ryde would offer more grunt?
I wasn't saying either sail offered massive amounts of grunt, I was saying if either offered any amount of grunt , then, the Speedster would offer more.

Thank you all very much. Really helpful info