Subsonic said..






I think someones missed something somewhere, and im not sure who. Most of the free race sails i know of are in fact cambered, and are only a brief step away from full race.

A Severne overdrive as an example is a wide pocket 3cam free race. They are practically a race sail, but they lack that tiny bit of top end stability that a 4cam race sail has. Other brands have similar sails in there selection. There are sails like say an NCX which has no cams, and severne turbo which is a twin cam/small luff pocket. but i wouldn't call them free "race". They fall into the category of fast free ride and lack the top end stability that a free race or race sail has.

PhilUK said..




Don't worry about the front hand thing. I dont. I put a video of myself up on another forum and someone commented on my front hand, suggesting I hadn't rigged the sail correctly or I was nervous of being catapulted or some such nonsense. The person who made the comment hadn't gone over 26 knots on iSonics & race sails, I had knicknamed him Captain Slow.
I put it down to having a long arms to body length ratio, putting my lines quite far back so in the gusts its balanced. At 1 point I had tennis elbow and having a straight arm helped with that. It just feels comfortable to put my hands where they are.

Take a look at Andy Laufer here. His hand is nearly at the mast! Quite extreme in this video. In his other videos his hand is still quite far forward.
Someone asked him in the comments on youtube why his hand is so far forward and it was because his lines are so far back. I cant find the comment now. He is ranked 7th on the gps-speedsailing website, so he knows what he is doing. Andy puts up some really good videos of slalom blasting, well worth a look.
Lena Erdil also has her front hand quite far forward.

sboardcrazy said..









Here I'm on a board 50ltres over my weight in wind gusting to 30kts ..luckily the chop wasn't too big.. It's a freeride non cammed sail - 1st use..
I'm in survival mode crouching down low near the water and weighting the windward rail . The wind was threatening to lift the kit and throw me.. In the upwind bits I'm just trying to keep in one piece/on the water and I only power on when there's a bit of a lull..
Tiring but I had a ball..
I had to use the big board because of the big lulls. .Every now and then I'd swap to the waveboard which was a better fit but the lulls made that a bit dodgy to use..
I've since bought a 90ltre version of the big board which should be perfect in those conditions..

duzzi said..




I will not comment on the claimed 30 knots but the video confirms my guesses. Your body is yo-yo-ing throughout. It is constantly moving back and forward, toward the sail plane and away from it. You are very far removed from keeping a steady position with respect to the board. Instead the wind lifts you, you loose position, then regain it, then loose it again. That is what is giving you trouble.

It is something that happens, typically when you are caught unprepared by a gust. But in the video you do this almost rhythmically. It might be because you are too upright on the board, and maybe too close to the sail to begin with. The board you are using might help messing things up. Fifty liters above your body weight seems a lot, although you just have some chop in the video.

Again this has nothing to do with the sail and seemingly much to do with the sailor!

Tardy said..




I think your on the mark here Subsonic ,when i was a young dude everything i brought was 4 cam ,then decent no cam and 2 cam slalom sails came out ,I embrace this as they where easier to use and i was getting older ,but there had a catch ,as now i am into GPS the 2 cam or no cam ,have there limits ,and since gone back to 4 cam for the extra stability .my no cam sails when over powered done what dedekam is talking about ,pulling forward ,i have solved some of the problem by using 100% mast ,but in very overpowered conditions ,I would suggest getting a full race sail ,because basically thats what they are made for .sailing over powered ,the EZZY lion i feel is the best 2 cam i have had without going full race sail ,as they like heaps of downhaul ,all sails do have their limits' I think you just need to measure the wind And this might solve some issues ,but with a Race sail ...you look for that mighty blast ....and embrace the overpowered feeling .hang on and go for it .
with the hand forward i also sail like this .

duzzi said..
I will not comment on the claimed 30 knots ........

sboardcrazy said..
The fish are biting..
There were definitely some 30kt bullets..anything from 5kts , 10-15kts , 25 plus

sailquik said..
Yes. This is a symptom of the C of E moving back (and often up) in the sail by a significant amount.

It is much more prevelant in older sails, camless and soft wave type sails. Is is almost not present in modern cam'ed sails and far less prevelent on well designed modern Camless freeride sails with better designed seam shaping, dynamic twist and far better/stiffer battens.

It's either time to change down a sail size or two, or update your sail quiver.