I saw a sail like this recently. It was all black, but for the small window panel.

It's not exactly accessible technology for small, medium and up and coming manufacturers so if 3DL windsurfing sails become desirable this could limit the diversity and dynamics of the sail industry and options available. Which I think is a shame.
Likewise with yacht and boat sails, having the sail body for 3DL sails manufactured in one central facility (Is anyone other than North doing 3DL sails?) with only the finish work done locally is the beginning of the death for the local loft and indeed the sailmakers trade entirely.
I guess it's inevitable at least to some degree as the world becomes more globalised...

None of this is any commentary on the sail itself mind you!! Lap em up. I hope you like North Sails.

I wonder if they can't be repaired?
In the absence of seam shaping ie: if the cloth itself is moulded (curved) then you can't replace it....?

Repairs are easy just like a board, cloth and resin minus the deck grip

Avanti sails similar to these?

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saltyheaven said..
I hope you like North Sails.

No, I don't.

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choco said..
Avanti sails similar to these?

No, nothing like it.

The sail now becomes a wing

Intriguing, but I'd sure like to see a better vid about it w/o some idiot who thinks he's funny and has no clue how to handle a mic.
The vid was very hard to watch, and I tried but had to give up about 2/3's the way thru.

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Mastbender said..

bu..bu..but that is Ben Proffitt you are referring to !. He might not hold a mic properly, but he is a good windsurfer !

I remember chatting to him amongst others and walked away thinking the others were idiots..funny that...actually a really nice genuine down to earth not up ur own arse look at me typical cock.
P.s He's not my best friend

They are going to have to improve the aesthetics a bit I think.
Pretty basic proto on display.

The yacht sail tech has been around for years, always wondered why they didn't take it to windsurfing earlier.

Obviously closest thing today is the Severne Pro sails or Avanti, whilst these aren't molded in the same way, at such a small size it might make a negligible difference.

It is also very hard to hear the price when Ben asks him!!

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albentley said...
It is also very hard to hear the price when Ben asks him!!

Sounded like 2000 euros, I imagine they will sell like hot cakes if that's the case...

This is NOT new. North actually produced a production 3D moulded windsurfing Slalom/Race sail over 10 years ago, maybe more. It was only available in one size from memory, (6.5m) it was very expensive and was a commercial flop.

Doesn't anyone else remember this?

Maybe they have worked out a much cheaper and more flexible way to do it now?

Another video of the current technology for Yacht sails:

3Di is much different to 3Dl.

There is no film in 3Di sails and the cloth is made up of tissue thin carbon and spectra with a soft epoxy glue. These this strips can be laid on the mold in varying numbers of layers depending on strength as the individual "cloth" weight is so low.

It is quite an interesting process, and quite different even though similar adjustable molds are used.

This video has some good stuff in the middle, sandwiched between promo stuff for yachts that you can bypass.



Watch from about 30 seconds to see the tapes being laid

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Von said..
Repairs are easy just like a board, cloth and resin minus the deck grip

Still not sold. Are all the minor sail repairers going to buy infinitely adjustable curved floors to lay the sails on when gluing bits on?

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Mark _australia said..

Von said..
Repairs are easy just like a board, cloth and resin minus the deck grip

Still not sold. Are all the minor sail repairers going to buy infinitely adjustable curved floors to lay the sails on when gluing bits on?

Exactly! ^^

3D?, I didn't see any 3D in that sail.

Sounds interesting though, probably a bit more high tech to what Severne currently have in the Pro sail.

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Jethrow said..
3Di is much different to 3Dl.

Thanks Jethrow, I hadn't heard of 3Di.

The bottom line of this North innovation, the same lot that brought you the 3 piece( intentional mast)
its going to be cost prohibitive .

Avanti do have some tech speak in their sails. As do Severne, membrane, which is some material, technora?

windsurfers have been moaning for years the cost of boards
if this gets established they will have some additional Topic.
of some note, North make sails for Americas Cup sailboats, this comes down from those. The cup people have bottomless pockets , numerous sponsors, budget like Mercedes F1

intentional buzz kill, sorry no, just my POV.

Hey Ben, he did say about €2000 didn't he?

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Mastbender said..
Intriguing, but I'd sure like to see a better vid about it w/o some idiot who thinks he's funny and has no clue how to handle a mic.
The vid was very hard to watch, and I tried but had to give up about 2/3's the way thru.

Sorry... but not to do with holding the mic wrong. Basically i saw the guys with a new sail so grabbed my camera and mic out the van.. gave it to my mate and just filmed it as i thought it would be interesting. But in the hurry i didn't realise the cable was causing interference and i didn't give my mate any head phones to check. I had to get rid of a chunk of video from the beginning as it was unwatchable. Then I thought about not putting it online. In the end I thought it would be better than nothing. (i did apologise in the explanation) so sorry about that.

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Von said...
Hey Ben, he did say about €2000 didn't he?

Yep!! Crazy price for a wave sail!

Yeah don't think I'll be making purchase any time soon haha

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sailquik said..
This is NOT new. North actually produced a production 3D moulded windsurfing Slalom/Race sail over 10 years ago, maybe more. It was only available in one size from memory, (6.5m) it was very expensive and was a commercial flop.

Doesn't anyone else remember this?

Was more I think, 20 odd I think? Seem to remember it being black? Have a very vague recollection. Might even have a brochure somewhere.

Just looking at an old Windsurfing mag in my collection from July 1995 and found this.

Bit of info here re 3di and 3dl;

www.mysailing.com.au/news/sail-wars

As mentioned above not brand new technology but adaption to smaller windsurfing size sail platforms maybe?
Avanti may use similar membrane technology from their ties to Quantum yacht sails through Dan kaesler.
Anyway, whether notable performance advantage is probably yet to be seen (although Avanti No 4 ranking PWA slalom this season) and commercialisation price point restrictions as already pointed out.
Technology is good!

Heh, I remember those sails (Oceanic) saw some being used but they faded out pretty quick, I wish we had prices like that today, but those were kind of pricy for the time.
Hea proffitt, sorry about my harshness, it got away from me, but I was intrigued and stuck with it until I got the gist of it.
One of the things that has always kept my interest in this sport, close to cutting edge technology,,,,,,,,,,, Americas Cup boats are at the cutting edge, but we're not that far back.