a shout out to any one with loft race board sail experience, is there any way to reduce this sails tendency to round up the board and reduce the back hand pressure ,i have tried adjustable down haul and out haul and max out setting but find this sail a hand full above 16 knots of wind

I don't have a Loft RB but I do have Aerolite's which are a similar design. both 9.5 but one is a 5 batten light wind (LW) and the other is a 6 batten heavy wind (HW).

The light wind one does become a handful over 15 knots, it is useable up to 20 but not optimum. The HW is good for 15 to 25 knots.

I think Loft have a similar set up, that is 2 different 9.5mtr RB sails, if you have the LW than I expect its not meant for over 15 knts but in its wind range I bet its great.

i think mine is the heavy wind sail as it has the round foot,it can take some real brute strength to sheet it in from a tack and push the nose around,is this normal for a race sail.
once on the plain it seems ok .
i would hate to get caught in 20 plus winds, i don't no how the smaller guys do it

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grich62 said..
i think mine is the heavy wind sail as it has the round foot,it can take some real brute strength to sheet it in from a tack and push the nose around,is this normal for a race sail.
once on the plain it seems ok .
i would hate to get caught in 20 plus winds, i don't no how the smaller guys do it

What angles are you sailing, these sails are meant for course racing, reaching them in heavy winds is not where they excell. You should not have any trouble sheeting in going upwind with the track forward, the board should not be rounding up.

running off the wind the sail is fine ,and gybing is ok,its when tacking you need the mast track back and really need to muscle the nose around and scope the sail forward,once around you can get it to set ok. some short clips of what i mean.

ok don't worry about the sail set up any more,i was caring it down to the beach and my hand went through the mono film panel,open a 2 foot tear in the panel ,f##k i hate mono film

Hi Greg, compared to my Ezzys my Gaastra Cosmic feels like what you describe. Very hard to get thru eye of wind. Its heavy n you really must tilt it further n man handle it during tacking. To me its a stiffer sail or something.Not quite sure how to explain it. Kinda like its designed to gybe not tack, if thats possible? Stick with the Ezzys mate. My RB sail blew its tissue paper thin clew while pumping home on a glassout session.

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olskool said..
Hi Greg, compared to my Ezzys my Gaastra Cosmic feels like what you describe. Very hard to get thru eye of wind. Its heavy n you really must tilt it further n man handle it during tacking. To me its a stiffer sail or something.Not quite sure how to explain it. Kinda like its designed to gybe not tack, if thats possible? Stick with the Ezzys mate. My RB sail blew its tissue paper thin clew while pumping home on a glassout session.

What sail did u blow up ?
I blew out four panels in one metre shore dump , ( not surf ) on a NP 7.8 Slalum mk6 . Totally trashed , I was holding a pole with four flags .
Whoopsied a turn , neck height water trying to position to waterstart.
Its no fun waterstarting a race sail in closely spaced breaking waves .
Tip , do not fall in this zone !

Loft make great raceboard sails. Here's mine yesterday in 10-15 knots. For me, mast forward in the track, outhaul pulled on & centreboard down makes it much easier to go upwind & tack easily. When it's gets to 20 knot gusts, it's time for a smaller sail and that's for more control downwind rather than upwind stability.

Imax1, Severne 9.5 RB. It naturally wants to fold across from batten tip to batten tip. $100 to replace entire panel, biggest panel on sail.

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Imax1 said..

olskool said..
Hi Greg, compared to my Ezzys my Gaastra Cosmic feels like what you describe. Very hard to get thru eye of wind. Its heavy n you really must tilt it further n man handle it during tacking. To me its a stiffer sail or something.Not quite sure how to explain it. Kinda like its designed to gybe not tack, if thats possible? Stick with the Ezzys mate. My RB sail blew its tissue paper thin clew while pumping home on a glassout session.

What sail did u blow up ?
I blew out four panels in one metre shore dump , ( not surf ) on a NP 7.8 Slalum mk6 . Totally trashed , I was holding a pole with four flags .
Whoopsied a turn , neck height water trying to position to waterstart.
Its no fun waterstarting a race sail in closely spaced breaking waves .
Tip , do not fall in this zone !

it was my loft race board sail ,i had to lift it above my head to get it down the beach access and my palm of my hand went straight through it and it tore from one seem to the other,it didn't even get wet,i will try to repair with sticky back.

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regal1 said..
Loft make great raceboard sails. Here's mine yesterday in 10-15 knots. For me, mast forward in the track, outhaul pulled on & centreboard down makes it much easier to go upwind & tack easily. When it's gets to 20 knot gusts, it's time for a smaller sail and that's for more control downwind rather than upwind stability.

thanks regal 1 you really flatten that sail out compared to my settings ,i will have to repair the sail before i can try again.

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grich62 said..
ok don't worry about the sail set up any more,i was caring it down to the beach and my hand went through the mono film panel,open a 2 foot tear in the panel ,f##k i hate mono film

That's a bugger, I have damaged a couple of Severne formula sails by carrying them on my head, its caused the stitching to rip over time, carrying the board flipped on top of the sail and then the whole lot on my head is worse, to much pressure on one point of the sail. Now I carry them separate and try to keep the weight off the sail and just on the boom and mast.

Its probably ok for the pro's to carry stuff this way as they get new gear every year and unload their used stuff at the end of each season but for us hacks that need gear to last 2 or 3 seasons I think its doesn't do the sails any good.

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cammd said..

grich62 said..
ok don't worry about the sail set up any more,i was caring it down to the beach and my hand went through the mono film panel,open a 2 foot tear in the panel ,f##k i hate mono film

That's a bugger, I have damaged a couple of Severne formula sails by carrying them on my head, its caused the stitching to rip over time, carrying the board flipped on top of the sail and then the whole lot on my head is worse, to much pressure on one point of the sail. Now I carry them separate and try to keep the weight off the sail and just on the boom and mast.

Its probably ok for the pro's to carry stuff this way as they get new gear every year and unload their used stuff at the end of each season but for us hacks that need gear to last 2 or 3 seasons I think its doesn't do the sails any good.

i have ordered some sticky back Mylar to repair the tear.i normally carry the sail with the boom and mast, but the access to the beach has shoulder high railing requiring you to hold it well above your head for about ten meters or so.

Both my Aerolites have had the main panel repaired or replaced with heavier monofilm, the thicker stuff its reasonably durable but that thin stuff is hopeless, one season and it's falling apart

You need more outhaul