That's pretty awesome speed Brett considering there was absolutely stuff-all wind today. Was that the 11.7? but the 11.7 was red, what size was that one today?

Jesus, how much gear have you got stored away in your back shed?

Good to see you out there. I get out there every time there's enough wind for my gear. Going to extend that soon to below 12 knots, got a 2020 JP SLW coming. Might be out there with you then when you're on you're Formula. Still deciding what big sail to get for the SLW. Any tips? It's got to be Neil Pryde because as you know they are the best

Only the 9.5m Neil Pryde V8 today. Nice light sail with a deep profile which is brilliant for light winds. It is magic on the Raceboard. The 11.6m was yesterday on the Formula. Not enough wind today for even that. Looking forward to seeing as many sailboarders as possible out at Far Beach with winds that suit their fancy.

Yep agree, keen to see more people windsurfing off Far Beach.
it is an awesome spot to windsurf in a wide range of conditions.

We do get out on Slalom gear at Far Beach in Mackay. Just needed some wind. Nice to meet Shawn and his dogs today, hopefully see you out on the water soon.

nice one captain ,with that nice beard I was hoping for a ZZtop number ,

Tardy, some ZZ Top from Captain Crunch in the video below.

HA HA ....awesome captain .now we're talking ..

Making sailing a Formula look fun?!?!! Awesome.

Not much wind today, so Formula on the menu again at Far Beach Mackay.

Hey Captain, did you get out this arvo? I was intending to go out but got caught up at work. Saw sails on my way home and upon investigation it was Sailpilot and Trojan. Wind was up to 15 they reckon, pinged that I missed a sail.

Alas, I was at work as well. Was about 15 knots when I got home.

Got out on the Raceboard at Mackay today.

Awesome Captain!
I travelled to TAS today for a week's holiday, otherwise I would have been out there. I notice Trojan was out there again today with his new 8.5. Good stuff!

Inspired by the Mackay crew to dig out my old Formula - light winds Friday and today- couldn't believe how much fun it was!. Paired with a 9.4 overdrive so easy handling ( and yes not a "real" sail for the board) but I was having fun so I don't care. Good tip thanks!

Nice one Snorkel.

Conditions were pretty crappy at Far Beach this arvo. Rain squalls spoilt the pre- high tide consistent 10-15 but we're that desperate for some wind that we went out anyway.

Hi NQ crew have you seen the posts about Windsurfer Class states being in Yeppoon this year? Awesome opportunity for NQ sailors. It's a recent post in the Qld section.

Fantastic session at Geoffrey Bay in 12-15knots Southerly this morning. With the swell-on-chop I've given up on slalom gear there ( feel like eyeballs going to fall out) and am using Freeride stuff. Noa 7.8 and Titan 130 ( experimenting with Titan and Fox at Geoffrey- so far a good plan!). Ton of fun, plenty of volume in the holes and great bump n' jump conditions. Plus water has cooled down in this bonus breeze ( on a serious note that's great as the coral had started to bleach in the recent heat). I had thought today would be a big-board day so pleasant surprise. Sorry, just session stoked and wanted to share.

Took my new SLW out for a couple of hours this morning. Loving it so far. Good build quality, fin fits perfectly, straps are nice and its a case of hook in, bear away, load up the mast foot and it just gently transitions on to the plane.

There's something soothing about light wind blasting on flat water

Nice day in Mackay today when the sun came out after early heavy showers. Had a good sail in a 15-20 knot SE'ly on a 94 litre and 5.7. Was self isolated as I was the only one out

Had an awesome sail this arvo on my SLW. There was less than 10 knots when I got to the beach and my 8.7 V8 is still a month away so I wasn't very confident of getting going with my 7.7 but thought I'd go out anyway. Wind picked up to about 12 knots average and was flying for about an hour and a half. So good. My SLW was an expensive purchase but it was worth every cent. Will easily get my monies worth in time. Awesome board, so easy, planes early and loads of fun.

Questions about your V8
How do you rate it out of 10 ?
Low end grunt getting on the plane ?
Top end speed ?
Userfriendlyness ?
Lightness , Flicky feel ?
Theres not much written about these sails and I'd like to compare what I think .

Select to expand quote

Imax1 said..
Questions about your V8
How do you rate it out of 10 ?
Low end grunt getting on the plane ?
Top end speed ?
Userfriendlyness ?
Lightness , Flicky feel ?
Theres not much written about these sails and I'd like to compare what I think .

Happy to oblige with my thoughts but you must bear in mind I'm just your average weekend free-rider who dreams of still being healthy enough in retirement to sail more than just the weekends

Background (to assist in interpreting said thoughts):
Learnt to sail in about 1980 on a WOD, was hooked immediately.
Soon after purchased a Tyronsea 370 and then a Tyronsea 295 but didn't reach great heights of ability before the inevitable 20 year hiatus due to child raising activities.
Back into it in 2004, (Tyonseas long gone and had baby sat an F2 Lightning for a friend for many years and rode it once in a blue moon) bought a 170 SB GO and a couple of Areotech sails.
I then replaced the Areotechs with 7.5 and 6.5 NCX's circa 2006.
The Severnes were ok but my love affair with NP started when I sold the Severnes and bought 7.5 and 6.5 V6's. (7 batten) First time on cambered sails and I loved the earlier planing and stability compared to the Severnes. I found the Severnes ok but you needed 7-10 knots more wind then the NP's and they were no where near as stable and had F-all wind range.
When those sails wore out I upgraded to the same at the time (Hornets) which were 6 batten and a bit lighter. Was happy with the performance and when I wore out the 7.7 a couple of months ago got a s/h 2017 7.7 V8 (7 batten) from a sponsored sailer who was switching to Duotones ( haven't tried a Duotone but brave move I thought, considering the performance of that 7.7 I got off him). The 7.7 V8 ( I used today shown in photo above) has the stability properties of those old 7 batten V6's I had. Using the Hornets for 7 years I had forgotten how much more stable the old V6's were. My 6.7 Hornet is on the way out and to cover for my son sailing with me on the odd occasion (usually +15 knots before he's interested in joining me) I bought a 2020 6.7 V8 which I used for the first time last weekend on my 121 2004 SB Carve, left my son to use the 6.7 Hornet on a 2006 121 ISonic ( which I bought specifically for him, which he loves. Needless to say he is a better sailor than me having had only about 10% of the TOW as me). The 6.7 V8 (2020 model) is awesome also, well, only used it once, but rapt so far.
So, to answer your questions:
I have to rate the V8's as 10 out 10 due to stability, wind range, handling through gusts, ease of rigging, light feel for a 2 cam sail.

Low end grunt - way better than a bloody NCX . What I have really noticed with the 7.7 V8 is how much more effective and easy it is to pump the board on to the plane than the Hornet.

Top end speed - I probably can't answer, I don't have a GPS but am thinking about getting one. Hard to say if the V8 is faster than the Hornet. I certainly have not thought the V8 is slow and haven't been wishing it was faster, but that may be due to my limited ability to get the most out of the sail.

User friendliness - I find them easy and friendly but I may not be getting the best out of them.

Lightness, flicky feel - I had a H2 for a short time between the V6's and the Hornets, I thought it was heavy and sold it for a Hornet. I was worried about the extra weight of the 2017 V8 vs the Hornet being 7 batten but any extra weight hasn't been an issue, the 2017 V8 is no where near as heavy as the 7.7 H2 I had, but maybe my ability has improved and I can handle it/ not notice it as much.

Flicky feel? Not sure what that means, adjusting trim? Swing weight? Today, early on when I had only just enough wind to keep the SLW on the plane I found myself easily sort of half pumping the sail to keep the board on the plane. That was quite easy if that's included in your definition of 'flicky feel'.

Anyway, that's my 2c, keen to hear your thoughts, you seem to have most concern about the speed of the V8?

This could be a good comparison as my sailing history and skillset seem similar .
Before going to NP I was using North Rams . A 2 /3 option cam sail. I also had North Warps.
Now NP V8 and NP Evos.
Comparing the V8 to the Ram.
The V8 is much lighter in feel , less swing weight jybing .
It is a fragile sail , Ive broken several battens at the cams . They are a bitch to get out and you have to cut a slit in the batten pocket to get them out . I've also torn the part of the sail inside the luff pocket which takes the downhaul tension. At the bottom batten area . This is an expensive fix . I've also done this on A Ram and a Np Slalum mk 3 .
I don't over downhaul.
I think it is the gruntiest sail I have ever used . Not that good in low wind drifting but great getting me on the plane type power . No where near as top end fast as the Ram . Or a H2 . Like they run out of revs .
User friendly in every way. Handle gusts really good , better than Ram and H2. When overpowered it's so easy going to lower clew hole , almost like going down a sail size , very handy and effective . On other sails didn't seem to make much difference .
Im not sure about value , there not cheap and I don't see them having a long life .On my most used sizes , the reinforced panels at clew end and downhaul corner seem to be having delaminating bubbles forming . Not a structural problem yet , but does look ugly . The North sails feel like they are made from leather and would last forever.
Overall opinion , easiest sail I have ever tried , I do like using them , I have faster sails for going fast but are harder to get going . Can't have everything .

Interesting. You must be a hard man on your gear because I've never had any breakages on the NP's except, one broken batten tensioner on the 2017 V8 I bought s/h recently (had been broken by previous owner and he'd done a dodgy glue fix to the broken one, easy fix, bought new part and replaced in 5 mins) and I had one batten snap on my 2013 6.7 Hornet which I bought second hand and was 6 years old when it happened. I've never had any breakages on the sails I've bought brand new. Yes, the mono film gets crinkled over time, mostly near the boom area of the sail but I've got around 7 years out of them before they have holed which I consider is acceptable. Seems to be a concensus out there that NP sails are expensive but most of mine I've bought brand new at run out prices so not paid more than $700-$800 for them. That's reasonable value IMO. Who wants a sail to last forever, you don't get the joy of buying a new updated sail if they don't wear out. And it's my no.1 favourite past time away from work so I'm prepared to spend money on it.As you would know, using high content carbon NP masts is imperative to getting these sail to perform how intended. I bought a 90% 430 RDM to use with my new 6.7 V8, the performance on its first outing vindicated the purchase decision.

Happy sailing and if you're ever up this way call in and say G'day!

Day off and breeze woohoo! Two sessions off Magnetic. Water temp perfect at present.

4 sails out at Pallarenda yesterday! Lots and lots of kites but plenty of room for everyone

The Fox infestation continues. Nice session yesterday 12-ish knots. Hells bells had to wear a wetsuit! Windy today ( but working of course) here's hoping for a blowy Saturday!
I

Thought I'd better post something before Laurie wipes the Qld section. 6d without a post. Everyone on their FB groups I assume.. A bit of wind here in Mackay today, 15-18 with big holes of 10. I rigged too small and stood at the waters edge ready to go when it dropped off.. With the late tide decided to bail and came home and mowed the lawn. Troy persevered on bigger gear and had a reasonable sail I believe.

I'll be back tomorrow, earlier and will rig bigger, although should be a bit more wind tomorrow, apparently.

Did you get out today in Townsville/Maggie Snorkel62? Any Cairns guys sail today?

No sail today OW- haven't peeked at GPSTC to see if the cairns guys got out. Fingers crossed for tomorrow