My thoughts on the 2012 Overdrive
I rig sail on the recommended Severne Blue Line 490 mast'
The sail is easy to rig. My only gripe is getting the 3 cams on the mast is a two stage event.
Stage 1
Down haul sail so the boom can be attached.
Attach boom and outhaul sail.
Push on bottom cam.
Stage 2
Downhaul sail some more so the top two cams stay on the mast when they pop on.
Pop top two cams on.
Fully down haul sail.

Once I had done this a couple of times I have it down pat so it's not too much of a problem.

The OD rigs with heaps of fullness and the upper leach is not too loose/floppy.

On the water the bottom end is amazing. I can get my 122X-Fire planning in approx 10knts. The sail is light in the hands and due to the large inset clew the 224 boom is still throw about for an 8.5m sail. I am rigging the sail with 10mm more than the recommended bluff length at 494 instead of 493. This seems to be about right for winds ranging from just planning to 18knts. When the wind fills in I think another 10mm will open up the upper leach but in reality I would just change down to the 7.8m.
As far as top end I have done 29knts in 15-18knts of wind. At this pace the sail does get a bit draggy but what can you expect, it's an 8.5m.
The cams rotate nice and smooth as you sheet in on the exit of your gybe. In the gusts the sail just loads up and accelerates faster.
Overall I'm stoked with it as it pulls like a 4WD in low range in marginal winds so it's a definite early planer. Just perfect for my light wind set up.

Great review Bender,I am also a fan of the Overdrives,easy to rig ,plenty of power,rotate nicely,not much more you could ask for

Thanks for sharing your thoughts bender. The reflex of the cross batten appears to start midway down the batten, does this "fill out" on the water and keep the draft loaded forward?
How does the x-ply luff compare to the softer luff material on say the RS Slalom(mkIII and older?), does it feel more stable and racy?

Yes your assumption is correct kimba. The battern does fill out locking the draft foward nicely. The main batten on the overdrives compared to all my reflex's dont have the refllex battern thingy in the clew battern.
i have really cranked up the tesion on that battern to get even more shape below the boom.
As far as a comparrison to the RS Slaloms which i have owned and used used the OD is just as stable as the MKII while having the sofness of the MKIII's. One big diference is even though the OD pulls like a truck to get you planning really early it feel heaps lighter in the hands especially gybing.

Hi bender,

thanks for report... on the second foto looks like
that the 2nd and third batten from the top need more tension..
look at the wrinkels...

aloha

herry

dam does that mean im not getting it now.

i got the 6.7 overdrive in mid-january, plus the recommended blueline mast.

first outing i had the same initial issue rigging the cams - once you have the trick it's no biggie.

the other thing to note is there are four pulleys mounted 90 degrees to the sail. this caused a bit of confusion for me in threading it onto my extension. needed to do some translation in my head, but you work it out without any twisting.

full downhaul is brutal to pull on by hand (but still not quite at NP race-sail levels). as i got near full downhaul the formuline started to sing like a guitar string. kept waiting for it to snap, but it's magic stuff.

so - i reckon i'll get the severne extension to match - from what i've researched it has three pulleys which will make it thread and pull easier.

on the water - have to agree on the bottom end. i've found i can get mine going in very little wind (100lt board/36cm fin/freshwater/i'm 83kegs). it loads up very early and if you can translate that into the board, you're on the plane in a heartbeat.

up and going it's very stable. the conditions haven't got over ~18knots for me yet, so i'm yet to test it at its top end. i'm confident i can take it out in a lot more wind.

like any cammed sails the swing weight is noticeable and benefits from the usual sharp pull at the flip to pop the cams to the new tack. the bottom end is waiting for you when you do - time it right and exits are blistering.

all in all i'm impressed. now i'm starting to feel comfortable on it, i'm itching to see how much i can hold it down in.

Select to expand quote

uweh said...

Hi bender,

thanks for report... on the second foto looks like
that the 2nd and third batten from the top need more tension..
look at the wrinkels...

aloha

herry

Well spotted Herry
I have in fact backed these two batterns off a bit as they were putting shape in the head of the sail, so yes there are some small wrinkles but nothing to worry about.

I currently use 2011 overdrives 6.7 & 7.5 the low end drive and balance in the rig have transformed my sailing. I can only highly recommend them

I used the 8.5m Severne 2012 Pre-production sail until the 10th of January this summer and it was just as good as the reflex race sail.

I managed second in the safety bay marathon and the mandurah marathon following closely behind Jesper, not knowing it was the last lap argghh!

So not only can i say that the sail is good, it has proven to be sick. Its very easy to handle and really good early planing ability which i question may be better than the reflex 3 sail.

Easy to rig, tune and rotate. Just downhaul and go!!!