Im thinking of buying a 6.5 cheetah 2016 .they have dropped a batten this year .
Im just wondering is its a good move ..they claim its softer ..but is the top end still as good.?
Anyone out there got one..?

Hi I haven't tried the new Cheetah but I have been more than happy with the change over I made to Ezzy sails, I have the 2015 Cheetah and its the best no cam 7m I have ever owned.
From what I have observed it seems David Ezzy dosen't make changes for the sake of it every year so I would be surprised if the new 2016 Cheetah was inferior to the 2015.
You can always send him an email and ask the man himself about the changes and he will get back to you within a day.

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Jman said..
Hi I haven't tried the new Cheetah but I have been more than happy with the change over I made to Ezzy sails, I have the 2015 Cheetah and its the best no cam 7m I have ever owned.
From what I have observed it seems David Ezzy dosen't make changes for the sake of it every year so I would be surprised if the new 2016 Cheetah was inferior to the 2015.
You can always send him an email and ask the man himself about the changes and he will get back to you within a day.

Ok thanks for the info.. Jman....great to hear you like your cheetah ,great looking sail. I do Have 3 Ezzy sails /SE wave and panthers,.but need a 6.5 slalom sail .need some speed.
makes sense having a 430 Ezzy mast ..I don't particularly like cams so the cheetah is the one for me .
Will drop David a line anyway.It seems he's changed all his wave sails too ,less battens ..too.
i like the toughness that the Ezzy sails provide .

Like Jman I've got a 2015 Ezzy Cheetah, mines the 6.5m. Have not got a lot experience with other sails to make comparisons with but I really like it.

As far as the wave sails go the Ezzy Tigers are still 5 batten & I think the last time they changed design was in 2013.

I have the new 6 batten version and have a few sessions on it. So far, no surprise, it's great. My point of reference is the 8.5 cheetah, tons of time on that sail. Ezzy doesn't mess around, especially with a bread & butter sail like the Cheetah, I'd be surprised if you don't love it too.

Thanks guys ..
the thing that amazes me with the Ezzy s is how you can really belly them up if the wind drops
and keep sailing ..the older SE did get over powered sometimes ..but hey they still look in perfect condition .
bullet proof. I have had sails that are very sensitive to foreign mast ..but the Ezzy. Is not to fussy .
i also have a tushingham 75 % sdm ..the sails rig and sail perfect on it .

.....cheetah ..

Just thought I'd up date ..brought the 6.5 2016 cheetah ..Ive had a few good session s now ..what a soft feel it has ,but bloody fast at the same time
in total bliss in 16 - 22 knots yesterday ..I give it 9 out of 10 . It looks and rigs amazing ..on my 430 90. % ezzy mast ..Wow.

I have a 2012 Cheetah 6.5. Done about 5000kms on it and it's still going fine. Unbelievable ability to swallow wind. The 6.5 is a classic size.

Good to know they've kept the high standard Shifu.....good K's ...still look s good i bet ..time for a oil change,

my Mates I sailed with on the weekend all had 6.5 on too..this day...they have the 2009 cheetahs

they where so jealous when I dragged the 2016 model out .

they asked if I'd lost a batten ......yep.

Pretty hard to beat Ezzz Cheetah, for freesail power, range, simplicity and durability.. even though I updated my 7m to a '15 I have repaired the small hole I made in the '12 and kept it as it still sails just fine...great to have a spare! My 12' maya have similar K's to 'Shifu's' and a lot of bashing in/out of waves/trees etc!
Spent some time on the Lion 6m in the last big blow we had...really enjoyed it also, extremely stable with the 2 cams, race sail stable i'd say but way more user friendly to rig and use, especially Jibe and water start, it's only the 2nd time I've used it in a year, make's a great storm sail.

With all the complexity you read on line about mast curves, broken masts, broken battens, sails that do this and don't do that, it's easy to think that Windsurfing is an really complex sport...doesn't have to be. Especially when you can purchase a sail that's been rigged in the factory, follow clear concise printed settings on the sail, use the bomb proof RDM mast and away you go..no hassles..just tweak the out haul to suit the wind.

Biggest thing with Ezzy is that you find you don't need so many sails, as the tuneable range is seriously massive. I seem to alway just use the 7.0 in flat water or ocean blasting..and strong winds/wave board 5.2Panther... could easily run a two sail quiver and two board quiver, my only moan is the7m is on a 460, otherwise I'd only need one mast!

The only other free ride/race sails I have seen in the flesh that stack up to similar qualities as above seem to be the new Naish Noa's, build quality and materials look amazing, speeds are proven, all the pilots of them rave.

Yeah the new naish sails are good ..I have the 7.1 sprint .

its a pity he put tube battens in them ..snapped 3 already.my fault ..I got dusted by a wave going out .

and rigs pretty flat compared to the cheetah .

the battens in the ezzy s bend and almost belly up like a cam sail .

And make a thump as they turn over after a gybe.locked in .

i like it.

think there is a video on the Ezzy site that explains a bit about their battens, and reasoning behind and why they don't use tube, certainly durability is a big factor, I'm sure it helps the sail set with the nice deep profile also. Busted plenty of 'tube' battens in sails in the past, in some pretty low impact incidents, never broken an Ezzy batten. Not to say I can't destroy an Ezy sail, cause I have! But the battens were all perfect as also everything else, except the panel where my board went through!

There are heaps of great videos on the Ezzy site, that explain all sorts of things in intricate detail, it's a nice simple product that to me = no frills or hassles and maximum enjoyment, love the calibrated rigging system, works a treat, the out haul strings are a handy guide also..I'd say the only improvement they could make is harness line Centre of effort mark point on the sail...but i guess that is a moving target a bit depending on how the sail is set/tuned.

Tardy, does your new 2016 sail have the mast pad that folds out longer to form a base pad also? That's a pretty cool feature, not supposing you have noticed any performance difference being only 6 batten over 7?

It's pretty much the same as the 2015 ..I have a 8.5 2015 ezzy .cheetah .
its hard to say unless I try a 7 batten 6.5 .same size .but I would say yes softer .
but the 6.5 2016 feels soft up top and grunty down low ..
I had max down haul last time I was out on it ..and no way was I feeling overpowered or getting thrown around on it .
It got up to 25 knot and I could of sailed it all day .easy .

all the other sailor commented on how nice it looked powered up ..I smoked em . My Tabou rocket made the difference .

they where mates, its ok to pass .we race each other all the Time .some days they smoke me ,them being 25 kg lighter .little pricks.

Windsurf Magazine review here:
www.windsurf.co.uk/test/ezzy-cheetah-6-5m-2016-test-review/

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Shifu said..
Windsurf Magazine review here:
www.windsurf.co.uk/test/ezzy-cheetah-6-5m-2016-test-review/

In fact looking at the rest of the reviews in that article it seems we are living in a golden era of no-cam freeride sails.

no-cams are great.still good speed soft feel.

2016 6 batten .softer ,yes ....fast,yes. cheetah ,yes

now we need a picture

Not me ..off the ezzy site .2016 cheetah .

after having the ezzy 6.5 cheetah for 2 months now ..It has great bottom end and you can really feel it exhausting out the top with the head ...

Ive now had the 7.0 for a week now ..and it works perfect on my Naish 100/460 fire stick .I got this lovely green one pictured above ..

stoked.

Is it all XPLY? if so whats it weight like, on the scales & while sailing?

Yep all scrim or x- ply except for the little widow where your head goes ..its nice and soft on the head .
the weight has been dropped compared to the 2006-2007 models ...( i have a friend with one ) It's a similar weight to my old north sail .with no x ply.
you don't have to worry about it been to heavy ..
I love the feel of these cheetah s ...and they are fast ...and handle heaps of wind .and have tonnes of adjustment ....
the battens bend and belly up like a cam sail .they Always keep a nice shape .

There's not many sails out there that can rig on most mast ,as said on their web site ..I've used tushingham ,neilpryde ,north ,and naish SDM & RDM masts on them and they all rig and work
perfect on them .( my other sails are .2009 .6.3 panthers,2007 5.8 se wave and now 2016 cheetahs )

I reckon that says it all.

This is a huge bonus for a sail ,and a new buyer who won't have to change their mast .
Do they feel heavy sailing you ask ?.
they feel light sailing ..? Just a different feel to all my other sails .naish .north .
Its like your always in control of the sail .no scary surprises in gust ..they just release all the un- needed wind ,with no fuss. Super cool in all circumstances.

It sounds like you are looking to buy one . You won't be sorry 6.0 or .6.5 would be a good size for WA .depending on your weight .

Tardy you have both 6.5 and 7.0 Ezzy Cheetahs
? Isn't that awfully close?

True ....
I brought the 6,5 first...because i needed a sail that would handle heaps of wind .

2nd .My main sail I use is a 2nd hand 2011 7.0 ..T4...Long story short ,,I got washed up on some rocks ..the T4 tushingham .
was not happy .rather than get the 2 windows fixed I decided to put the money towards a new one.

So the 7.o Cheetah was on the way ..basically I only use two sails sizes most of the time .6.5 or 7.0.
Im 95 kgs .

there is a big difference between the two .sizes when sailing overpowered .Which I always seem to do .

I would still buy the two sizes if starting from scratch .Its all about where you sail.

I feel spoilt having the two sizes . good times ahead. take it Ezzy. gorgemay.

I have 7.5, 6.5 and 5.5 Cheetahs plus a 5.0 Tiger. They all have the same feel and confidence inspiring behaviour. I use the 6.5 most and as I said above, this size seems to have a magical ability to swallow wind. The 5.5 is probably redundant as the jump between 6.6 and 5.0 is doable, but it's nice to have it anyway.

Tardy, glad you love the sails and if that spacing works for you why not

Thanks ..georgemay...shifu .has the sensible gaps ...every metre .

i think it really comes down to what wind strength you sail in .
because I head right out to sea with a few mate s swell riding ,it's ..esccentual to have the right sail on .or else you get trashed after one hour or so .
plenty times I've sailed in 25 knots with a seven .you can do it but you don't last long ...but still fun .( we usually stay out for 3 hours none stop .no stopping ,to many sharks out there,saw a hammerhead one day,)

15-18 knot I go the 7.0 if its gusting up to 17- 20or 22 I put the 6.5 on
so that's pretty much what wind we sail in .and that s what I target my sails on .

my 5.0 and 5.8 Collect dust .unless I head west ..sad ,but true.

Im still stoked I didn't have to buy another... $800 mast .

Tardy, what size board, a Rocket correct? Riding swell is a blast. Nothing like sharks to keep you focused!

I have two rockets ,the 105 CED. And the one I use in the ocean is a LTD 125 litre ,it has some serious performance I just brought it last year ,being a 2015 model .
before that ,I use to use a 2008 mistral 124 syncro. The tabou is way faster and I can over take or catch up to waves now .And it is amazing in chop.I still can't believe how light it is .100 percent carbon.construction I scored it secondhand someone didn't like it .lucky me .If your on the hunt for one ,you can't go wrong .what literage are you thinking .or do you have one ?

The biggest, is it 145?

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gorgemay said..
The biggest, is it 145?

Yeah ,check out windsurfing perth .he has all the new toys.
tabou have gone a little wider this year .depending one your weight the 135 might also be a good option .
Due to extra width in the new boards ..Ive gone from a 150 litre board @69 wide to a 130 as my big board ,and it planes earlier.
And easier to use ..so hard to fall off these wide board ,I wish they had them while i was learning ...my 130 litre Naish is 83.8 wide . .great with a 8.5 .my 2015 tabou is 69 wide .

David Ezzy gives some maintenance tips in this one. Help you all look after your new Cheetahs.