Hello,

i am thinking about buying MKIV-LE 7,8+6,2

Can anyone tell something about that sail?

I have heared that MKVI should be worse than MKIII. Is that true?

Thanks for advice.

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mwe1111 said...

Hello,

i am thinking about buying MKIV-LE 7,8+6,2

Can anyone tell something about that sail?

I have heared that MKVI should be worse than MKIII. Is that true?

Thanks for advice.

this is what i posted a while back. i'm now changing to Severne reflex's



I would first like to say that I have owned and used the following sails (all current sail I have are in bold)

2007 RS Slalom, MK1 8.4m
2008 RS Slalom MK2 5.4m, 6.7m, 7.2m, 7.8m
2010 RS Slalom MK3 7.8m
2006 RS6 7.8m and 6.2m
2008 RS Racing 5.0m, 6.7m, 7.2m, 7.8m, 8.4m2010 RSR Evo2 6.2m
I have rigged the sails on NPX6 and Tushingham 75% mast's and using a NP extension.

The RSS MK4
When the recommend extension is used (10cm) the sail is very easy to down haul (one handed) until it is block to block.

At this point the sail is still very tight leached. I have used the sail like this in winds from 12-25knts. On this setting the sail feels heavy and the COE moves all over the place.
In comparison to the RSR's and RSS MK2's I have had the MK4 feels very draggy and heavy even when fully powered up where all the other sails go light on the hands the 7.8m MK4 just gets heavier.

More down haul you say??

I have tried the 7.8m MK4 with 12cm (2cm more than recommended) on extension on the base giving up to 2cm more down haul. This does make the leach open up more but the sail still feels heavy. Unlike a sail that is over down hauled where its really easy to sheet in, the MK4 just gets all unstable and heavy.

The RSS 7.8MK3 I had was the complete opposite. The sail twisted off so easily that in a gust (fully powered up) the sail would just exhaust all the power instead of shooting you out of the gust and accelerating.

I will stick with my current quiver of 2008 RSR's as they rig/tune really easily even on my x6 and tushy masts. The best thing about them is when I am speed and slalom sailing I like to be really powered up, so last thing I want in a sail is to have to start wrestling it just when I am trying to milk a gust for a few more knots where as the RSR's I have, just go lighter in the hands and squirt you out of gust with more speed.


NOTE: these are just my thoughts and observations. (That waiting for wind asked for) I'm no expert and pay for all my gear. Please dont take it as gospel as i know heaps of people that are really happy with their MK3's and 4's

I think NP's best sails were the 2008 RS Racing/ EVO 1, and the MK III RSS.

Closing the compact clew in my opinion didn't work, and completely goes against the theory of it in the 1st place.

Another Severne convert here....

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Magnus8 said...

I think NP's best sails were the 2008 RS Racing/ EVO 1, and the MK III RSS.

Closing the compact clew in my opinion didn't work, and completely goes against the theory of it in the 1st place.

Another Severne convert here....

yep i agreed

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The RSS MK4
When the recommend extension is used (10cm) the sail is very easy to down haul (one handed) until it is block to block.

At this point the sail is still very tight leached. I have used the sail like this in winds from 12-25knts. On this setting the sail feels heavy and the COE moves all over the place.
In comparison to the RSR's and RSS MK2's I have had the MK4 feels very draggy and heavy even when fully powered up where all the other sails go light on the hands the 7.8m MK4 just gets heavier.

More down haul you say??

I have tried the 7.8m MK4 with 12cm (2cm more than recommended) on extension on the base giving up to 2cm more down haul. This does make the leach open up more but the sail still feels heavy. Unlike a sail that is over down hauled where its really easy to sheet in, the MK4 just gets all unstable and heavy.

I have had a similar problem with H2 8,2.

With medium downhaul the leech does not open and the sail does not get faster.

With more downhaul you take the power totally off.

For my like the COE ist much to far back! My freerace board: 234*68cm can not transfer the power...

Thats why i want to change to freerace-pro sails 7,8...

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mwe1111 said...

The RSS MK4
When the recommend extension is used (10cm) the sail is very easy to down haul (one handed) until it is block to block.

At this point the sail is still very tight leached. I have used the sail like this in winds from 12-25knts. On this setting the sail feels heavy and the COE moves all over the place.
In comparison to the RSR's and RSS MK2's I have had the MK4 feels very draggy and heavy even when fully powered up where all the other sails go light on the hands the 7.8m MK4 just gets heavier.

More down haul you say??

I have tried the 7.8m MK4 with 12cm (2cm more than recommended) on extension on the base giving up to 2cm more down haul. This does make the leach open up more but the sail still feels heavy. Unlike a sail that is over down hauled where its really easy to sheet in, the MK4 just gets all unstable and heavy.

I have had a similar problem with H2 8,2.

With medium downhaul the leech does not open and the sail does not get faster.

With more downhaul you take the power totally off.

For my like the COE ist much to far back! My freerace board: 234*68cm can not transfer the power...

Thats why i want to change to freerace-pro sails 7,8...

I was advised by some knowledgable observers that my H2s needed more out haul. Applying and additional 2 cover what is stated on the sails made them much easier to use, stable and altogether nicer on the water.

Although this maybe a case of believing its better so it becomes better?

I had the 6.2 and 7 MKIII's
I did'nt like the 6.2, for me it became overpowered very quickly.
The 7 was much better and in its wind range it was both early planing and quick, however it was a handful overpowered.

These sails a good light freerace sails within their wind range, if you are looking for sails for GPS in overpowered conditions then I think there are better choices.

I have an 6.2 RSR evo 1, bought from Magus and this is a great sail, handles the gusts really well and is light in the hands. I've sailed with Haggar on similar boards, him on his Rss and me on the evo and his sail was having trouble in the gusts compared to mine. Sometimes newer isn't better.....

Bender, I am looking at the RSS mark 4 LE on the web site and the recommended extention for a 7.8 is 14 cm, not 10 cm. Is the one you jumped on a prototype, or maybe printed with the wrong base ext recommendation. I have seen that before.
http://racing.neilpryde.com/rs-slalom-mkiv-le/sail.html

Alot of people seem to hate the new neilprydes from about 2010 onwards. I have found them absolutely brilliant. By reading the rigging guide, Tuning it and trying many different settings ect I have found their sweet spot. Yes they are a hard sail to master getting it right. by now I have found the newer ones are getting better and better. Love using the 2011/12 rsslaloms and yet to try my rsr evo4. The neilpryde are really dependent on masts I feel as if they work better on x6 masts as well as the north gold/platinum work very well as well. The more time on the water with the sails they are really starting to prove how good they are with the new clue system as well. They dint feel much different compared to my evo2 4.7.

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ULF said...

Bender, I am looking at the RSS mark 4 LE on the web site and the recommended extention for a 7.8 is 14 cm, not 10 cm. Is the one you jumped on a prototype, or maybe printed with the wrong base ext recommendation. I have seen that before.
http://racing.neilpryde.com/rs-slalom-mkiv-le/sail.html

I received my MK4 as soon as they came out. once i advised the shop of my findings and disaproval sudenly they recomended 14cm on the extension on the NP website. i shouldn have taken a pic of the sail as it stated 10cm (it was not the only sail that had it on) extension on it. I think they just cocked up. IMHO not really good enough for a so called high performance product. I'm guessing all the R&D goes into the RSR's and the RSS's are not tested so extensively.

You must of been the unlucky one bender, all spot on, on mine and dads rsr/rss.

Bender I've had a 5.4 Alpha with incorrect extn info printed on it and a V8 with incorrect outhaul settings. So I don't doubt for a second yours said 10cm. It would explain some of the difficulty you have experienced.

My MK4 had the incorrect settings printed on it as well, 10cm ext instead of 14cm. It was correct on the website when I looked, but not the sail. Fairly obvious when you rigged it!

However I think the R&D at Neil Pryde is lacking, given their latest innovation is 'blue' & 'LE'. Also what are thinking trying to retail the race sails for nearly $2k??

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Magnus8 said...



However I think the R&D at Neil Pryde is lacking, given their latest innovation is 'blue' & 'LE'. Also what are thinking trying to retail the race sails for nearly $2k??

That's like saying all they have done on the reflex for 2012 is changed the graphics. I think at this point in time alot of the current race sails have hit a wall in innovation, but slowly tweaking it and making them better each year.

Nothing faster or nicer than my $350 2009 5.6m code red.

You got to remember that the settings printed on the sails are only a starting point or guide, when rigging my sails I watch the leech twist off while downhauling and stopping once I get enough/less twist for the conditions.
Some of the major manufacturers could do themselves a favour by winding back the prices of their race sails, put simply they are pricing themselves out of the market and the only people using their gear will be team riders.

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choco said...

You got to remember that the settings printed on the sails are only a starting point or guide, when rigging my sails I watch the leech twist off while downhauling and stopping once I get enough/less twist for the conditions.
Some of the major manufacturers could do themselves a favour by winding back the prices of their race sails, put simply they are pricing themselves out of the market and the only people using their gear will be team riders.

I agree sail prices have got silly. Interestingly with Hot Sails Maui there new wave sail is more expensive than their race sail which is half the price of a NP.

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Magnus8 said...

My MK4 had the incorrect settings printed on it as well, 10cm ext instead of 14cm. It was correct on the website when I looked, but not the sail. Fairly obvious when you rigged it!

However I think the R&D at Neil Pryde is lacking, given their latest innovation is 'blue' & 'LE'. Also what are thinking trying to retail the race sails for nearly $2k??

I had a play with the Mk4 7.8 for 2-3 sessions this week.
The conditions were super gusty - 15 - 25 knot southerly storm winds .

I started at the recommeded 10 then pushed it out to 11 and then to 12 a bit later. I found the sail got worse as i pulled it down more and started to feel very back heavy - ie the sail would want to rake back into the board.

Eventually i droped it back to 10 and it felt nice and balanced again.

What i really noticed was how you had to tune the sail with the adjustable outhaul as the big gusts came thru - tightening the outhaul made a huge differnce to the comfort in the gusts and dropping it out would help keep power up thru the holes.

spec wise I think the 14 on the website is a missprint.
all the other sails show Luff = mast + base except for the 7.8 which was
469 luff with a 460 mast and 14 base

Personnally im pretty happy with the sail (7.8) it gets me up and planing in 15+ knots comfortably - its still sailable in the 20+ gusts but honestly if the winds above 20 id be rather be rigging a something smaller thats faster and mroe comfortable to use.

The mk 4s cost about $1300 new