Finally got to try out the new Hyper Glide foil sail today.
First impression is how light the sail feels. On land and while sailing.
Did a couple of sessions from light 0 to 10 knots, then later a 15 to 18 knot sail. Only early but definitely has a lot of bottom end grunt. Power feels like it is higher in the sail compared to the M1 which is makes pumping a lot easier. I did find i needed to move the mast base further back helped control the higher power zone. With any luck will get to try it out racing tomorrow at Jervios bay.

How big is it?

looks like its a 10.0

is it still called "hyper glide" or just "Glide" now ?

some serious pumping by Amado !

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ratz said..
looks like its a 10.0

It has 10 printed on it. Monster!

I have tried the 10m, 9m and 8m and found the following points;

(1) The sails are anything from 1 to 2 kg lighter (static weight) than the Reflexes /Mach1 of similar size. The luff tube is made of a light weight laminate and a dacron - type material saving most of the weight I think.

(2) The sails are based on a modified Overdrive frame, using 4 short length inducers. The battens are quite stiff giving quite a flat exhaust after the initial camber.

(3) The leach is not as "loose" as the comparable slalom/race type sails but the sail still has a nice twist.

(4) Rigging is easy although the bottom inducer is quite heavily loaded. I removed all spacers from the bottom inducer and found I needed to add spacers to inducer 2 & 3. I think when the sails stretch a bit (particularly the dacron-type luff material) rotation and inducer loading will even out a bit.

(5) The sails feel quite different to the looser leached Mach1's. They are probably aimed at the lighter end of the normal wind range for the sizes. The low end power is strong and pumping works very efficiently. There is a definite sense that the higher parts of the sail are generating more power than the slalom type sails and I have found that I've needed to move the harness lines back a bit, and as Darryl says move the mast track a bit.

(6) The biggest difference is the amount of vertical lift the sails generate - I feel with these sails I can rake my body out and roll the board to windward much better than with the slalom-type sails. The tendency of the nose of the board to dip down when rolled to windward is much less with the sails - which I put down to good vertical lift from the sail counteracting the reduced lift from the tilted foil. What this means is that the upwind angle is better - which is good news for racing!

I found that the 10m became quite heavy-feeling when the wind pushed over 14 knots - hard to find good balance, but I suppose it is designed for the 6- 12 knot range. I've only had the 9m out once - in about 10-12 knots and it felt sweet. I used the 8m in the recent champs , up to about 20 knots and again it felt nice, particularly upwind.

More testing/using is required to get a better sense of these sails but first impressions are quite good.

10m - rigged best on a 490 Apex with 40cm fixed extension
9m - rigged on 490 Apex
8m - rigged on a 460 Apex

[sorry for the rotated photos - not sure how to fix that!]

10m



8m

9m

Hi Bushfire,
Nice review :)
Do you feel that the hyperglide sails are more stable and easier to control compared to the reflex race sails when you are close to getting overpowered?
And do you have the boom length and the luff specifications for the different sail sizes?

It is hard to compare stability between the Mach1 type sails and the Hyperglides - they have different design briefs.
However, I think that the Mach 1 sails handle overpowering and gusty conditions better, probably due to the looser leach and more "locked in" power zone (higher skin tension?). This may mean that the Mach 1's have a wider wind range. The Hyperglides probably generate more useable power for a wind within its range but that range is narrower. I would say they are designed for lighter winds in a size for size comparison to the Mach1's. The HG power seems to suit the foils very well - I've only used the 8m HG on a slalom board once and that felt OK - albeit with a more rearward stance. The HG's seem to pump very well.

I'll add the boom & luff dimensions later.

Bushfire is right about the HG and M1 being very different sails. I am finding the HG has a much better bottom end and a lot better to pump. They seem to have a constant pull / power right from very low speeds where the M1 requires more speed before it starts to generate power.
The low end / low board speed power really suits the foils as it helps you get going in the designed light winds.
The M1 would definitely have a higher top end wind range but that is not what you are trying to achieve with foil sails.

Excellent explanations thank you fellas.

how would the HG compare to the turbo GT?

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KJ said..
how would the HG compare to the turbo GT?

Wildly different sails, not even close in their design philosophy or how they feel. What's your intended use? The Hyperglide is the sail you buy if you want to race foils seriously and want the absolute best possible upwind/downwind performance, particularly at the lower end of the range. I personally find Mach1's a far nicer sail to use and have a much wider tuning range. I also think the Mach1's are quicker downwind in almost all wind ranges bar super light....but you spend more time going upwind in a race....

I find the Hyperglide has quite a narrow tuning range, sometimes it feels absolutely mint, other times it feels awkward. I think a lot of this is because it's design is very very different; draft way forward, far less twist and a very straight exit on most of the leech which seems to be far less tolerant to settings being off. Cool for racing because you want the absolute best upwind angle you can get but if you're just foiling around I think a Mach1/overdrive/Turbo is a more pleasant sail to use.

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CJW said..

KJ said..
how would the HG compare to the turbo GT?

Wildly different sails, not even close in their design philosophy or how they feel. What's your intended use? The Hyperglide is the sail you buy if you want to race foils seriously and want the absolute best possible upwind/downwind performance, particularly at the lower end of the range. I personally find Mach1's a far nicer sail to use and have a much wider tuning range. I also think the Mach1's are quicker downwind in almost all wind ranges bar super light....but you spend more time going upwind in a race....

I find the Hyperglide has quite a narrow tuning range, sometimes it feels absolutely mint, other times it feels awkward. I think a lot of this is because it's design is very very different; draft way forward, far less twist and a very straight exit on most of the leech which seems to be far less tolerant to settings being off. Cool for racing because you want the absolute best upwind angle you can get but if you're just foiling around I think a Mach1/overdrive/Turbo is a more pleasant sail to use.

thanks for the reply CJW, I was looking at it from a light wind sail (8.6m) on my free ride board. Sounds like its really a foil specific sail

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KJ said..

thanks for the reply CJW, I was looking at it from a light wind sail (8.6m) on my free ride board. Sounds like its really a foil specific sail

I have a Turbo 8.6m (2015) for a large freeride light wind sail and it's perfect. Great low end for getting you going on light days, softer than the Overdrive for easier pumping and nice and light in the hands. I had Turbos from 6m up but only kept this one as it was my favourite.

I have tried my new 8m Hyperglide twice.

First time in 10-20 knots - was more than a bit overpowered in the gusts but the sail still felt very stable.

Then a few days ago in very light 6-12 conditions with a 135 Patrik and 50 fin.

Positives - super light,very stable in the gusts with the four cams.

Downside - the foot is cut approx 5cm lower so you need to add a bit more extension. I did not find this a problem.

Being so light it feels similar to a proto Overdrive.

I had the boom cutout shortened by 20cm down to 200 cm to fit my boom. Could not really notice any difference in feel compared to the first session when I used the sail as is.

On the second session I dropped the downhaul close to its minimum for extra power and I did notice I was planing a little earlier. I then dropped the downhaul again till there was wrinkles in the luff and the sail would not rotate!

I rig it with a Simmer 490 cm 100 percent and rotation is good,though I had to remove all the spacers and the metal bits.

Compared to my Maui TR8 7.6 it just feels a lot,lot lighter.

Even with minimum downhaul setting the Hyperglide still feels good when planing as there is still a decent built in twist shape to the leech.

Really happy with the performance especially its light weight feel.

to flip a photo, it is MUCH easier than flipping the sail during a gybe/jibe
kick the flip switch, save and post to forum - nice lookin sails
did you say dacron - like Hot Sails Maui sails since quite some time ...

Bushy, I think 1 less batten and 2 less in the 10.0 would also have saved a lot of weight.

Joe Windsurf, Bushy is talking about Dacron on the luff sleeve where you need it to stretch not the main sail panels.

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DarrylG said..
Finally got to try out the new Hyper Glide foil sail today.
First impression is how light the sail feels. On land and while sailing.
Did a couple of sessions from light 0 to 10 knots, then later a 15 to 18 knot sail. Only early but definitely has a lot of bottom end grunt. Power feels like it is higher in the sail compared to the M1 which is makes pumping a lot easier. I did find i needed to move the mast base further back helped control the higher power zone. With any luck will get to try it out racing tomorrow at Jervios bay.

Great pics. What is the model of the boom that you used? Looks like a hybrid between Severne Enigma and NS platinum formula wide tail end

Red

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eyeMhardcor said.. Red

Red