Can't make up my mind on an overdrive R7 or turbo for my Tabou Rocket 135.

Anyone got any experiences or comments?

I use to have a turbo 7.5m and NCX 6.5m but sold them. They didn't quite have the top end I was looking for. Went to reflex's but too heavy and hard to sail. Plus the foil is so locked in that they are very hard to rotate from a water start position. I now have a full set of overdrives from 9.5 to 6.2. Love them. The roller cams are super easy to put on and love how there are no zippers expect for the bottom cam pocket, very quick to rig, great to gybe. Only problem there aren't many second hand ones around one or two seasons old. Having said all that I think the best thing you can do for your sailing is get a carbon boom so that draft doesn't move around all the time, and get a good carbon fin so you don't spin out when pushing it. Probably the question is where are you sailing. Turbo probably better if sailing out of Ricketts Pt or Green Pt in the bay, and the Overdrive if it reasonably flat like Mornington way or Inverloch. Race sails can be a bit difficult in big bay chop.

Can't comment on the Turbo, but I got an R7 OD7.0.

Only sailed it three times (twice on Manta 100lt, once on I97), and yet to have the conditions to get it %100 loaded. But to date: very nice sail, feels and looks less than 7.0. There's lots of controlled forward pull from it - feels really nicely balanced.

Got a largish luff pocket so deep starting can be a challenge. And there's quite a few moving parts so rigging requires care - but once you get it right, it's an absolute cracker.

I think the OD is a good sail if you're chasing speed and are a technical sailor. If you like to just throw a sail on and get wet and blasting quick, maybe the Turbo is more your thing.

8.6 bloody hell just go for a ride on your bike instead.

I have a dilemma too.

NCX or Turbo for my Rocket Wide 108? 7 or 7.5m? I'm 68 kg. 75% carbon mast. I tried my friend's all carbon 7.5m Turbo rig a few months ago on my board and it felt... heavy.

Only ever sail in Port Philip.

I had an R4 or R5 8.6 OD and traded it on a Turbo 8.6 (2014 I think). I don't race so I'm looking for a genuine light wind sail from my 8.6 and I didn't regret my decision. The Turbo feels soft, nicer to pump onto the plan and is tuned more towards medium zone. It will get out of control earlier than the OD but by then I'm nearly always on smaller kit. Speed wise in 15kts I doubt there is much difference across the wind, OD will probably accelerate better. I personally feel the Turbo feels noticeably lighter in the hands. I had four Turbos 6.0 to 8.6 and the 8.6 was my favourite. I have used it on large Slalom, Freeride, Mistral longboard and Formula - worked well in all cases.

If you want a 12-16 kt sail for free riding go the Turbo. If you like sailing maxed out or want to race, go the OD.

I'm with jimbob - 8.6m feels too big for windsurfing. Might be a good size for a small boat.

Just rig up a 7m with less downhaul and the low end power will not be much less.

As for the Turbo and Overdrive sails - they are lighter by a good margin than race sails.

Probably just as fast in the lighter conditions. However if the winds picks up and you need to increase the downhaul A LOT - the leech on both sails will shake uncontrollably - so be warned.

Had a go of a new proto 2016 6.0m Overdrive in 25 knots of wind. The leech was twisted off heaps - and I could literally not sail it due to the leech shaking non stop! I was puffing heavily after two shortish reaches on it - it was a handful to control.

Im sure they are great sails with less downhaul applied - but only in the right conditions.

If it gets too windy you need to change down size - with a race sail you just increase the downhaul.

Depends what you want. If you sail on the ocean where the wind is fairly constant then go for few or no cams, ie turbo or ncx. If you sail on a river or lake or port phillip bay where the wind is up and down then go for more cams, either over drive or reflex. The full on race sails have so much more wind range, you can get away with fewer sails and worry less about what you rig. the racier sails will go through lulls beter, plane earlier and you can hang onto them in ridiculous amounts of wind. Yes they feel heavier but you aint doing freestyle tricks or loops with them. Strangely rigging a reflex is fairly easy. The luff pocket is so wide the mast just goes all the way in pushing it from the bottom. Cams just pop on once you get the knack. This season i have only used my 9.7 and 7.8, about the same amount each. From what i have seen lately on the river is guys on no cam sails are often under powered or over powered or talking about how gusty it is. Guys on bigger cammed sails are generally going better and complain less. Guys on formula gear dont even notice the gusts or lulls. Some people dont like big gear. Some people like soft feeling wave sails. I just like being powered up.

Whatever you do, get the right mast and lots of downhaul

Thanks everyone for your replies, excellent points and you’ve all got experience’s I can relate to.

Yes jimbob, I should (go ride a bike in light wind) and I’ve been down this road before when I use to own a NP 8.0v8 and a 133L starboard futura. However we’ve been dogged by light wind this summer and I’m thinking of doing the Mauritius freeride challenge in August which will have gutless tropical air.

I do own a set of R5’s (5.1-6.2) and are thinking of getting a R7 7.0, speaking of which “Trousers” do you have any experience of SDM vs RMD on your 7.0?

I did own a 8.6 NP RS slalom before the V8, which did have a good top end, so much so that I failed to notice that my mates were out on their 6.5’s (freeride) at the same time. I struggle with handling the big gear as I mainly sail in the open ocean (Warrnambool Vic) where there is always a swell and chop.

This is starting to clarify my thinking a little, maybe a 8.1 turbo and a 7.0OD as I would prefer to change down slightly earlier (I’m mid at weight 85kg) and prefer the lighter handling in the bigger gear.

Agreed 100% carbon mast (Severne) and booms. The only problem is that there is no large (8.1-8.6) Turbos or R7 7.0 in the country at the moment and won’t be until Jan next year! Looks like I’ll have to get some out of the UK or NZ

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KJ said..
I do own a set of R5’s (5.1-6.2) and are thinking of getting a R7 7.0, speaking of which “Trousers” do you have any experience of SDM vs RMD on your 7.0?

Until this recent season I'd been sailing almost exclusively RDM on other brand sails and loved it. I'm a slightly lighter flat-water sailor at 70kegs and when I ordered the 7.0 asked for RDM but the shop talked me out of it and I ended up going SDM and so far have no regrets, except for the raft of RDM extensions and shims that have sat unused in my garage all this summer.

But from what I understand, you just need to buy a set of RDM cams (+ boom shim) and you're good to go. Are you asking because you currently rig your 6.2 on a 430RDM mast? If so, you might as well go RDM cams and use the same mast, unless you like to have them both rigged and need another mast anyway.

I have an unfounded suspicion the ODs (particularly the larger, heavier ones) might be marginally better on SDMs (their 'native' cams), but it's probably only detectable in the hands of a professional windsurfer, and the rest of us mortals wouldn't know. Anyone in the brains trust got a view on ODs on RDMs?

Thanks Trousers,

I use my 5.1-5.6 R5's on RDM's and my 6.2 I’ve used on both. The 6.2 does seem to set better in SDM's however the performance difference is hard to tell. I've heard that Severne have done a lot of work, on the R7's this year, in getting them to work better in RDM's, particularly in the larger sizes, I'm not sure if this is true though?

I have no problems with the RDM’s on the 5.1 & 5.6, 6.2 maybe, however the 7.0 is at the max for a 430 mast, hence the question about other people’s experiences with the R7’s. I have a 430SDM (75%) and a 430RDM 100% (for my wave sails) and are think of upgrading the 430 SDM to 100%. I think once you need a 460 mast you might as well go SDM anyway.

I would good to hear if anyone else can share their experiences on this issue

I was pondering the 100% or 75% question re sdm for my reflex 9.7 and 6.2. I went with 75% for both the 490 and 430. I don't race but like performance so I think it was a good choice given better reliability. I was talking to a guy here who has had both, broke quite a few 100% masts even rigging and reckons he likes his reflexes with the 75 better. Unless you race I would go for the 75. Otherwise I'd consider slake masts from cst for 100% carbon