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2015 Loftsails Purelip

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Created by lao shi > 9 months ago, 7 Jan 2015
lao shi
SA, 1270 posts
7 Jan 2015 11:44PM
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http://www.loftsails.com/products/sails/purelip
www.facebook.com/StevesSurfShed

Excited to pick up my 5.4 Purelip from Steve's Surf Shed. I was stoked to get it wet today at Dutchies.


Sail rigged on a 400 Powerex 85% RDM to just short of spec. Interestingly it has the same boom length as my 2010 5.9 S1 so it is quite a low aspect sail.

Sail felt lighter than my old sails (2012 and older) with the construction that I have been impressed with in Loftsails Racing Blade.
The Pad is long and covers the UJ when connected.
The wind was light (for WA 13- 18) when I rigged so went with slightly less than spec downhaul and the top clew hole.
Sail felt grunty and nicely balanced.
Wind kicked in and so I downhauled to spec and changed to the lower clew hole. This is one of the things that I really like about the Racing Blades the ability to tune with downhaul to extend the range and the same is true of the Purelip.

My local is often only 15-20 with small onshore waves (if at all) and so I wanted a sail with a bit of oomph hence the decision to go with 5 battens. Hard to tell without sailing back to back but felt similar power to the 5.9 S1 but because it sets on the 400 rather than 430 was much lighter in the hands and felt good in the air and pulling in to the gybe.
Today was 13-20+. The sail had good acceleration with a slightly forward pull and depowered nicely in the turn. Worked well on my Rider 100 Quad getting me planing quickly to hit the small inside waves when many others were grovelling.
Look forward to getting it out on a proper wave.
If anyone wants to try it come to Dutchies and ask or send me a PM.
Thanks to my Dad for the images taken from video.
















Haggar
QLD, 1664 posts
8 Jan 2015 8:40AM
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Great review Lao Shi. I have a 5m Loft Purelip and love it, sounds like they have improved them once again. Is Steve's Surf Shed an importer for Loft ?

sausage
QLD, 4873 posts
8 Jan 2015 8:59AM
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Didn't spot any Racing Blades when you picked up the Lip.
Great review too.

lao shi
SA, 1270 posts
8 Jan 2015 10:03AM
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Select to expand quote
sausage said..
Didn't spot any Racing Blades when you picked up the Lip.
Great review too.


Picked up a 6.8 Switchblade too but the Racing Blades are still in transit. Thought I would try the switchblade instead in this size.

lao shi
SA, 1270 posts
30 Jan 2015 10:43AM
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So I have used this sail a few times now in B&J conditions but yesterday was the first time in decent waves.

Firstly I have found that on my powerex 85% rdm the sail needs to be set with 30cm (+2) on my Severne extension to give a bit (not much) of looseness in the leach compared to the pic above. Makes the sail feel a bit less hard pulling for normal wind range (still use the lesser amount for light wind).

On the wave yesterday the Purelip felt lighter than both my previous sails (KA KAos 2012, Severne Blade 2011) pulled you forward into the turn nicely but depowered easily and felt as light in the hands as my 4 batten KA 4.7.
The sail pumps nicely to get to the section you want and gives a good delivery of power.

Only downside is that the late afternoon WA sun combined with sunglasses makes looking through the reinforced window at the wave a bit difficult. The 4wave has a clear panel. Trade off between toughness and visibility.

As always the big Rider 100 Quad excelled on the wave with some of my best riding since the G last year. It really does sail like a smaller board in those light wind conditions and has plenty of float to pinch upwind and tack off on the inside instead of having to go out the back.

Zed
WA, 1243 posts
30 Jan 2015 2:48PM
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How much do they go for?

lao shi
SA, 1270 posts
30 Jan 2015 5:31PM
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Drop in to Steve's Surf Shed
unit 15/30 Peel Road
O'Connor,
or give him a call
0421 477 001



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