Not a review but did get to have a good look at the 9.4 before Peter went out testing this morning at Pt Walter. First the weight. Felt incredibly light for a 9+m sail. Admittedly Peter said it was also on a lightweight mast but still very light. When you look at the fibres you can see the 3D shape that they give to the sail. The fibres and laminate run over either side of the battens so the pocket is within the sail. Very deep shape low down with the sail almost touching a deep course maui sails boom in front of the front harness fixing! Unfortunately the wind dropped out so only got to see it planing on a couple of runs. Certainly an interesting design and would like to try one in a smaller size.

Prices not including shipping or duty here http://www.avantisails.com/sails/specifications 6.1 $USD 1020

damn that is a nice looking bit of kit

It reminds me (material not shape) of the North Sails race sail (was it an IQ?) from the early to mid 90's that was moulded on a pre-shaped sail table. No idea what it was called and can't find any info on the web. Anyone know what I am talking about?!

Hi Benkirk, The North sail you were talking about was called the 3DL, one piece molded, made in the North sails loft in US. We had a demo one in N.Z. and got to use it a few times, if i remember the production costs were to high to make it worth while. Cool looking sail at the time, even look cool now, wonder if there is any still laying around??

Thats the one!

Do you think we need to buy the Avanti mast to work with this sail? Thanks, Dani

So you're looking at 'under' $2000 for a state of the art Race sail that is 'arguably' better than a lot on the market at the moment. Has anyone priced RS Evo1V's lately???? Seems like a good deal to me if you want to be at the pointy end of technology.

They appear to be marketing a premium product and are no doubt reluctant to have masts over which they have no control affecting the peceived performance of their brand. Additionally they may have ordered and equal number of mast from CST as sails from China. Of course while an Avanti Mast will work perfectly for Finian obviously a person with half his leverage may be better off with a softer mast. Maybe Avanti should ask CST to make masts of different stiffness' for different sized riders. Just as CST do for their dingy masts.

Lol. It is nice to try new products but don't need to brake the Bank, 2 sails 2 mast will be $4500 dollars. I should stick with Maui Tr8 and maybe go for a KA Concept, that way i don't have to buy 2 different size mast. Good luck for Avanti. Thanks for the reply, Dani.

Was fortunate enough to have a go on Pete's 8.5 today in a light 15 knot sea-breeze on the river, the overall impression of the sail was dominated by a feeling of weightlessness. The stability of the sail in the very gusty conditions was incredible, unfortunately the session was cut short with small hiccup.... Build quality of the sails is first class! The Fanatic prototypes with Sebastian W. at hand felt really nice!!

You must have tried 20% harder to break it than any other mast on the market

Per sail? Or per order? If per sail then that is almost 33% extra for freight plus extra $s for duty and custom clearance.

full retail for rsracing evo3 5.5 7.0 8.6 is $5510 (1690+1820+2000). I'm guessing the evo4's are similar thou I reckon retailers would have to be heavily discounting them as most other brand race sails seem to be a fair bit cheaper RRP. from a first glance, considering the materials used vs monofilm that most other brands use.. it seems pretty damn good value for money. I reckon save the $2000 on the evo's, and fly to maui and fly a set back and avoid the duty! or there is always the hotsails/loft/severne which are pretty darn cheap!

You could get around it by asking them to do a fake invoice and have the price set around $500 mark or even lower and mark them as a sample.