Yesterday was the last straw, from now on I am no longer getting anymore NP gear. 4 things failed in 2 days:
Headcap- I flipped the sail partly holding the sheartip, bang.
Monofilm split- for no reason whatsoever, carried the sail from the water to derigging area then noticed hole in boom panel at the front.
Another headcap- dropped a gybe and headcap failed, no other pressure apart from sail hitting water.
Mastbase- no not the tendon as most other bases but the top bolt.

The last one was rather annoying as I went to go sailing today and forgot that it looked loose yesterday. Went to tighted bolt and threads had pulled. It promptly stopped me from sailing thankyou mr Neil Pryde.

Anyone with sheertip pryde sails do yourself a favour and cut them off (cut from tip to top batten end), I then taped the monofilm edge to prevent any tears forming at the edge. The sails twist fine without and you are actually removing 0.1-0.2m of dead material which was doing no more than adding drag. I read of Steve Allen doing this with the flex/sheertip when he returned to pryde so the idea had been playing on my mind, then a formula racer yesterday said that they had been cutting them off with no problems so it was goodbye sheertips.

I have always been annoyed that the sheertips never rigged properly, they looked good but without function they are useless, cut off it functions and really dosent look so bad. The two recent failures added to the failure I had at the qld slalom titles last year when going into a gybe the sailor behind me hit the tip of my sail (thanks vando), I watched it expecting the sheertip batten to puncture the film of his sail but then the head failed and it was a long and tricky slog back for me.

This along with my other NP issues over recent years makes me wonder whether mr Neil Pryde is still heading the companing cause who'd want to put their name to ****ty products.

-Pissed off

The only Neilpryde rig product I've bought new was an X5 490 mast. After one session in which I had dropped the sail a few times I noticed water leaking out of the top section...in the middle! Upon closer inspection I noticed there was a obvious void in the glass/carbon layup. I should I suppose at that stage have taken it back but I kept sailing with it for about 3 months before one day I was rigging it up and with about 40% downhaul tension, pop she broke right at that point. Luckily the mast was still in warranty and the top section was replaced, it took 3 months however. Then about 4 months later I was rigging up again, same mast, new top section and pop; at about 50% downhaul tension the rig folded. Upon closer inspection the furrule had fallen out, lots of dry fibers voids in the layup. The mast was still just in warranty but I believe the bits may have been lost in the post on their way to the supplier because i've heard nothing of it since, despite a few attempts to chase it up.

When the mast broke a second time, from obvious quality problems, I decided to never buy another NP product again. They "might" make some seemingly nice stuff but at the end of the day their quality control leaves a significant amount to be desired.

i had the same problem with a V8 sheer tip, it was sheer ****, breaking all the time.

Also older NP sails ripping for no apparant reason what so ever - very annoying.

i don't use their sails anymore but the last two yrs of sails look a lot stonger and the monofilm they use seems a better quality - i'm also using a pryde x3 boom that i've had for three yrs now used loads in slalom and waves...

Pryde is by far the Ferrari of sails. If you wanna go fast, light weight, easy to handle, then look no further as you will not find anything of the same class/quality. And, as with most things, the best also carry its price tag. Question is whether you want the best, and can afford the short lifetime of the product too!

Same for tennis racquets - these days we have titanium, nano, all very light weight and high performance, people are able to hit a ball more powerful than ever before, but it breaks so much easier. Does it mean it's no good?

Last time I looked at tennis racquets they were a little cheaper than race sails and are you telling me they just break from hitting the ball?

Apart from the bad years (Z1 & RX2) the top of the line rigs are acceptable quality and no one is doubting their speed potential, but look elsewhere and see the problems- RS5 mast sleeves coming apart, multiple RSX issues, X9 masts etc... in any other industry pryde would be crucified. Wave sails are wave sails, they should last forever through normal use as they are the most sturdily constructed sails. Look beyond 2 seasons of flatwater use though and even pryde wave sails look a little worse for wear compared to some of the competetion.

Maybe prydes are like ferrari's 99% of drivers couldnt live with them.

quote:

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Originally posted by Waiting4wind

it's not that easy to switch once you have a quiver of masts which aren't that compatible with other sails.

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Did Pryde learn from Bill Gates or vice versa????