Been using Pryde sails/rigs for 5 years.
Although not perfect they are continually improving and actually listen to feedback. In this time they have done the following to improve the durability.

U.V. resistant monofilm
Batten pocket protectors
Head loop for de-rigging
Integrated mast foot protector
Re-inforced luff pocket.
etc.
Sure the older ones had problems but I rarely see other brands that have lasted as long in heavy use.

Rig components are the same.
A fellow sailor bought 2 'cheap' booms for less than a Pryde X6, he has broken both of those booms and another one, so in the end paid more for the 3 booms than I paid for 1 !! and my boom is still going strong.

As they say you get what you pay for and if you're not worried about swimming for half an hour+ after breakage or weigh less than 50kgs go cheap!!

P.S. You know where to send the cheque Neil !!

don't all sails have:

U.V. resistant monofilm
Batten pocket protectors
Head loop for de-rigging
Integrated mast foot protector
Re-inforced luff pocket.
etc.

???

The old Pryde sails from the early 90s were pretty good and durable. Then in the late 90s their durability really seemed to drop away. You still occasionally see an old VX or MPR still going strong but how many Z1s do you see? Once bitten twice shy. They are on my do not buy list until I know they are good. Trouble is I can't know they are good until I've seen a few old ones about. Then they are no longer current and the current ones may not be up to snuff. It gets too hard so I just don't buy 'em.

Remember Pryde is a sin.

.
www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=2696

Neil Pryde

Put some bushy eyebrows and glasses on and it could be Johnny Howard

man pryde masts arent that good... get a skinny it will outlast any pryde mast.

As for the rest of the stuff... I dont think it offers any real advantage over any other brands... pryde has a reputation and a high price because they spend more on advertising than probably most of the other brands do...

I may be wrong

Well I go off what the hardcores use. Ignoring sponsored sailors who are paid to use what they use, most of the hardcore sailors at hardcore wave spots are on Ezzy, Simmer and Severne.

For people who may break masts fairly often, and pay for the stuff themselves, it is nice to be able to use a different brand mast .... especially if you live in the back of beyond and may not be able to get a "100% carbon X-wingfighter speedkote sparstik 2000" on short notice when yours breaks.
Pryde and Gaastra are the worst offenders for deliberately making mast specific sails so they can sell you the whole package (ie theirs may be IMCS21 but are very tip flex or very mid flex designs).
However Ezzy, Simmer both work well on No Limitz or Powerex, or their own masts which are rebadge jobs. Other constant curve sails are Severne, Arrows, Tushingham and so on. Sometimes it pays to buy from a "not small but not big big" company as they cut their sails so as to work on a coupla masts.
And they are stronger cos they can't absorb lost warranty return $$$$ like the 'big 3' can, so they have to build them well.

You may say I'm biased cos I'm on Simmer but there is a reason why: they are ****ing strong. I think some of the "NP are good cos mine never broke" crowd need to seriously put a NP wavesail next to a Simmer or Ezzy and look at the extra reinforcements, extra stitching, extra gluing etc in the latter two. Side by side, looking at some of the finer points you don't notice until you REALLY look, the big 3 (NP Gaastra and North) are pretty stuffed.

After buying a NP X6 490 mast a year or so ago and having both sections break, then one of the warrantied sections break I swore never to buy anything from NP ever again. Now before you ask this mast was used in what I considered a low downhaul load sail (I could get the tension easily just with my harness bar) and I never did anything stupid with it. It was purely a cruising setup for lighter winds.

Two of the sections broke while rigging under approximately 50% full downhaul load. Upon closer inspection there were dry un-resin impregnated fibers everywhere, huge air bubbles/voids in the resin, you name it; about everything you can do wrong with carbon lamination was done on that mast. Any company who put their name on a product like that and sells it for that price won't every see another dollar from me.

As for their sails I'd say they have improved in recent years but they are far from market leaders durability wise.

quote:

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Originally posted by stamp

from www.cielearn.org/journal_2005/2005nf_sweating.htm

"Sweatshop workers are paid much too little to afford normal housing, so many factories provide their own dormitories. Neil Pryde, a company that makes and sells yacht sails and sporting equipment, has a plant in Shenzen, China. Workers are offered dorms for the equivalent of $20 a month. Each room houses 10 workers in five bunks. There are 18 rooms per floor leaving one bathroom for every 180 workers. This makes for long lines after work gets out, sometimes leading to fights. This is not surprising, as the workers are only allowed a maximum of two bathroom breaks during their eleven-hour shifts. (Kahn, 2003)"

may explain a drop in quality at the pryde factory.

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In comparison, have a look at the Ezzy factory!

http://www.ezzy.com/2006/company/factory.cfm

I agree with greenleader, aint nothin sweeter than rolling out a new NP sail!

I am with u when u say pryde is not so good. but when u bring north into the equation somthing just doesn't work. north are really good. i have never had a sail explode on me. never had a mast break. The stuff is easy to use and it is still very high performance.

Posting guideline #8 says: The forum IS for whinging, or if there was one, thats what it would say.

Yeh I agree. I also hate Porsches, Ive heard they can break down,my Hyundai is much better.

Whoah,
Thanks for the attention folks, good to see such passionate discussion.
I should point out I am 80kgs, and try to avoid lauching off waves over 6ft.

Now let me tell you about these great boards ...[}:)]

quote:

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Originally posted by junior freestyle

I am with u when u say pryde is not so good. but when u bring north into the equation somthing just doesn't work. north are really good. i have never had a sail explode on me. never had a mast break. The stuff is easy to use and it is still very high performance.

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Hey Junior, nothing against you personaly but haven't you only been sailing for 2 years and you weigh about the same as my left leg so you probably don't load kit up as much as others?!?![}:)]

Set myself up for that one....

quote:

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Originally posted by Big Al

Snappy comeback there Junior (nice) - Crash, methinks you just got served...but you took it well....!
Would just like to state that ANY new sail unrolled for the first time is a sweet sweet sensation, except if it's in the carpark on a bloody windy day & all that packing they put in there to stop those precious decals from rubbing off (what's that all about..?) flies away & addornes the nearby cars/trees/sandunes, that was annoying....!

Ps. Naish sails do it for me....WOOF.

AB...

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Worse is when the packaging blows away and person chases the packaging, leaving the sail to blow away also... Seen this happen more times than I would like to recall. Brings a tear to my eye every time