Every sail brand has a distinctive feel which suits certain sailing styles/sizes etc. Sailors get used to the feel, and stick with the same brand because of it.
There are some brands that i personnally do like like using, as they do not feel right for me, but other sailors love them so who am i to say they are wrong.
When it comes down to it, all the crap brands died out years ago, so which ever brand you go for will be a really high quality product, it all depends on how much you want to pay, the finishing, and the colour!!!



Simon
gowindsurfing.com

I am a NeilPryde man myself. As Simon said each sail has its own distinctive feel, which is different again when rigged on different components.

I have owned sails from simmer, gaastra, arrows,tushingham and neil pryde and no two sails felt alike. each had their own advantages and disadvantages. some situations i loved one sail over another even though it may have been the smaller sail on a light wind day, or vice versa.i think you also have to rig each sail on the recommended mast before betting too critical with sails.

At the end of the day, some team of riders worked their butts off getting their sails right, so it is rude to enter the arguement of which is brands are better.
If you are not sure what to buy you can look at quantities out on the water, to see what the general census is. or if you race you can look at results to some extent.

not to be defensive on the neil pryde crinkling issue briefly mentioned earlier, i used to have a NP V6 1999 model, i know the guy who i sold it to and still see my sail out on the water all the time, even though it is 4-5 years old it still looks is very good condition.
I also have a VX3 which is also in immaculate condition,
so it all depends on the sailors rigging/derigging habits which determine to some extent the way a sail hold up over time.
heres an extract, from the np design team about the technology they impliment to improve the lifetime of NP monofilm :

""
The UV protection qualities come from two main areas:
1/ Metalized Film
This material helps to reflect the sun's rays & therefore reduces the exposure of the film to UV damage.

2/ Metalized Laminate
The laminate provides a protective barrier to the sun and it prevents at least one side of the film (to that which it is applied) from being exposed to the sun.

Therefore the true strength of this material comes from the fact that the film of your sail is only exposed to the sun on average 50% of the time (Assuming that each side of your sail is placed on the beach an equal amount of time & while on the water, each side is also exposed an equal amount of time). If we compare this to a standard sail using normal monofilm & X-Plys, only one layer of film is exposed to the sun meaning that it is exposed 100% of the time.
""

from http://www.neilpryde.com/insideline_member/issue08/jimmy_diaz.html

Regards
Chad Silver

Good point! you can tell by looking closely i think but i will try to figure this out.

As i understand the points of the article is more the fact that

1: the reflective nature of the material reflect the uv sun light,
2: with the metalized film, it stops the sun penetrating to the other layers of the monofilm on the other side of the film., eg if side A is pointing towards the sun, side B is protected by the metalized film to some extent.

I look for strength and the life of the sail. I bought a few Ezzy's in 1998, and have never looked back. Ezzy make a very, very strong sail. In the late 1990's they were a little on the heavy side, but today they have really improved. I guess they suit me the best, as I mainly sail in the waves up at Gero. I've found NP and the like to be Fragile!!!! I was so sick of getting sails repaired. Never had this problem with Ezzy. They kick ass.

Gaaaaaastra
Because barry makes some good sails.
cheers
Novak

I use Ezzy sails and just like them :) nice solid construction too. Ne1 else got ne comments or comparisons with ezzy sails? ive never tried anything else so its good to hear opinions.