Francone said..Subsonic said..Gestalt said..PhilUK said..Gestalt said..PhilUK said..
Freestyle sails great for freeriding? Tight leech, flat profile, 4 battens. Guess it depends on your definition of freeriding.
I don't think you've ever used a freestyle sail because your description is off the mark.
I haven't used one for years as the weren't suitable for my view of what freeriding is, blasting along fuss free. But when that's all the hire centre had left, no choice.
What the Surf mag test said "The four battens are very flat, and there is no visible profile on land. The Yeah also shows its freestyle genes in the leech - loose leech is not intended in this concept."
They may fill out then go flat in manoeuvres but that's a bit on/off in gusts rather than keep its shape through lulls.
Lol, it doesn't say that at all. you have purposefully cherry picked the article and chopped sentences in half because surprise surprise it doesn't agree with your earlier post.
the article is titled "NOT ONLY INTERESTING FOR TRICKSTERS" which is a direct reference to free riding.
maybe your experience was less than ideal because you tried to rig the sail like a slalom sail.
Actually, I think he's right.
freestyle sails are made to deliver short and sharp bursts of power. Great when you are flicking the board around in a freestyle manoeuvre or swinging around on a wave face, but absolutely terrible if you want to mow the lawn, or go chop hopping. Twitchy as a sail comes, and they generally do have that flat profile and tight leech as described. What on earth makes you think they're gonna be good for free riding, I don't know.
Not saying they can't be used across different disciplines, foiling and wave sailing, sure. but free riding, hell no. they're not at all designed for that.
Freestyle vs Freeriding sails.
Lucrative hyper -tech and sometimes underhand marketing savvy have created unnecessary, sometimes false, distinctions and polarizations. Sadly In the end, they may have contributed to the near- demise of windsurfing these days.
Yes, freestyling may be attractive for some and call for differently designed sails, but , c'me on , a sail is a sail and wind is what it is.
I fail to see why a freestyle sail should be "terrible( !)" for freeriding, especially for somebody like me, who is not speed and adrenaline-driven, but all he wants is to be able to glide on the water in light winds, not necessarily planing .
For this reason, I see no reasons why a freestyle sail should be " terrible" compared " to a "by the-the-book", dedicated freeride sail.
In the end, much of what we like or dislike as windsurfers depends more on our subjective expectationsand style than on the equipment itself.
I'm ready to be proven wrong, but I'd love to know the specific reasons why some find freestyle sails terrible for freeriding.
For the moment, I do believe that, as pointed out by some , my immediate problem, is the incompatilbiity of my sail, which happens to be a free-style, with my SDM mast . I'll try a RDM and let you know.
Thanks
Francone
