Freerace Sails Test

There is nothing quite like going flat out on a windsurfing board. It is very likely to be the reason most of you reading this were drawn to the sport in the first place. In the sport’s brief history, if you took a snapshot from any activity-focussed beach with a variety of watersports going on, it would always be the windsurfer that would grab the attention and limelight. Your eyes (and the cameras) naturally follow whatever is moving the fastest!

- Test Editor: Tris Best // Second Testers: Maurin Rottenwalter & Joe North // Photos: Alex Best & Andy Stallman // Test Location: Portland Harbour

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVENS

It is true that kitesurfing has made a concerted effort to barge in and steal windsurfing’s thunder since its inception … and we have to be-grudgingly admit it has done a reasonably good job! And yet, if you compare the capabilities of the average windsurfer against that of the average kiter, we would argue that the windsurfer would beat their adversary in a drag race, hands down. That’s because speed is more accessible in our sport … the king of watersports!

FINDINGS

To reach optimum speeds, there is no alternative but to opt for cammed sails, (despite reading some of the marketing literature for these no-cam sails!). But with specialist cammed sails comes a degree of expense, not to mention the technical input required to rig, tune and sail them. It is one commitment too far for most recreational sailors with limited time and resources, when all they really want is to simply get out on the water for a blast. Hence the market demand for no-cam freerace sails, aimed squarely to provide maximum reward for minimal technical, physical … and fiscal input.