Race Sails, how much harder to sail

Khardin · Joined: 02 Oct 2007 Posts: 50 Location: Cleveland Ohio

Well for better or worse I am going to have these sails.

I think they might be good for me because as of now I prefer what you would consider light wind sailing. I have been out in the lake (Erie) when there are 5'-8' waves and it just seems to beat you up too much. I prefer blasting in straight lines.

Hopefully they won't be too advanced for me, I seem to be advancing nicely. In the year I have been back can waterstart and comfortably ride in the straps.

dennis_c · Joined: 05 May 1998 Posts: 337 Location: Rio Vista, CA

3-phase · Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 313

Hi Khardin,

Welcome back. I can speak for the KA Kontrol as I am close to the KA Designer Andrew McDougall. In 2004 the KA Kontrol won the UK board magazine test. The sail is a Freeride/Slalom sail no cams it is planning early and pretty fast as well easy to rig.

You can contact me trough gear@windsurfdeal.com for any Windsurfing related question as well a few more tips to make the sail better for top speed or low end......

Have fun and kick butt

Jurg

www.kasail.com
www.a-h-d.com
www.windsurfdeal.com

swchandler · Joined: 08 Nov 1993 Posts: 2150

You didn't indicate whether you're buying matching mast(s) for the TR1 and KA sails. I'm not sure whether the KA is more mast sensitive, but from what I understand the TR1 tends to be a bit mast sensitive sail line. Although Spanier has been designing his sails for a constant curve mast, they fall into the softer bottom and stiffer top side of the scale. Also, Spanier has been quite outspoken in the past about using the recommended MS mast, particularly when it comes to the TR line.

Regarding rigging the TR1, as Dan has indicated, Maui Sails has put a pretty good instructive video on their site where Phil McGain goes through the rigging process. Although the newer TR sails have the wide luff, making rigging a much simpler matter, the narrow luff sleeve of the TR1 makes it a bit tougher thread the mast into the luff without popping off the cambers. Without a doubt, the rigging is far more simplified if one keeps the sail off the ground (where the cambers are) during the process.

The biggest criticism about the TR1 is that it's tough to avoid creasing the monofilm while rigging. I'm not sure whether the TR1 includes it, but they did incorporate an attached film in the area adjacent to the boom opening where the greatest bunching of the monofilm material occurs.

In reality, rigging a sail like this becomes second nature after you have some experience. Also, it's important to understand and perfect the tuning part of the process, yet the correct outcome can offer rewarding performance.

Given the direction that you want your windsurfing to go, I'm sure you will find satisfaction in these sails. However, as an aside, I'm curious what board(s) and fins you intend to use with these sails.

Welcome back to the sport of windsurfing. I'm always glad to hear about folks moving from kiting to windsurfing, as opposed to opposite. With windsurfing, it can readily be argued that you can now be more independent in your time on the water, and you have the possible benefit of increased launch sites not favored for kiting.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 5924

DanWeiss · Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Posts: 711 Location: Boston, MA

Mike: Since you don't sail cammed sails you might not realize that their light wind advantages outweigh their well-known high wind benefits.

Light winds on a lake, even a Great Lake are often very, very gusty and notoriously shifty as they tend to be easily influenced by everything from land-based wind shadows to boats, chop and even local variations in water temperature.

If we say that light winds go from, say, 5 knots to 10 knots steady, then it is very easy for the wind power to double or even multiply by a factor of 8 with only a 5 knot gust. (The power of wind is the measure of its speed cubed.) The inherent shape stability allows a cammed sail to maintain its shape in the lulls and gusts. I realize that there is some debate about the light wind performance of RAF sails, but some of that ignores the factor of pumping. Unlike a cammed sail, in general, a no-cam sail will not take its intended shape until a certain amount of wind pressure affects the sail.

So if you are sailing in wind with lows of 5 knots and gusts to 15 knots, a cammed sail will provide greater drive in the lulls and at least as stable a shape as the typical RAF when the gust hits. The other thing that a more constant power band creates is the ability to remain on a constant angle to the wind regardless of the wind speed.

Now, I realize that nobody (or very few) go shortboarding in 5 knots. But lots of people do sail in winds that have 5 knot lulls and still want to have forward drive. Cammed truly outperform RAF sails in light winds and where the winds are gusty and swirly, like an inland lake.

I say this not having sailed any cammed sail in months. I certainly notice the difference when sailing RAF sails in the same wind.

MrFish · Joined: 04 Sep 2009 Posts: 123

Yes, Dan that's true. And the TR range is particularly stable in those lulls, prolly due to the extra battens.

crashman · Joined: 15 Jul 2002 Posts: 83

I've always preferred RAF's and then even softer HSM Superfreaks in gusty conditions as they give a little "wind-up time" as the gust hits. This 4-cammed Neil Pryde sail I had always accelerated quickly but always simultaneously tried to get away from me. Boy was I glad to sell that thing.

coyotewindsurf · Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 730 Location: SF Bay

swchandler · Joined: 08 Nov 1993 Posts: 2150

Special thanks to Mo for keeping things lively. From my perspective, I find her artful posts notable and very welcome.

Of course, our contributor from the Great Northwest might feel differently, but who really cares. When on stage, the reaction of the audience can be the actor's bane.

jingebritsen · Joined: 21 Aug 2002 Posts: 1104

In prep's of that very sail test, we did rediscover that the race sails typically needed more wind per square meter to pump onto a plane since they had the most leech twist. Once up and going, they had the best ability to stay going in apparent winds and in huge wind ranges. All about the pro's and cons. Up to the individual to acknowledge them and deal.

cgoudie1 · Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 10:02 am Post subject:

Yup, it's personal. Cams suck, for me, and I don't buy sails with them,
in fact my 9.5 is a Retro. But, if they get you on the water within your
budget, then ride their features and enjoy.. You might wanna be
prepared to break battens if you ride'm like a wave sail in "waves".

-Craig

bred2shred · Joined: 02 May 2000 Posts: 330 Location: Jersey Shore

sailingjoe · Joined: 06 Aug 2008 Posts: 723

johnson_brian_j · Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 65 Location: Hudson River, NY

In very light winds, like 10 mph or less, with RAF sails, I find there's often not enough wind force on the sail to push the luff out from the mast, so the sail has no shape. It's just flat, like a board. It seems to me like a cammed sail -- though I've never sailed one -- would fix this problem and maintain a better sail shape in very light wind. Is this not the case?