windsup, new offering from aerotech

jingebritsen · Joined: 21 Aug 2002 Posts: 2087

http://www.aerotechsails.com/windsup.html

simple is better for some.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DQDaDkA0LI

jamieinnyc · Joined: 26 Apr 2010 Posts: 64

Yes, saw the youtube video of this sail from September. Hmm. Looks better than the Severne SUPer Light, which I have, and which feels very much rushed to market, not well thought out, and which won't plane (I hate it, except wow it is light). But maybe only marginally better. I doubt this one will plane either. And what do you do with the sail if you don't leave it on the mast? Do you have to take out the battens?

Low tension sails are indeed back, and hopefully here to stay - and any attempts at innovation are welcome for sure - but I'm not convinced this sail would be better than the original Windsurfer sail except for the convenience of the shorter boom. I'm open to being convinced, though! (and would buy one to test but I think 5.8m is too small for largest size).

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 11608

I think that's a great idea for many days and many locations. It takes me an hour to rig and an hour to derig and bag up the crap I use in a day at the beach -- more time for a full day or more of varying winds -- not even counting stowage time.

Now if they'd bring back hulls tough enough for Figure 8 racing and buoyball, we'd be back in the 1980s glory days.

Mike \m/

jingebritsen · Joined: 21 Aug 2002 Posts: 2087

jamieinnyc

planing hulls are what's needed if that's what you want.

i use an older version of the Curve 11'5. been doing so for over 5 years now. i prefer foot straps for 80% of my wave rides:

http://www.exocet-original.com/curve.php

slogs well, but has a planing rocker and release.

this one shows great promise, but does NOT pander to those that feel that they have to have a smaller board. lots fall prey to that mental trap, and come to realize they needed longer all along:

http://www.exocet-original.com/wind-sup118.php

these boards below are a more traditionally packaged SUP, dunno enough about 'em to discuss, but that's what's in the video:

http://www.exocet-original.com/sup.php

the whole idea about the sail is it's a retro to the decade(s) where everyone wrapped their sails around the mast for easy rigging and transport. no parts to chase down, just unroll it, attach the outhaul rope, attach the sail to the board, and go. the package includes a bag for the whole kit, as you see it folded up.

techno900 · Joined: 28 Mar 2001 Posts: 924

Great idea for longboards under 10 knots, just keep it simple. On the other hand...............

The down side, and this was true in the 80's, is that as the wind picks up, and the board starts to plane, the vast majority of us wanted more and more speed. The soft sails began to become a handful, so the full battened sails emerged, etc., etc.

Few if any were content to just cruising around in sub-planing conditions, so with more stable sails and stronger winds, smaller boards became the answer for more speed and excitement.

Would the masses come back because there is an easy to rig sail?

I can rig my Maui Sails TR race sails in five minutes. I don't mind the extra time, plus storing & transporting a long one piece mast is an issue I would rather not have to deal with again.

It's deja vu.

swchandler · Joined: 08 Nov 1993 Posts: 4687

John, from what you presented above, I didn't get it. It was only after seeing a video on another thread did I understand it. You should update your post to include the video too.

jingebritsen · Joined: 21 Aug 2002 Posts: 2087

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DQDaDkA0LI

thought it was on the aerotech page

jamieinnyc · Joined: 26 Apr 2010 Posts: 64

jingebritsen- Yes, the exocet boards are nice and the WindSUP looks like it will be a winner, but...

The post was about the sail. I maintain that it looks iffy for planing. Yes, the sail is not optimized for planing - that takes a high tension sail - but it is a bummer to get a gust, or have the wind go from 9 to 12, and not plane. A sail that is just sub-planing only will limit those who want to expand beyond just paddling around their SUP, or sitting on the beach when the breeze is a nuisance. I have some extensive experience with similar sails. As I mention I have the Severne SUPer Lite, and I also have a custom copy of the original Windsurfer sail. The original windsurfer sail (5.6m2 or so) outperforms the Severne, since they are similar sub-planing, and the Windsurfer sail planes well. The SUPer Lite has too deep a draft, and too many shape problems - when the board wants to go, the whole rig shudders, the board settles back into the water. It's truly awful in any kind of breeze. On the other hand, the Windsurfer sail planes just fine, as we know from its storied history. It is also a much better match for many longboards, since when it planes the rig is tilted well back, and the draft is back, so the rider can be way back too - less wetted surface (ever wonder why you have trouble getting in the back-most strap on your Equipe with a modern sail?). I have sailed both sails on vintage longboards and on modern sailable SUPs. Besides being quicker to rig, and more fun on the water in sub-planing conditions, below 8mph wind they also match for best the performance of high tension sails that are much larger - I have gone head-to-head with 9.5m sails with the windsurfer sail and was a match for speed (at 5.6m2!). And they are cheaper (by a huge margin), easier to transport, easier to maintain, very durable, etc.. The only drawback to the Windsurfer sail is the boom length - this is a serious issue, don't want to gloss over it.

Techno900- For sure, if it is absolute speed or bust, forget the low tension sail. The problem is it is often bust and not speed where I sail (not always, but often), and launching formula gear through shorebreak - even when it's small - is not pretty. But believe me, I've been there, and I do love the speed too.

Anyway, I think there are more sails to come in this segment, and better ones.

bred2shred · Joined: 02 May 2000 Posts: 578 Location: Jersey Shore

The whole point of a sail like this is to give you an easy, light, powerful sail that gets you powered onto a wave in light, sub-planing wind. Of course you would not want to use this sail for full on planing windsurfing. You use this sail to punch out past the break, turn around, hop on a wave, and surf in luffing the sail 50% of the time and using it to power into your bottom turns the other 50% of the time. The alternative is paddling. Fully battened sails don't stand a chance when it comes to matching the power to size ratio of a soft sail (of course they blow away soft sails in the top end).

I'm not sure I really dig the roll up around the mast with vertical battens concept. One of the great "innovations" of windsurfing is two piece masts, so I doubt I'd want to strap a 15 foot long rig to the roof of my car or find a place to store it in my house. I also don't find rigging time to be a huge factor in my sailing. I can rig a 5 batten no-cam wave sail and pop it on my SUP in about 5 minutes or less, so not really an issue. But I do like the idea of using a soft sail for SUP sailing, it makes a lot of sense in some ways.

sm

longboard08 · Joined: 16 Dec 2010 Posts: 107

Jingebritsen, it's a great idea as long as it's affordable. I can't tell you how many people have approached me at the beach after watching a paddlesurfing session on my SUP--we all know how interested people worldwide are in this-- and then, as they look at the board and see the mast screw holes, are equally interested in the idea of using the same board to sail. But they always ask -- isn't it really difficult to rig? How expensive is all that? This is a great idea-- someone needs to get out there and promote it.....