myiW Current Conditions and Forecasts Community Forums Buy and Sell Services
 
Hi guest · myAccount · Log in
 SearchSearch   ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   RegisterRegister 
New topic to ponder
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    iWindsurf Community Forum Index -> Southwest USA, Hawaii, Mexico
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
dvCali



Joined: 23 Aug 2007
Posts: 1314

PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 1:05 pm    Post subject: Re: New topic to ponder Reply with quote

Hot Sails for years. Mostly at the opposite end of the spectrum: Super Freak Ultra Light and GPS (3-cams). The SuperFreak UL is incredibly easy in powered to overpowered conditions, it has been my bread an butter 4.7 to 3.7. The GPS are good racing sails that rig on RDM masts.

I just got two Ezzy Tigers that I have not tried yet, mostly to get something a bit more direct than a SuperFreak. We'll see how they go.

As others have said, it is hard to get wrong with sails (or boards) nowadays.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
dsgrntlxmply



Joined: 16 Jun 2010
Posts: 255

PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 8:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like North. Ice HD, in exchange for being a bit heavier, can take quite a lot of abuse.

Norths come with a marker for harness line center point, and with boom height rulings marked on the luff tube. Downhaul range is clearly marked. Their color scheme (unless you pay extra for the wild ones) is simple and business-like, which I like.

Duke 6.4 is my go-to sail in moderate winds.

Natural 7.3 is quite light for its size and sails well, but the lightness comes with a greater vulnerability to tearing. There is some sharp vegetation at my main site, and I am not always the best at looking where I am going when carrying gear. I love this sail because it (just barely) fits inside my car, and gives me a possibility of at least a relaxing if not exciting session in lighter winds.

Natural 5.8 I don't like very much. I'd rather sail my Ice HD 5.7, despite the fact that it is getting beat up and has a replacement batten that I trimmed a bit too short.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
spennie



Joined: 13 Oct 1995
Posts: 975
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA

PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 11:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Spennie’s wife <hand raised> Oh!... Oh!... Oh! Oh! Oh!
Rcastle is really on to something. Mmmmmmm… Sailworks Hucker!
I haven’t been excited over a new sail in many years; until the husband bought one for our quiver a few years ago. I was apprehensive at first because the buzz stated they had a lot of power. Now we have a quiver of them.
I no longer feel frustrated by being too overpowered and underpowered – often only rigging one sail for the day. And fast? This old lady managed to come in second place twice in some local fun races – against women that are much younger and better sailors!
Powerful? You bet – but don’t be alarmed; the control is far better than you think. Give it plenty of downhaul, and adjust the outhaul to suit the conditions. The fact they are practically bulletproof doesn't hurt either. Try one – you will love it!
- Debi, the wife. :)

_________________
Spennie the Wind Junkie
www.WindJunkie.net
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
poussin



Joined: 14 Sep 2000
Posts: 191

PostPosted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 11:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ya know,.... Ive been wondering about those Hucker sails........
I like what you say about them Spennie!

Sounds like they are a real kick!
Might have to try one. Don't know if you can demo them in sf bay though.

Let's see......xmas is coming.......I could ALWAYS use some new gear.......

Dear Santa.....

Thanks to everyone for your responses.


Merry Christmas y'all or happy Chanukah (sp)? and be happy! (don't worry)....

Sounds like time to think of a new topic to ponder, like.....the new thruster craze......

Stay tuned,

G
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 3:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

poussin wrote:
Ya know,.... Ive been wondering about those Hucker sails........

I wonder how many Hucker riders rig and ride them for their intended, stated purpose: high center of effort to achieve maximum altitude and hang time at the expense of comfort and easy-riding. Most of the ones I see are rigged like every other sail -- softer leech and low COE -- expressly to stifle their most unique performance features. That's perfectly alright as an informed choice, and it's still money in Bruce's pocket and still a great sail, but you gotta suspect there are hundreds of Huckers out there feeling like thoroughbreds pulling plows, like my neighbor's purebred Labrador retriever kept in a cage for years, or like the group of Miatas I overtook and passed on a remote, twisty, two-lane blacktop highway in my Winnebago.

One has to suspect that any piece of equipment designed to excel at one thing will do other things less efficiently. i.e., why not buy a car, a pair of sneakers, or a sail optimized for one's own applications rather than buying a different model and forcing it into another mold? You wouldn't want to buy the world's best running shoe to play serious tennis.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
scottwerden



Joined: 11 Jul 1999
Posts: 302

PostPosted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 10:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting question. I think largely at this point that sails are a commodity - that is, it is more about the brand than actual differences in functionality. I have sailed Ezzy for years and know their quarks and kinks and how to rig them so it takes a quantum shift to get me to re-learn all that. And it has not appeared yet so I stick with Ezzy.

One observation - I have watched what everyone is using at Ho'okipa to see what the experts are choosing and it is all over the map and there is no one sail that is dominate there. I think among the top manufacturers (NP, Ezzy, Northwave, North, Maui) you can make any of them work just fine.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
cgoudie1



Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 2597
Location: Killer Sturgeon Cove

PostPosted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 11:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, that could be the case, or, the sails could perform on par with
the best gust busters, and then when rigged for a high COE, just be
that much better for loft. I don't have experience with Huckers, but
from all the riders I've talked to, I'm tempted.

I own a GX37, it's a dandy sedan, but underneath, there's Z car performance when I want it (if I may add to your analogy, and mine).

-Craig

isobars wrote:
poussin wrote:
Ya know,.... Ive been wondering about those Hucker sails........


One has to suspect that any piece of equipment designed to excel at one thing will do other things less efficiently. i.e., why not buy a car, a pair of sneakers, or a sail optimized for one's own applications rather than buying a different model and forcing it into another mold? You wouldn't want to buy the world's best running shoe to play serious tennis.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
WutUpWitU



Joined: 21 May 2000
Posts: 52

PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 10:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

one of the things that gets overlooked about the Huckers is how well and easily they can be tuned for different conditions and how you are feeling that session. If you want to have a jump session leave the downhaul a bit looser and the COE goes up, if you want to go fast tighten it up a bit and use the outhaul to fine tune it on the water, whether for long upwind/downwind legs or up/down wind changes. If you want to ride swell and have the ability just take one size smaller and bomb around happy as can be. Just be sure you know how to de-power by ovrersheeting!
And the sail really is accessible with an adjustable outhaul, makes a really good sail great.
IMHO
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Georges



Joined: 10 Apr 2000
Posts: 249

PostPosted: Sun Jan 06, 2013 9:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

One day on a Northwave and my Ezzys went in the garage for good ;! Gman.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
spennie



Joined: 13 Oct 1995
Posts: 975
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 1:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Showed this thread to Bruce Peterson, here's his reply:

WATUPWITU gets it.

The first rule of jumping in onshore conditions (like the Gorge) is you gotta go fast or you'll never get far off the water. The first rule of going fast is you better be in control or you will eat it big time. The Huckers excel in both those categories - speed & control - and are further optimized with a higher CE to hang in the air longer when the sail is in the horizontal position. That a Hucker user chooses not to boost a big jump does not diminish their enjoyment of the sail's power and stability.

/BP

_________________
Spennie the Wind Junkie
www.WindJunkie.net
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    iWindsurf Community Forum Index -> Southwest USA, Hawaii, Mexico All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Page 2 of 3

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You can attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum

myiW | Weather | Community | Membership | Support | Log in
like us on facebook
© Copyright 1999-2007 WeatherFlow, Inc Contact Us Ad Marketplace

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group