Gaastra sailors here?

[Wind-NC.com]

Hi Rexi,

I personally think you'll like the Manic a bit more than the IQ. The IQ is really nice in most wave conditions (side on and side off), and I think more powerful than the Manic, but it isn't quite as stable or as rangy as the Manic. The Manic will also go neutral a bit easier than the IQ, which is a great characteristic for freestyle. The IQ tends to aggressively pop from one tack to the other, without much "neutral time" in between. The Manic will feel more balanced over a broader range of conditions, and be more forgiving in the transitions.

Of course, if you can get your hands on a Pure for freestyle, your mind will be blown. It is hands down one of the top freestyle sails available on the market, year in and year out. The Bonaire guys: Tonky and Taty Frans, and World Freestyle Champ Kiri Thode, prove that consistently (which is why I don't really understand Rigitrite's comments?). It is a Magic Sail for freestyle. I personally don't really like how it feels on wave boards, although I know a few of the guys will occasionally sail waves with it.

Maybe get one Pure in addition to your Manics for your most normal freestyle conditions? Maybe a 4.8 or 4.4 or something? Or just get the Manics and be happy without having to make any choices

[gwenrider1]

Hello, there

[manuel]

How do you all rig your gaastra sails especially the IQ? Downhaul until the battens are where? what about on a CC mast? How many cms of outhaul?

And speaking of build quality I think I might have stretched the sail carrying it on my head...

[xander.arch]

Andy's comments are spot on. I've had both IQ's and Manics from 2012/13 - maybe the've changed since then but here are my 2c. The manic is a sweet feeling sail (very slippery) for all around sailing. It has incredible range, is very balanced, and is also fast. The IQ is more specialized for wave sailing and honestly feels a bit funny for bump and jump. I ended up however preferring the IQ for the waves because it made me a better wavesailor. The extra grunt gave me more power through the bottom turn which helped me overcome my heavy back foot. FYI, the 4.7 IQ was spec'd for a 370 but it rigs way better on a 400.

[dllee]

Every single freestyler around here, including the part time resident's Ty, and Wyatt, use tiny sails with very little downhaul, so they can use 5.0's when the breeze is 16-22 mph. No floppy leech's, but a normal flattish outhaul.
Probably not the best for pure wind range, as slalom sailors are using 7.8's when they're out on 5.0's, Ty at 175 lbs. and Wyatt a handful more. They come in and pull downhaul, or change down, when gusts hit around 24 mph.
Both guys, freestyle boards around 100 liters.

[Wind-NC.com]

[manuel]

This is exactly what I ended up doing. On the Manic it's not too bad on the IQ adjustments can make a big difference, it doesn't seem to respond well to too much downhaul as the batten above the boom starts to bleed off power making an 'S' and making the sail quite unstable. It's best to use the max downhaul until right before this problem starts happening. Then use enough outhaul to get the battens to clear but not so much that the batten above the boom gets "funny." Adding tension to the batten above the boom only makes things worse which is sad because it could use more shape there. I have yet to find the best settings put from reading around, I'm not the only one have trouble with tuning this particular model.

On the Manic the last batten to clear is above the boom (5.3 400 Ezzy mast +26cm) on the IQ it's below (4.5 370 Fiber Tidal Wave mast +20cm).

[manuel]

I went out on my 5.3 Manic today in 14-18 and 15-20 knot winds, I planed sometimes (82L + 67kgs) but it almost felt like the sail was too big for me to handle. It's not that it overpowers me but more like it's heavy-feeling. I run it with quite a bit of downhaul, although it doesn't seem to have much effect (third panel doesn't loosen).

I wonder if Manic owners feel the same way, that it's an all or nothing type of sail. It's direct and not elastic so pumping is difficult. It's very stable but feels like it lacks shape.

The IQ is definitely quite a bit different with tons of spring, it's not as stable but depowers nicely still and gusts can be buffered some. It's also much lighter.

While the Manic seems to only have 1 setting, the IQ is a little trickier to tune but seems to have a wider tuning range, still quite good with a unique setting in all conditions.

And again on construction quality, the bottom batten on my IQ went through so the previous owner must have rigged it with the bottom batten not rotating freely around the mast.

Finally, as I was fixing the ripped batten sleeve, I thought about shortening it as with a softer mast the bottom battens stay behind more for a similar leech tension. So not to kill the low end completely, keeping the batten further away from the mast would allow me to have less outhaul. This is when I ran into a post wondering the same exact thing... and this is what I ended up doing. It works quite well!

[dllee]

Most Manic owner's I know run more outhaul than what is considered "normal".
More outhaul gives pinpoint feel and less pull, thus feeling lighter and easier to depower and manuever.
As with lightweights using OnshoreWaves, Alpha's, NR's, and Dukes.

[manuel]

Had a 15-22 knot session today, hardly planed on 5.3. The Manic feels quite stiff. It's very stable but has little low-end pull, so when underpowered it lacks forward drive. I thought the wind was more around 10-18 knots or else 5.3 should have gotten me going nearly 100% (for my 67kgs).

Once powered it's fine and stable but for wobble & ride, it lacks some spring action (even maxed out on downhaul and strong outhaul, it's still felt a little stiff and heavy). Becomes I'm lightweight the surface then felt like it wasn't helping and that I would have rather been on 5.0 since I wasn't going to plane anyway and a smaller size makes balancing + transitioning easier.

I will update when I get more time on the IQ which felt quite the opposite with lots of spring and ultra-light.