Gaastra sailors here?

[boardsurfr]

I would not worry too much about HD. A few years back, we bought 4 used Manics - 2 were HD, 2 not. Loved them and sailed them to their death over the next few years. They definitely saw a lot more use in our hands than from the previous owners, with 100-150 sessions per year and two sailors.

After a few years, all the Manic's started dying on us within a few months. There did not seem to be much of a difference between the HD and the non-HD version. One panel in an HD sail ripped through almost end-to-end while carrying it on the head in moderate wind. We had a few of the sails repaired once or twice, but the next panel would give out shortly after the repair. But our sails died from "old age" after hundreds of session; could be that HD has an advantage in the conditions you sail in.

They were great sails, though. I'm still a Gaastra fan, but now have Matrix, since I don't do waves. They worked beautifully on Gaastra 100% RDMs. I think it's worth getting one of these, if you can, despite the high price. I still have one that I bought used and put more than 500 sessions on since then (I sail it almost every session). A Maui Sails mast might be a cheaper option that's easier to get, and has a similar bend curve.

[manuel]

Today in 25-30+ knots I got to test the high end of my 4.5 IQ... woops what a drama! I couldn't seem to find proper downhaul and probably lacked outhaul.

I got a 340 bottom + 400 EZZY top to mimic a hardtop and I'm not sure that's causing a problem but even with a loose leech, I get a huge pocket down low. Power wise it was fine, it's the delivery of that power that was a handful. Twitchy!

Felt like the pocket was distorting and I had to be on the edge. Every move was flaky, got caught at the top turn and ate it big.

With 2-3cm of outhaul battens were clearing the mast but pocket was still big.

We'll be getting two more nuking days so I will try much more outhaul, I hope it can help stability while retaining low end, or else I'll be going back to my trusty zeta 4.2!

[isobars]

Too much outhaul on small sails normally = twitchy, with narrow power range. I have no idea, though, what your hybrid mast is doing to your specific sails.

[dllee]

25-30 knots, for 155lbs rider, is 4.0 to 3.7 windspeeds. 30 knots is 33 something MPH. And that's on a 70 liter wave board.
A 4.5 should be twitchy, hard to handle, and the draft should be shifting on you.

[manuel]

Thanks guys, I read overnight that the sail required a bit more outhaul than others to stabilize the draft. Look at these pics. This was a lots of downhaul (the sail was going flap-flap when opened) and some more outhaul but no so much (3-4cm?). Doesn't it look big to you?

The sail didn't feel too bad without so much downhaul, it did lighten it up with more downhaul but the draft move was not fun! I'm 150lbs so for sure I was op'ed but don't mind the challenge so long as it's fairly safe, yesterday wasn't so much!

[manuel]

Ok today the wind settled to something more manageable, maybe 25 knots, it was around 30 at first. In brief to lock in the draft I have to use a lot of downhaul. If I tighten the outhaul then I lose sail support in lulls and overall sail pull comfort (it releases too much). So tuning happens at the downhaul only pretty much.

The problem is then I'm left with not much in the hands and it's very sensitive to gusts and wind direction change. I have to hold the sail with my front hand stiff to keep the mast in check. I cannot let go of my hands sailing along, I need to constantly correct the sail trim.

From what I can feel, even if the curve in theory is quite close with the 400 top and 340 bottom, the sail folds at a point which is too low.

Anyway... No Limitz say their combo works but I don't think this Ezzy one does as I have tried regular downhaul with various outhaul settings and strong downhaul with light outhaul.

I was able to sail very well today, it's just a lot of work, I have to be very careful and defensive, and feel like I have a 4.2 in the hands as opposed to 4.5.

[manuel]

Got to try the 4.5 IQ with a Naish mast and then back onto Ezzy 400/340 top/bottom combo. I have to say the longer top and short bottom work. In either case I had to pull lots of outhaul to stabilize the draft 5cm+, the battens are maybe 2/3 in after medium downhaul. Then barely touch the mast with outhaul.

The leech on the IQ is fairly flat it's not easy to see how much downhaul is applied. The sail doesn't pull from the top so much so no need to use lots of downhaul. With strong outhaul it still fills in and provides ample low end with the sail touching the boom when powered.

It took me some time but I finally found the sweet spot with the harness lines (were a touch forward) and then was able to really take advantage of the full sail potential.

Wind used was 20-25 knots and 17-23.

The Naish was a 90% carbon and I couldn't tell much difference if any with the Ezzy combo, both visually and on the water.

[U2U2U2]

.?
What size is the Naish ?
A few years back or new...

[manuel]

2011 ? No one knows exactly but at least 4 years old. 370cm.

Love the red mast around the boom area though!



Certainly hardtop, tried a fiberspar tidal wave and it wouldn't rig so well (not sure I mentioned it), on an regular ezzy it was OK but quite floppy obviously.

[U2U2U2]

Your results are what I would expect.

The Naish being a hardtop, probably a Firestick.