Sailed the 2012 6.6 Koncept on the weekend, its just got better again!
Wind was not much more than 16-18 knots E' at the Pit on Sunday arvo, would normally run the 7.5 or 8.5 to be really powered. I had peaks around 30-31, 10 sec's were b/n 28-30, very efficient power on tap.
Read about Koncept and the entire 2012 Ka range @ www.kasailwindsurfing.com/en/
I,ll get a full list of AMAC but I know there are all sizes of Assy left but very, very limited numbers.
Hi Walt
Not sure if Spotty got any photos from the day he used the new 6.6 2012 Koncept?
Here is a picture from Turkey, where we did some testing earlier on the year.
It is a 7.5 Koncept on the pic. If you compare with the KArace 7.1 in the pic, you can see the 2012 Koncepts are a lot more low aspect compared to the previous year,,
We lent the sail to one of the competitors (PWA Slalom- Alacati) that was unlucky to break a sail, and she was so pleased with the easy performance that we had a "hard" time getting the sail back from her,,, :)
We will soon get some more product shoots.
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=250294018316858&set=a.250293448316915.74635.127507403928854&type=3&theater
Cheers
Jesper
I broke a new 2012 6.6m Koncept out of the plastic yesterday and used it in a fun slalom race minutes later to win the first heat! Sail handled perfectly with great power and stability. The lower center of power was immediately evident and felt great. :-)
Hey Jesper,
Thanks for posting the photo,
I see what your saying about it being more low aspect and the head is alot wider.
I am waiting for the koyote photos to be ready.
thanks
kind Regards
Walt
Andrew, How come your brand spanking new 6.6 went faster than my brand new 6.6??? oh now I remember, I am fat and my jibes suck!!!
Sails work great, 6.6 felt really powerful with great accleration. Had a small sail on the 8.5 Koncept in crap conditions, pulled like a trooper and got me planing really easily.
The sail that is really impressing me though so far is the Race. The 7.9 was just magic, powerful and super stable and appears to be very fast. Noticably heavier than the Koncept though and stiffer through transitions so the Koncept will still be the better choice unless you want a full blown race sail.
Rigged the 5.5 Race but not the conditions to use it. Looks unreal. This will be my secret weapon to beat Spotty!!!!
Hey Martin,
I'm interested to hear your opinion (and Jesper's and Spotty's for that matter) as to why then you would take the Race over the Koncept....You yourself say that the Koncept is the pick unless you want a full on race sail...so just what advantage will the Race give you if you choose it?
Jesper is the best to talk to for sure but this is my take.
With the Race you will be able to sail with a bigger size in the same wind strength due to the super stability. So for Slalom racing you have more horsepower at the start and at crowded jibe marks.
The trade off is a heavier sail and slightly stiffer handling.
So serious Slalom racers should consider the Race over the Koncept and of coarse its the sail for Formula racers.
Most people who GPS speed surf would be better off on Koncept I think, but there will be a bit of personal choice there, Lighter, slightly softer feeling sail vs heavier stiffer feel but superior top end stability.
Downwind speed sailing the Koncept is still the go but I am interested in what the little race can do, it just looks fast!!!!!.
But Jesper has spent more time than anybody on both so he is the most qualified to answer the question accurately.
KArace is designed purely to win races.
Martin already pointed out some good points,,
Design brief for 2012 KArace was following:
More acceleration. We achieved this firstly from a more low aspect outline (longer boom). Power is lower and can more efficient transfer the power to the fin.
Instant low end power: We need power at all times and don't want to over sheet the sail on the back hand getting into lulls. This is partly eliminated from the longer boom length, but also the horizontal shaping through the bottom battens helps a great deal here, to stabilise the foil to sit very steady.
Stability: 8 battens and 4 cambers and a moderate skin tension holds the stability in place. Moderate -wide luff sleeve holds the leading edge rigid and smooth. But most important we have a dynamic twist when hitting gusts that allow the sail to breathe above the boom and keep the rider position exactly the same at all times. We eliminated any leach flutter and have a full engaging dynamic leach.
Expect to have a great deal of power after the jibes when you sheet in!! and a little heavier feeling in the transition - compared to Koncept,,
If you want to win races gusty places and don't mind a more powerful (in jibes) feeling, as well as a little more fine-tuning of the sail. Then go for the KArace...
With both 2012 Koncept and KArace we has done some big steps forward in performance. So you can't really go wrong with any of them...
I would still recommend the Koncept for Speed of the wind and for slalom / free ride sailors wanting the best, easiest, high performing, hassle free sails on the market,,,
You can also sail a slightly smaller Koncept compared to race and be more efficient with the gain of a lighter feeling rig,,,
Hope this helped a bit,,,
Cheers
Jesper
Hi Russ
I should probably have explained it a bit better,,
The dynamic leach twist idea is not really that new, but to build / design it into the sail and make it work under different wind strengths is the magic.
When you get it right it create a huge wind range, acceleration, speed and stability.
What is does it to keep the draft in the sail stable and you don't end up with more backhand power in the gust / stronger wind, that can force you to sheet the sail out and loose control.
If you look closely at the KA sail powered up, you will notice the batten above the boom "breaking" away a little in gusts (sitting further out)- this releases the pressure on the back hand. All the battens above the boom will have a very uniformed "release" under load. (Dynamic leach)
Draft stays the same or even move forward a bit and this means endless acceleration...and you keep your body position the same for max control.
In other words you want as much power from the leach tension you can get away with in light wind and for getting going and then in gust you want it to bend / twist away in combination with the mast bending more.
This I would call the dynamic leach twist. It is engaging all the time but change "shape" for the different wind strengths in a very smooth transition..
It is all achieved by a combination of luff curve, tension, materials, horizontal shaping, battens, sail outline and lots of testing on the water...
Cheers
Jesper
Fantastic to see this depth of design consideration placed into our KA sails.
So looking forward to giving the new race a run.
Cheers Russ