Ezzy Panther Elite 2013 (Words by Kaleb Smith, Tasmania)
With 17 years of using Ezzy wave sails under my belt and loving the stability produced by the 5 battened wave range, I was and slightly sceptical about splashing out on a 4 battened wave sail.
I had read a few comments from sailors using other brands and the feedback was mixed. I had also seen some negative comments towards Ezzy's new down haul indicating system. I must admit at first glance I was a bit taken back to see that the leach markings we have all become accustomed too had disappeared. That was until I rigged the sails, the new system when rigged with the recommended mast is absolutely fool proof and I found that it made it easier than the old system to get the sail tuned correctly. I have since played around with using non recommended sized masts with 3 different types of extensions, although when doing this you cannot use the downhaul indicator, as long as you set the extension to give you the recommended Luff you will not go wrong.
People talk about the weight of a sail and how heavy it is. This to me relates to two things. Firstly the physical weight of the sail when it is rolled up, the manufacturers love to quote this one all the time. Secondly, the balance of the sail when rigged and on the water, is it back hand and feeling heavy or baggy and pulls like tractor without sending you forward releasing the force of the wind etc.
The first thing I noticed about the Elite is the compact light feel when removing it from the bag, lacking the extra batten and material that goes with it certainly gives to the lightweight feel of the unrigged sail. Upon unrolling it you straight away notice that the only thing missing is a batten and pocket, all the usual 'built tough to last' materials are still there and just refined that bit more to add to the light feel without any compromise on quality.
The 4.5 was the first sail rigged and I used the recommended 370 bottom with 400 top and the correct extension length. Down hauling the sail to the recommended mark was straight forward and simple. I was amazed that the few mm either side of the standard setting made such a difference to the shape of the sail; and later I realised just how much those mm changed the way the sail reacted when faced with increasing winds.
On the water the sail felt similar to the previous Ezzy 5 battened sails due to the shaped profile but the fist thing I noticed was the softer feeling of the sail and the forward pull created when hit by gusts. The low down power of the sail was incredible, I stepped onto the board in winds that I thought were too light to get planning, but the sail just trucked on and dragged the board onto the plane. At first I was concerned the sail would be too soft and not be able to keep a proper shape in the gusts that were about 20+ knots stronger than the 18-20 knots average. I took the out haul out to just over half the recommended setting and gritted my teeth. When taking the sail to it's maximum control range I was expecting to have it pull the little twin fins down wind and round the nose up like most soft sails of old when extremely overpowered, now this was the cool bit, the sail seemed to react nicely to my guidance and instead of becoming a heavy backhanded unstable 4 batten it just took hold and delivered all that extra energy down through the rig and into the board, resulting in a situation that held the board down and allowed the tail to be kept under control and tracking where asked.
To me this sail feels to be the lightest Ezzy sail ever produced in both unrigged and rigged states. The forward pulling balance makes it feel incredibly light and controllable and suits the modern multi finned boards. On the wave this sail reaches a whole new level of 'Smile'. Its sheer power and light in the hands forward feel means you can throw your self into some serious places and have the confidence to come out the other side, upright and powering on.
