Super Freak Maui Edition
Now all those hipsters can embrace windsurfing too thanks to the 80's throwback dacron retro revolution 
It's always intrigued me this sail. Having grown up doing a heap of competitive sailing in classes almost all utilising dacron as their choice of sail material I know just how much better the laminate cloths are, not to mention the humble monofilm. My question is why? Cost, feel , UV stability, certainly can't be weight because dacron is heavy...?
Sorry for the negative point of view but having sailed a lot of dacron shod craft I can't see the positives for a high performance windsurfing rig. Take everything I say with a grain of salt because I haven't sailed one, I totally prepared to eat my words.
One thing they have going for them is, they LOOK RAD, those ones when you could (still?) get custom designs were alltime.
Yes,
Feel, weight (they are lighter than equivalent mono), longevity, impact resistance, gybing, handling of gusty conditions (their best attribute), bit of colour etc...
IMHO they are a great sail, BUT, sure you will get better/crisper acceleration and top speed from an equivalent sized laminates, if that's what you are after. (but for many the difference will not be that great - sportscar vs cadillac, both are great)
Probably a subjective thing, but I feel a LOT less fatigued sailing SuperFreaks than my other sails, maybe I'm just "special" as my kids would say
I borwed one the other day and loved it. it was a standard super freak. so light and soft. it was a season old but looked as if it was new.
Have only ever sailed mono and these feel much nicer. would like to try them in the waves.
believe they are great in over powered conditions but i didn't notice any huge loss in power in the marginal wind i was sailing in.
all that said i have got a set of Maui Hot sails fires, which are xply, arriving this week. starting to think the freaks are the go instead. will wait and see. might have to get a super freak also 
I have Gaastra Poison in 6.2, Gaastra Manic 5.7 and Super Freak in 5.3, 4.7 and 4.2. I love the SF, I always feel less tired after sailing a SF vs. the Gaastra. Especially when the wind is gusty, I can sail far longer eith a SF than I can with a film sail.
I was sceptical of these sails but ate my words after having a go of a mates 4.7
These things are so easy to sail in gusty conditions - no pitch pull (would be great for really short boards) and just seem to have an endless top end when overpowered (seems crazy considering the batten setup).
Sail weight seemed equal to or even lighter than equivalent monofilm sail.
I love light and direct wavesails in the bigger sizes for there faster and direct response, but when its galeforce and there is a huge diff between the constant wind and gusts+ lots of chop and confused waves its hard to beat the SF, and especially the ME. They just take the harsh out of it.
The are shock and gusts absorbing qualities are really is unknown to any other sail/brand that i tried (and thats a lot!).
That said, in the bigger sizes they make everything so easy its a bit boring for me but my girlfriend (just planing in the harness but no footstraps) loves them.
Another big bonus, they are almost indistructable so when she falls in it hooked in with knees full power in the footpanel or window..no big deal.
If i try a do or die action on a masthigh wave and get (as usual) eaten the sail survives.
Its really one of those sail you just have to try. Maybe you like it, maybe you don,t, but its at least fun to see how different a sail can be.
Having a couple of shorter battens isn't anything new. Most, if not all wave sails were like this before they went to full batten sails. They were referred to as soft sails.
I'd say they haven't been copied for good reason!
But you can have pretty pictures on them.
Yeah like I said i've never tried one so take anything I say with a grain of salt but it's a sail that's always interested me. I'll have to see if I can have a go of one sometime. They aren't light though, maybe in feel, but not in weight; the ultra light version is size for size 1kg heavier than my current 5.2 SWAT..that's 33% more...a lot.
i always wanted to buy one of these, and i enjoyed the couple that i tried (very light and comfortable)
the ones i tried needed to rig on very big masts, about 30-60cm bigger than the equivalent gaastra / np / north type sails of the year. is this still the case?
Interesting how most negative criticism comes from people who never tried the sail... I'm intrigued, but I'd prefer to try the LE and not the ME. Too little drive in the ME for the conditions I sail in I think.
