Forums > Windsurfing Wave sailing

Wave sail for a bit of blasting?

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Created by PhilSWR > 9 months ago, 20 Jan 2013
ikw777
QLD, 2995 posts
30 Jan 2013 1:57PM
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On this page you can read about how the Ezzys are designed:
www.ezzy.com/rig-support/ezzy-basic-sail-design-theory/

Particularly interesting is the section on rotation which explains how Ezzys are different to other sails and the importance of outhaul:

Most sails when sitting unloaded have the battens rotated hard around the mast. This is a rotational sail and represents a sail that has most of the profile built in via excess luff curve shaping method.

Over the years, we have discovered that rotational-type sails are wrong. They produce exactly the opposite sail shape that you want. When unloaded or in light wind the lower and middle battens of a rotational sail rotate hard around the mast. Since they do not have much, if any, profile in the sail body they assume a very flat and draft forward profile- not a desirable profile for light air. Then as the rotational sail gets in more wind, the battens get pulled from beside the mast to behind the mast. The result is more draft in the back of the sail ??" not a desirable shape for high wind. So, you can see that the rotational sail works in exactly the opposite way it should. It goes from a flat draft forward profile in light air to a deeper draft back profile in stronger wind. This translates into a sail that jerks you forward in light gusty wind and then gets backhand pressure in the in strong puffs. It would be better to start off in light wind with more profile in the sail, then as the wind increases to have the draft not get any deeper and not move back.

Ezzy Sails are formed with a different design concept than all other windsurfing sails. That means, when you tension the batten, the sail shape comes from the batten taper plus the profile in the seam. The result is a defined, exact, horizontal profile. Our sails are the exact opposite of most other sails that have very little shape in the panels and most of the shape coming from the excess luff curve.

Ezzy sails are built to have very little batten rotation around the mast. When the sail is unloaded, we set the batten behind the mast in about the same place the traditional rotational sail type batten would be when loaded. Now combine this with the Endo-batten profile in the sail body and you have a much more stable profile. Plus you actually get the opposite function of a traditional rotational sail. In light air the batten is behind the mast and there is more profile back in the panels ??" good light air shape. Then as the wind increases the batten moves more beside the mast and this has the effect of moving the draft a bit further forward ??" good high wind profile.

There is another added benefit in the non-rotational system, and that is that we are less reliant on mast stiffness, since our profile is not coming so much from excess luff curve, but more from profiled panels. This means we can use softer masts without loosing profile. Softer masts are not only easier to downhaul but they have a more ???alive??? feeling on the water because the luff retains a bit more shape while at the same time the leech is loose. And a wider arrange of masts will work.

Tuning our sails is very, very different from other sails. If you set our sails like a traditional rotational sail they will feel terrible. The main difference in rigging is that our sails take quite a bit of positive outhaul tension. The outhaul is needed to pull the battens away from the mast. The wave sail takes as much as 5.0 cm or 6.0 cm of positive outhaul The outhaul not only flattens the sail, but also tensions the lower leech, which reduces unwanted lower leech twist. Our sails come with a string gauge that makes setting the outhaul very easy.


N1GEL
NSW, 861 posts
4 Jan 2014 8:42PM
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Wow.... Im looking at some of these stats - sailor weight, volume, sail type, and wind strength etc and more. Im toally baffled by the small sails and boards you guys 'reckon' you get planing on. I went down to Botany today. Wind was East at 14-19kts. There were two guys sailing who were using 12m sails and struggling in the gaps.

My last day out was 20-25kts on Botany and i was running a 93ltr fsw with a 5.6. Im 85 kegs and was a touch under powered. Tomorrow (sunday 5 jan) is forecast 20-25 kts NE....I'll be rigging my 5.9.

As a noob (after 10 years) Im still trying to figure out what sail I should use. Clearly threres a lot of peeps who are happy to sail under powered. Ill be rigging a 5.9 in 25kts tomorrow on my 93ltr. Id much prefer to be over powered than under powered, but i need to be able to waterstart as i couldnt be bothered uphauling.

Question for you guys is (while ive got your attention) is whats the diff between an old 5.6 cammed sail and my new 5.9 (which when rigged has a really loose leece).



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Forums > Windsurfing Wave sailing


"Wave sail for a bit of blasting?" started by PhilSWR