2014 Severne Overdrive R5

Also agree!

I could easily change to NCX for all sails except my biggest (want cams for ultimate foil shape and light wind performance), and my smallest (want cams for performance, stability and speed).

Everything else ... NCX

New OD R5 sails arrived Friday. Today I got out on the 110, 8.6 and 42cm fin. Rigged it to the correct setting but the leach wasn't twisting off that much at all. Sailed it for an hour or so but didn't feel the love. Came in and put the ext up another 2cm more than recommended. Then the beast came alive and felt totally different. Sail felt really good, and super fast off the wind. Very happy. The thing I noticed the most between Dave's Reflex 3 8.6 and my sail was the width of R3 8.6 is so much wider than the OD. Never thought the 8.6 and 110 combo would work as well as it does. Better than 2013 117/8.6 and 2013 127/8.6.

Out on the new OD5 6.2 for the first time today and the sail feels so damn good. Big call but I think its the best Severne slalom sail I have ever used. I am sure the rest of the OD5 are just as good. Off the wind the sail just wants to accelerate and it feels great across the wind as well. You can really feel how much lighter it is when carrying the rig, jibing and sailing it in general. Overall I think its faster than the R4 6.2 (another big call). Just a great fun, easy and fast sail to use

Ha-ha well spotted. I adjusted the 2 Reflex system tensioners but forgot to do the end of the batten ones. Only noticed they needed doing when I took the photo. Must have been in too much of a hurry to get out. Cheers.

What is your setup with the pulleys on the clew of the sail? Is that an aftermarket solution or does it come with the sail?

Thank you - looks like a beautiful sail.

Anyone used their OD's with RDMs and non-brand specific ones at that - Vando, have you tried them with your Loft RDMs yet?

I might have some spare rdm cams you can try Vando, see you at Burrum.

A friend of mine runs his OD4 on EZZY masts. The 7.8 suits well on the 460cm version.
NOTE: he is only 65kg but an experienced racer coming from Vapor sails. He says that the sails could a bit more powerful but the handling advantages are more than justifying the slightly reduced power.
Looking at him when we are on the water, his sails twists quite a lot...
If you are light, searching for comfort and don't need 105% power, look no further
~Shinobi

I got to sail a 7m OD rigged on an Severne 430 Gorilla (75%) rdm today. I know this is a late addition to the conversation but perhaps my first impressions of this sail when rigged on an rdm might be helpful to someone one day?

It was the first time i'd sailed a cammed sail of this size rigged on an rdm and for the most part I totally dug the rdm feeling. Normal over powered sailing was really comfortable and locked down, with a great degree of flex and forgiveness from the head. Perfect for my hefty 68kgs. It was definitely getting out of shape and fighty when the bullets came through, but the beach weather station was registering gusts over 30knots so it was definitely having to work hard.

Given what i had read about this sail i have to admit that i was expecting it to be a bit more well behaved at the extreme top end, however this could well have been a mast thing. It could have been a rigging thing too but i did get a lot of opportunity to play around with this today. I am not sure how much better the sail would have handled it if it was rigged on a sdm or on a mast with a higher carbon content, but i'd be keen to experiment before forming any sort of firm opinion.

It definitely required a heap more downhaul than recommended. I'd say that the recommended dh setting (30cm) was about the minimum that i'd want to run on this rig. It totally lit up with a few more cm. I would have given it about 33cm but the end of the session.

Bottom end was just fine, even when given a heap of downhaul. Latter in the day it dropped right off with some big holes and pumping on to the plane was easy.

I did get the impression that the rig felt heavier in the hands than sails of a similar size that i've used in the past. Odd because the sail feels light enough out of the bag. Could be a 75% mast thing, but for the time being i'm rigging my TR9 on an older 430 naish 75% (last out of the same factory as the old powerex) and yet that felt lighter than the 7m OD today... I've spent a lot of time on the 7m Naish bullet in the past (same mast) and i reckon that felt lighter in the hands too.

Lots of chatter from the monofilm leach. Reflex tensioners seem like marketing hype.

Its odd how Severne has set up their sails to rig from the opposite side from every other sail i've ever used. Its actually a bit of a pain as this puts the extension cleat under the pulleys rather than on top, making it really hard to cleat off the rope under my foot/leg while holding full tension. Although quick enough, the added extra step of flipping the sail over and rotating it through in order to be able to complete rigging is some what irritating. I guess its because i feel slightly manipulated... like they are trying to frustrate me into buying their extensions. Whatever... its only a small irritation, but clearly present none the less.

One thing that is absolutely standout is the cam rotation. Perfect. Every time. love it. The best i have ever sailed. It is not a soft rotation at all. It bangs through. But you only ever have to tell it once and the rotation is immediate and complete.

As a first impression i'm stoked. I definitely want to spend more time getting to know this sail as i definitely think that tuning could release greater potential. I've purchased a 7.8 as a light wind mish rig. If all goes well then i might look at the 6.2 or the 7.0, however i'll have to get some magic sessions on the OD under my belt before i would consider letting usurp my current quiver.

My settings at Green Island Nats a few weeks ago.
7.0 OverdriveR5, Extension set at 32 pulled right down wind 30-35Knots.
The less windy days 20-25 i was running maybe 5-10mm less

Photo By Billy Craig