Here's the "Young Guns" testing some pre-production prototypes a while back in Europe. I have had a 6.3 here for months and wanted to be able to do a very comprehensive review but the combination of not much wind and no time has meant I have used it only once so far which is disappointing. However it felt really good, grunty and super stable. Low end definitely improved and the new cams rotated well. The sail also feels very light for a full blown Race sail. Hopefully soon I will get another session on it strapped to the new Nude 
The Euros have had lots of time on the various protos and the feedback has been very satisfactory.
A couple of minor mistakes on these prototypes from both the factory and myself ( almost trainspotting stuff) so what you see is very close to the production sail.
As fate has it I got to use it today, Father's day and all, yipee!!!
It pulls like a train and is stable with a capital S, the stability of these race sails astounds me. In the end I was well overpowered with the gusts getting up around 30 knots and it just sat there, pulled a little harder on the back hand but no fighting with it at all. Even though I have sworn off Race sails for anything other than speed sailing I can see myself using this sail quite a bit.
Spotti took it for a run as well on my slalom board. His comments mirror mine, powerful and stable. He liked it a lot.
So a nice surprise for father's day.
Select to expand quoteObelix said..
Anyone reselling KA sails in Australia?
Talk to Mark Jordan (NSW), he can probably advise on who resells in WA. I'm pretty sure he sells them here on the East Coast.
Steve Stratfold or Jesper Orth in WA
Premo has some 2nd hand race and wave sails
I think Troppo has some for sail too
Spotty in VIC
www.seabreeze.com.au/Classifieds/Browse/Windsurfing/Sails/KA-Sails/?search=Pw$8vS3!WxOEaZv88b0M7RWQQ$iAU!Xz
Need an 8.5 to 9.5m sail that rigs on 490cm mast, so the Koncept was of interest.
Possibly Severne Turbo or a similar uncomplicated sail, that rigs on SDM and does not insist on a stiffness or a curve...
Dont' want to buy a new mast as well.
Checked the Seabreeze, thanks.
Obi Van Tobi is selling a Reflex III, but that sounds a bit too technical , and possibly not suitable for the antiquated mast/boom combo I have.
I'll contact Steve and Jesper for price in a few weeks. Thanks.
Probably no point to contact Mark in NSW at this stage.
You can order online, just go to the individual sail pages, scroll down to the bottom and you will see a "buy now" tab. 2016 is online.
www.kasailwindsurfing.com/en/
Mark Jordan in NSW resells and Steve was in WA . 2016 sails not here yet, probably second week of October but you are best to contact Peter....peter@kasail.com as I am not up to speed with the sales / business stuff, just do the fun design stuff.
Obelix, what mast do you have?, I should be able to tell you if it will work or not.
Cant' remember the brand. That's the least used item in my quiver. Something gold written on it.
It's 45% carbon content SDM.
Happy to buy earlier years if I can save some $$$ ...
however on their site - previous year - only smaller sizes...will contact resellers.
Select to expand quotemr love said..
Here's the "Young Guns" testing some pre-production prototypes a while back in Europe. I have had a 6.3 here for months and wanted to be able to do a very comprehensive review but the combination of not much wind and no time has meant I have used it only once so far which is disappointing. However it felt really good, grunty and super stable. Low end definitely improved and the new cams rotated well. The sail also feels very light for a full blown Race sail. Hopefully soon I will get another session on it strapped to the new Nude The Euros have had lots of time on the various protos and the feedback has been very satisfactory.
A couple of minor mistakes on these prototypes from both the factory and myself ( almost trainspotting stuff) so what you see is very close to the production sail.
I only just found out that KA Sails are no longer an Australian brand and become a Euro brand. One of our local guys has a set of 2015 race, they do look very nice. I like the 3 x clew eyelet option too. Are the 2016 a big improvement on the 2015, or are they very similar? Has any one tried them with Northsails platiinum masts?
used my 7.9 2016 a couple of times and its definitly an improved over the 2015 smoother rotation and stability!!
Mark, That is not really accurate, KA is an Australian owned brand. KA is owned by founder Andrew McDougall. Andrew made a decision a few years ago to concentrate most of his time to the foiling Moths, his Mach2 business and licenced KA Windsurfing to the European importer PW Surfsport. It is run out of the Netherlands by Peter Weitenberg, the design work done in Australia by myself with support from Peter and input from all around the world.
So it is very much a Global effort but does remain Australian owned.
Regarding the 2016 Race, my extremely biased opinion is that it is a noticeable step up from previous years which is what we are always trying to achieve, why else would we put so much time and effort into the design process every year. I have received a huge amount of extremely positive feedback about the sail and it has been achieving excellent results including 3 riders in the top ten at this years LOC including 3rd place, all the more gratifying as 1st and 2nd were PWA full time professional racers which none of our team are.
Is it the perfect Race sail ,no, of coarse not, there is no such thing as we are all constantly learning, but it,s close!!
I notice one of the OH clew eyelets is set back about 10 cm from the others. Is this designed to tighten the leach and create more power. Curious to hear how much difference this setting makes to the feel of the sail.
Yes, that is exactly what it does. Tightens the lower leech, reduces the amount of S in the lower part of the sail and increases power. It works, not a gimmick, I would say increases power by around half a sail size. I use it when I have rigged too small and don,t have much time to re rig or in a fading Seabreeze so I can milk a bit more out of the session.
Most used setting is top inside hole, bottom hole when fully lit and this is the fastest setting and top outside in marginal conditions. These sails have a huge range with these 3 eyelets and we will continue to offer it even though it does add some weight.
Thanks for the update, interesting stuff. I will be asking my mate for a go of his 2015's to see how they feel. Any one know if north platinums work fine on them? Been on north warps for years and it's the buying a new set of masts which has keep't me on norths. Would save me a fortune if they worked properly on KA races ??
Theoretically both North and KA are constant curve and should be able to share masts. I know that my 100% Carbon 460 Loft mast which is also constant curve works really well with my 7.9 KA race sail
Select to expand quoteJohn340 said..
Theoretically both North and KA are constant curve and should be able to share masts. I know that my 100% Carbon 460 Loft mast which is also constant curve works really well with my 7.9 KA race sail
RDM or SDM John ? I see for the Race sails come with SDM cams for 6.3 and up, and for Koncept SDM cams for 5.4 and up.
Both Koncept and Race are fully interchangeable between SDM and RDM. If you want RDM for a size that specifies SDM as standard fit you will need to specify you want RDM when ordering.
I'm not a Ka user since long and just had only few sessions on the KAR '16 (9.4-7,9).
Compared to the NP evo 6/7 they're way softer but still enough lock feeling (no chance to test the high end).
one of the best thing is they are very light for the board and for first time ever my mistral 137 was not as much charged/pushed down as it got with the NP. It means the ride is freer also when not fully powered up (very important with the 9.4).
First session I set the 9.4 on the low eyelet but felt no balance (for the given wind). Switch for the upper one (middle) and sail got very smooth,powerful,with a nice balance between back and front hands. Sail motorred super quick (sl2 46) and breathes all over the leech. With my mast it was not enough crank DH to specs. + 1 cm was faster despite the leech appeared lazy at specs stage. Also, first time sail on the floor appears flat. No problem with that. Just tight the low battens, add some spacer if mast needs that, and go sailing. Power is definitely there.
7.9 was fast straight away in 14-17 kts. used just the low eyelet (first session,learning process...). Rotation was very good for a non stretched sail. Also acceleration from standing still was amazing. You suddenly have the right amount of back hand pull in order to push over the fin and lift up the board. then the leech starts to exhaust and the sail "auto-settle", resulting in a smooth and locked ride.
Can't wait for more sessions (expecially in high wind)
Hi, I cannot find any info about what has changed in the Koncepts in 2016. They look the same and have the same specs as 2015....
To answer my own question the 2016s have 3 cam zippers instead of 2. Now there is also one for the cam closest to the boom cutout. Good improvement !
