Ezzy cheetah 6.5 2016 Model

What's not been said about the Cheetah that hasn't been covered before? It always gets rave reviews and the latest lives up to the legend. I shamelessly praise them, cause I like them, they are what they are and do what they say they do with no BS.

Ive gone 6.5 to match a smaller FSW board better, and to be used generally for ocean blasting 14-22knts.
The cheetah like all ezzy sails is just windsurf porn..its is designed and made so well, so obvious, you don't cringe at the sound of crackling creasing mono film when you unroll it, and it can handle a less than perfect rigging surface.

Rigging is stupendously easy...straight out of the bag, remove the personal 'rigged and checked by a real human and their name tag" and set with Ezzy mast as recommended, perfect , no adjustments required. One thing I did notice on this years model, quiet a large mast luff..not sure why that is as it's nearly always going to be used with an RDM. The vinyl window Ithink is smaller this year also, but its still there, perfect amount and size for resting your Sail on head when carrying.
From my limited use so far I think this ones a little more outhaul required than previous, but again use the clew rope guide and you cant go wrong.

The other thing is its quite a full powerful sail, seems fuller profile than the last model, its took me by surprise how powerful it is...I was worried coming down from the 7m I'd be under done, not a chance, , its got more pull than Brad Pit on a Hens night.

The range with tuning I think will be insane, I used it in medium setting for first outing, in medium wind range, spot on, stable fast and comfortable. The surprising extra bottom end was really welcome punching out through onshore waves also, I had no hesitation sailing in over the surf and jibing in close to shore knowing I had heaps of pull to get me out of there again.

It's a super light sail, has quality build and construction written all over it, feels easy to throw about, looks dead sexy, especially in red, sails like a dream, cant wait to test it in fully lit and high wind settings.

The day I picked it up the shop was doing repairs on another 'free ride sail' of another brand, broken tube batern, hate that ,bugger of a job to sort out also...nice moment knowing that I wouldnt be having that BS with the ezzy batterns.

Honestly if you want a quality free ride sail, easy to rig, built to last, can handle a bit of tough love, with heaps of wind range and goes like the clappers but importantly offers stability and buckets of control, I can't think of a better sail.
Can't wait to get on it again.

I got the Orange one

DONT FORGET THE FREE KEY RING WITH EVERY SAIL ..

My feeling is its very similar to the 2012 model. I have only sailed it in strong winds so far. It is much lighter of course and lighter in the hands too. A little easier in the gybes - more maneuverable. I loved the 2012 model and this one seems to be a worthwhile incremental improvement.

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jn1 said..
I got a 2016 5.5 last month. Haven't used it yet. Most likely the next Boggy session in April. I'll post my impressions when I do :)

What mast you gunna use in it Jay,

how many people use SDMs on the larger Ezzy sails ?? say > 7 or 7.5 ...
and which ones are ideal - have heard of North being used successfully
.
seems Ezzy RDM masts are always the preference
yes, I could ask David or on forum, but like user replies

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joe windsurf said..
how many people use SDMs on the larger Ezzy sails ?? say > 7 or 7.5 ...
and which ones are ideal - have heard of North being used successfully
.
seems Ezzy RDM masts are always the preference
yes, I could ask David or on forum, but like user replies

Asking David, you would receive something like
The mast bend curve is more important that IF the mast is RDM or SDM.

I found that when fully powered to overpowered , the RDM , I preferred. When the wind was marginal to just planing the SDM worked better. I only use Ezzy RDMs, the SDM was a 100% powerex , Utah made.
Cheetah 7.5 sail.

Of course it would be difficult to gauge the wind and make a informed choice on which mast, so after a choice was made, a finding was easy enough. This option only existed because I had both masts.

I found that a 6.5--7.5 Cheetah was hard to beat in a production sail.

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jn1 said..
A CAAS 430 RDM Powerwave

Like to see how it goes but should be sweet, Your usual excellent review coming i hope.

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Tardy said..

joe windsurf said..
hmm, I do have a 460 PX RDM mast ...
would that work with Cheetahs 7.0, 7.5 & 8.0
that would make a "migration" to Ezzy less painful (on the wallet)
.
also, the luff on the 6.5 seems to be 456 cm max
could a heavyweight like myself use a 460 mast on such a sail ??

thx in advance
joe

your mast is perfect for the 7.0 and 7.5... I use a 100%rdm naish fire stick on my 7.0 it likes to be fully down hauled as it is a little stiff ..but as the pic shows it rigs pretty good and sails great . i use a 490 north drop shape 100% on my 8.5 cheetah ,,beautiful.

use to have a ..naish 8.0.. but sold it .due to the huge range of my 8.5 cheetah ,my next sail down is the 7.0 2016 cheetah.I don't feel I need a in between at all.

the 6.5 is best on a 430. ..I have a 430 RDM ezzy for 6.5 ..so forgiving and low down grunt ,its not funny .this one .

I have found they work ok on neilpryde mast too.if you have a x6 or x9

theres no need to buy extra masts as they will work with other brands ,
north mast being the closes to a perfect match other than a ezzy .mast.

the plastic rubbery panel for the head in the centre of the sail ... is so nice on.... bald heads .{solar panel for a sex machine .}

From one baldy to another, you should be wearing a hat mate.

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jn1 said..

jimbob SA said..

Like to see how it goes but should be sweet, Your usual excellent review coming i hope.

I buy my sails to fit my masts now days. So I emailed CAAS and asked them what sails suit my mast. Ezzy was one of them.

sounds like your ready for Ezzy magic

Not bad mileage .

I've caught this discussion a few days late. I have the 2016 Cheetah 7.5 (Orange) and I run it on a NP 460
X6 (80% carbon at that length) SDM mast. I think it works fine but the mast is described as progressive flex (more bend at the top). So I rigged it on an old C30 constant curve 460 mast and I thought it had a slightly better shape but the mast is significantly more heavy I've stuck with the X6.
* So, my recommendation is, if you have the option use a constant curve mast.
* My opinion is a SDM is perfectly fine (and a flex top too)

I chose the Cheetah for no-cams, build quality and something for my best mast which is the 460 X6. This particular sail is a replacement for a no-cam Gaastra 7.0 matrix, which was a great sail too. The 7.5 Cheetah has a lot more power than the 7.0 matrix, well beyond what 7.5 vs 7.0 would indicate.
* So I'd recommend that if you are undecided between two adjacent Cheetah sizes, go down.

Last sail I did a one-on-one comparison between my RS Slalom 7.0 Mark iii and the Cheetah. In every imaginable department the Cheetah was better.
* The Cheetah is so much better than a dedicated cammed slalom sail, but I can't explain it.

15 -20 knots..sounds like you needed a 7.0.i take it your not 95 kgs.glad your happy with it .mine was set at max downhaul,here .

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jn1 said..
I tried out my 2016 5.5 Cheetah today at Boggy Lake in about 15-20 knots, messy chop water. This sail has MUMBO !!!. Infact, I was fully lite up on it (using a 109 Supersport 249x65cm, 30cm Blackproject Freeride fin). It feels much bigger than it is. The sail feels very heavy and sluggish, but that is a good thing for speed/slalom (can hold it down easier). It's much harder to duck gybe, since it doesn't like to depower .. again, this is a good freeride/slalom/speed trait. It failed the piano-key test,.. but it could be I was feeling O/P, and needs tuning/learning how to use etc. Definately interesting sail.

As someone thats used the Cheetah for a fair few sessions/years with good results, can say they are within 5-10% of the speed of full race sails on flat water, often quicker in rough water due to the control, i could suggest the following.

- 5.5m in 15-20 knots unless you are jockey size thats too small a sail, especially on 109ltr board, should be using 6.5 - 7m

- nothing heavy and sluggish about them at all, build weight is as light as anything on the market often lighter

- Are you running a rdm constant curve mast? This is non negotiable IMO as its what the sails were designed and tested on/for.

- is it set exactly as per the settings provided, or if you are not using an Ezzy mast are you downhauling so that the crease is at least mid dot across the top?

- Out haul - is a Must and they need 'more' than most sails, I always go medium to full on the downhaul settings, that means using the long guide outhaul rope fully extended before applying outhaul, they do need a bit, use the boom measurements on the sail.

- Doesn't depower?? Are you sure you were on a Cheetah?! This is one of the sails best assets, twists off nicely, soft rdm masts flex in gusts, some comment that they are too forgiving!

the fact that you felt over powered on a 5.5m in 15-20 knots on lake suggests maybe bantam weight sailor? even still maybe a 6.0 would be better.

For the record 6-5m/7m Cheetah can be held down at max speed (85kg sailor) in 'lake conditions' from 15-28knts for ocean blasting I'd change that to 14-22 with the intermident gusts higher being manageable.

If you have the right mast and extension setting they will rig right out of the bag as per the numbers, in fact they are factory pre rigged & tested to ensure the calibration guide is correct (was yours?) they are a little different to rig than other sails, 1. Easier! 2. Less downhaul than most 3. more outhaul than most.

Give it some more wind and rig it right and no doubt your next session will be a buzz!

if all the above fails watch this video, - happy sailing

They have a different 'feel' that's for sure, especially compared to full mono film type sails.
its more of a controlled constant pull with the initial power rather a twitchy on/off, this feeling often initially is mistaken as feeling slow, until you check your speeds against data.
At full speed when a gust hits its absorbed somewhat by the softer feel, you don't get pulled off onto your toes and you can control the gust, so that may feel slow if you want that extra gust to push you to 40knts.

I took my 6.0 cheetah to west Oz last november ,
i did have there a 5.8 and a 6.4 of other brands ,I sold them because i didn't need them anymore
the 6.0 covered it.and it was faster .with more control
my mates have 5,8 cam sails over there .they died in the lulls ,where i kept going
just by letting out the outhaul.love the range and feel .
even though my 6.0 is a 2015 ,it still kicks arse .the 2016 are more forgiving ,with one less
batten .the 2015 6,0 has 7 battens it s almost like a race sail.But not .
the 6,5 with a ezzy mast RDM ,is just pure bliss to use .I've had my 6.5 in 25 knots and didn't feel
out of control once . bring on the down haul.I do think the 2016 is a better sail .in the smaller sizes .
where the 8.5 has stayed with the 7 battens .I hope it stays like that ,its perfect .It is the best
big sail i have ever used .and Ive had plenty .

i might get a free sticker for this post .

great sails ,Im glad i made the switch .2 years ago .with my slalom sails.
had and still have the SE's and panthers ,

i just like to add ,I think a company that just focuses all their time to SAILS or rigs ONLY .
you will get a good product .
i reckon this ones a beauty with the extra tweaking done last year .
sailing around rocks ,a scrim sail is always going to appeal to me .as I do end up on them some times .