Had the first rig and short light wind sail with my new Gun Sails Stream 8.1m Guns new freeride sail. It is a 5+1 batten sail. Plus 1, because the upper batten is only a thin 6mm rod in a slim batten pocket which stabilizes the sail top. it was a very easy sail to rig the SDM mast went easily up the luff tube and down hauled as specified with 12cm of extension and the sail layed off to Guns FRED mark.
(FRED Fast Rigging Easy Doing FRED will help you to find the optimal luff trim for your sail. The mark is found in the upper sail window and serves as an orientation point to create the perfect luff tension (loose leech).)
Which I noticed was very close to the mast on the 8.1 Stream much closer than on the 6.6 Torro I had rigged previously. Boom setting was also as specified though I added a couple of CMs as I place my boom at the top of the cutout.
On the water the sail was very comfortable to sail with very balanced with little forward put like you get on a sail with more low end grunt like the Torro. However it was easy to pump and it was a very smooth increase in power as you pumped onto the plane. You are not going to break any speed record with this sail it is not designed for that but I found it to be a really comfortable light well balanced sail that was easy to sail and great for a freeride bump and jump session. I am looking forward to getting it out in some stronger more consistent wind.
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Nice one Gareth. Looks good. I rigged the rapid today which also looked pretty good. I ran out of time to sail it so hopefully I can give some information when I have tried it on the water. I like the colour
Nice one Gareth. Looks good. I rigged the rapid today which also looked pretty good. I ran out of time to sail it so hopefully I can give some information when I have tried it on the water. I like the colour
Hopefully there will be enough wind this weekend for me to try out my Rapid 7.2.