Test 2020: Power freerace sail 2-Cam 8.5

It was a spontaneous special summer test under difficult coronavirus conditions. One important challenger did not make it- probably lost somewhere between China and Lake Garda- simply didn't make it onto the water. The NeilPryde V8 would have been our sixth favourite candidate in this race of the displacement monsters. Nevertheless, we can offer you a sail for almost every taste in the tested field. From a camberless cloth with a soft wave sail feel and handling- up to the tightly steeled steam hammer for the heaviest guys.

On land

Camber and Co

With the exception of the "Morpho", all sail designers use two cambers to support the consistently deep profiles. The construction is nevertheless successful- observing the correct sequence- actually easy, only the camber of the gunsails requires a little sensitivity to keep them "in line". The trim forces are not child's play, but they are manageable. With plenty of slack in the leech- with Sailloft rather concentrated in the upper area and with Morpho only moderately visible in the soft cloth- the sails already cover a good wind range without outhaul tension. The exception is the Morpho, where you have to think in centimetres or inches rather than millimetres when tensioning the clew.

ON THE WATER

Glide, control, speed

The good news first, regardless of the individual characteristics from soft to direct, which may suit one person better than another: All sails planed very well and could be held in a controlled manner for a really long time without much trimming. Even when the first 6.5 sails were already in full planing mode after the planing pairings at the beginning of the ora, all candidates could still be controlled at least sufficiently. GA, Gunsails and Severne even have what it takes for real GPS top speed runs. We would recommend the Morpho less for this simply because of its soft ride feel and then increasing agility, and the Sailloft - bursting with unbridled power - gets the nod, especially when you're on the move. Especially for surfers of 80 kilos or less, there is a noticeable pull on the back hand earlier, which is not much fun. However, in the lowest planing wind range - where the designers want to see it and even in medium planing winds - the Sailloft - together with the Gunsails - is particularly stable in the hand and can be surfed in a really relaxed manner due to the higher pulling forces. That leaves the manoeuvring characteristics - you can't expect miracles from an 8.5. However, we really liked the camber rotation of all the sails, no sail was as stubborn as some race sails, the profiles always turned completely round, sometimes with almost inaudible camber movement. As in the entire test, the Morpho 7.6 - a camberless sail with a compact profile on a 430 RDM mast - was out of the competition. A sail that naturally opens up completely different possibilities in the jibe and surprisingly showed with its extremely soft profile that early planing is possible with even less surface area. However, even this method is not without its limitations. You can find out which sail will get you up to speed best in the individual descriptions.

Our tested sails:

GA Sails Cosmic 8.3

The "softie"among the camber sails is the GA Cosmic. "Softie" because, on the one hand, it offers noticeable profile damping and, on the other hand, is very gentle and mild even with lighter surfers. Specifically, it is comparatively light in the hand, even lighter than a Gunsails Exceed, for example, but always somewhat agile and never 100 per cent curled like the latter. With the clew loosely hooked in, it surfs the best, is the most stable and then planes powerfully, a touch faster than a Severne Turbo GT. This puts it in the league of the best paragliders you can get. The profile shifts to the new side particularly softly, i.e. smoothly and without jerks, and the camber only gives you a hint that there is any hidden in the mast pocket with a very quiet "pffft". In the group it would be categorised as an "all-rounder" between the powerful Gunsails and the very light Severne. It is easy to set up, the camber folds easily and the trim forces remain moderate. Caution: The sail does not like too much clew tension, so you should tune sensitively. In the "right" trim, it is balanced in the hand, but not mega curled, but easy to control for a long time.

surf conclusion: Good, damped early glider, which is not only suitable for heavyweights, with very good handling in the jibe.

GunSails Exceed 8.5

The quick-change artist is still a little heavier in the hand when carried - "well, the typical, solid Gun material choice" you might think. However, the very low-profile sail suddenly feels very neutral and can be steered with very little force. The trim for this is easy to find, once the luff is adjusted, the rest goes over the clew - and you can surf for a very long time with very little tension. Then the Exceed pulls away very powerfully and then accelerates faster than the other candidates. With plenty of speed on all courses and - with a slight emphasis on the back hand - also very good performance upwind, it dominated the lower and medium planing wind range in the test. It lies particularly stable and calm over the board and, with the sail cut far down over the trim fitting, allows a particularly tight seal with the leech on the board. When jibing, the handling is okay in terms of weight, the turning of the profile is quite strong, the camber rotation is buttery smooth - however, the camber also jumped off the mast more easily when rigging, which required some sensitivity when setting up. Even in strong winds, the controllability remains top, the wind range seems very large.

surf conclusion: A planing and very fast sail with top acceleration. Easy and stable (fast) to surf.

Morpho Sails Morpho 7.6

The outsider boasted in advance that it could easily take on the larger sails. We were excited. When rigging the camberless sail, you have to pay attention to the very long trim length on the clew, but even with a lot of pull, a deep profile still forms on the 430 (!) RDM mast. Immediately after hoisting the sail, you can't help but smile because the sail is so much lighter and even softer than all the others in this test. Passively, it pulls in surprisingly early and powerfully, which is hardly surprising given the deep, high reaching belly. This allows it to develop an astonishing speed in the lowest planing range, which lets it keep up well with the much larger camber sails. Like all soft sails, it has a "boxer-like", compact outline when pumped: The profile tends to flatten out, the sail tends to twist, the planing limit can hardly be pushed effectively with physical effort. It is a little unsteady in the hand when planing and you always have to work a little on the boom when jibing. Jibes are simply a dream. Mark Thoms' sail concept fits very well with the Thommen Glide 165, which he also (co-)developed: everything is geared towards the best passive planing and maximum comfort, top performance in strong winds is not the focus.
surf conclusion: Very soft sail with top handling and actually a lot of planing performance.

Sailloft Hamburg Traction 8.5

The forefather the early planing sail, the result of a design competition for special power sails, has nothing to hide in 2020 either. At least in its specialised discipline - maximum torque at low speeds. Translated, this means that the Sailloft can generate an incredible amount of propulsion from little wind. This is generated in the depths of the incredibly powerful profile, which still has plenty of camber well above the boom, combined with a rather moderate "loose leech". The rig is already very tight and direct in the hand when planing - despite only six battens. With plenty of steam, the sail is then the first to pull away passively, but can also be effectively supported by pumping. The subsequent acceleration is not quite as rapid and the very powerful sail with the deep belly also has to accept some compromises at top speed. On the other hand, it is extremely stable and curled over the board in the lower and medium wind range, pulls powerfully through wind holes and hardly requires any corrections. In strong winds, the draft at the back increases considerably, the Traction is certainly not a strong wind heating sail for GPS records, for which Sailloft has the "Mission" in its programme.

surf conclusion: Extremely powerful sail for heavy, powerful surfers well over 80 kilos, who not only need surface area, but also a lot of pull to get into the slides.

Severne Turbo GT 8.6

The proverbial turbo lag is at most a fine needle eye on the Severne Turbo GT. In "normal" trim, it already clearly shows "loose leech" and needs a fine touch more wind than a Gunsails Exceed to lift the board onto the planing surface. It can be "under-trimmed" even further, but then no longer looks as stable. We prefer to stay in the "right" trim and enjoy the particularly light feeling, which also makes the sail ideal for pumping. With the pressure point slightly further forward, it remains very balanced in the hands and also absorbs powerful gusts very effectively in the slightly damped profile. For maximum height compression in racing mode and when gliding through wind holes, you might sometimes wish for a little more holding power at the rear. However, when the sail is really pressurised, the particularly good controllability prevails again, which opens up a very wide range of use for the sail. Together with the Gunsails, the Severne is our first choice when we leave the light wind comfort zone upwards. In the jibe, the sail shifts easily, quickly and with gentle camber rotation.

surf conclusion: Not a very specialised power pack, but rather a sporty freerace all-rounder with very good gliding properties.