Already ridden: Sail Naish Sprint
The Naish Sprint with the more favourable SDM mast was not yet available for the test of this sail group in South Africa (see surf 3/2017 for the test) - which is why we want to share our impressions here. The Sprint is positioned as the most manoeuvre-oriented camberless freeride sail in the Naish range and is primarily aimed at surfers who are looking for a light and uncomplicated handling sail.
On land:While the smallest size (5.2 square metres) should work better on a thin skinny mast (RDM), our test size in 5.8 and all other sizes are recommended on a standard diameter mast (SDM). We tested the sail with the inexpensive STX C40 mast (40 % carbon, 219 euros). The 5.8 is rigged on a 430 mast, but also fits on a 460 mast thanks to the Vario top - if you usually have to sail larger sails and use 5.8 square metres as the smallest size in your fleet, you may be able to save on a 4.30 mast completely. The sizes 5.2 and 5.8 are also only stiffened by five battens, from 6.4 to 7.7 m² the profile is stabilised by six battens. Compared to the sportier Noa, the fork on the Sprint is slightly longer, which shifts the pressure point a little further back and should provide more gliding performance. The battens themselves are relatively straight, i.e. without a pre-shaped profile in the sail, while a large Dacron sheet in the upper area ensures a soft sail feel. The monofilm appears to be sufficiently thick in all areas, the grid in the foot is somewhat thinner compared to other brands. The boom cut-out is borderline low for surfers over 1.90 metres, especially if you want to use the sail on wide freeride boards.
On the water:Even with the rather heavy and inexpensive C40 mast, the Sprint still feels very light and agile in the hand, but stabilises well when planing. If the rather soft profile is still almost straight when unfurled, a full belly is drawn into the profile with the first tight recovery and the Sprint comes well over the planing threshold - according to our feeling, the Sprint even has more planing power in the lower wind range than the sportier Naish Noa. The rest is easy surfing in its purest form: the battens change sides in manoeuvres as smooth as butter, the profile flattens out nicely in jibes and duck jibes, resulting in light and neutral handling. The Sprint remains rideable for a surprisingly long time even when fully powered up - despite the soft profile, the pressure point hardly shifts even when 90-kilo chunks are really held down.
surf conclusion:The Sprint is a perfect freeride manoeuvre sail for all surfers who want to do without pure performance bolts on freerace boards and instead want to heat and jibe in an uncomplicated and playful way. This makes it a perfect match for all freemove and freeride boards. With its large monofilm surfaces, the sail is not really designed for use in the surf of the Baltic Sea.
Technical data Naish Sprint sizes5.2/5.8/6.4/7.1/7.7 square metresLuff: 422/438/454/474/490 cmFork166/180/194/206/216 cmPrices719/749/779/799/829 EuroMast used: Naish STX C40 SDM, 430 cm, 219 EuroInfo: www.naishsails.com
