Seems to be the flavor of the month, releasing 2017 gear:
Mauisails flagship sail - TR17:
- less roach in upper leech
- lower aspect ratio
- cam rotation
- 2 clew positions
Mauisails Freerace wide sleeve - Titan GSX:
Mauisails Freeride no cam - Scream:
Mauisails Bump'N'Jump - Switch:
puuh 9 batten on a freerace sail
The 9 battens enable less DH tension, softer overall rig, more efficient pumping and top speed with slingshot effect.
The best way to make an opinion is to try .
There is always The S2 Maui Venom option if you are not convinced by the Mauisails TR.
Mauisails TRXI and S2 Maui Venom were on top 2 spots of our local GPS comp last weekend:
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/New-South-Wales/Heat-1-NSW-Freerace-Botany-Bay-THIS-WEEKEND/?page=2
with S2 did Barry and Artur go back to smaller cut-out @ the boom ??
and WHO is now sail designer @/for MauiSails - if anyone ??
S2 Maui Venom indeed have a marginally shorter boom cut out so slightly longer boom for the same size.
Phil McGain now drives the design of the Mauisails sails range, which he has been involved in since the start of Mauisails and more when at Gaastra.
Got the chance to test the TR2017 7.7 today:
Spot: Botany Bay, NSW
Conditions: 18+ knots Southerly
Board: Exocet RS6
The 2017 TR model sees some refinements with the same objectives, to deliver an easy ride with top performance:
- reduced roach in top leech, this translates in more stability of the sail up top, especially noticeable in choppy conditions (as per today's conditions). This lets you concentrate on board trim in the rougher water.
- cleaner foot section with tack strap tensioning around the extension as opposed to base for previous models
- camber rotation, on the larger sizes in the TR16 the bottom camber was a bit sticky which was addressed and resolved for the 2017 series
- as per Mauisails standard, build quality is second to none with head protection, batten pocket protection, luff sleeve protection around bottom camber and double stitching where required:
I only count 7 battens in the free race? Did I miss something?
No you are correct. The race sail has 9 batterns
My TR8 6.6m - must have used it around 100 times in the last two years and still going strong.
Bought it off Terry and he had used it a fair bit too.
Only had one repair when the mast popped through the webbing at the top of the sail.
By far the most durable sail I've owned.
With so many battens the smaller gap between panels protects the monofilm I believe.
Yesterday,had a opportunity to try out a older Maui 6.6m race sail,guessing it was a TR3.
Still felt really good.
Trouble was,it was rigged with the much heavier Maui carbon 190-240 compared to my 6.6m which i use the much lighter 170-230 Maui carbon wave boom.
The difference in feel of weight is off the charts.
Comparing a light boom to a heavy boom - there is a huge difference in feel - though performance difference is probably all in the mind.
SAD to hear the mast popped through webbing on a TR-8
happened on my TR-4 10-oh
Barry had said it was a problem of that year and was corrected
also have a TR-6 8.4 with none of those issues
sails seem to last and last
and YES - use an HPL carbon boom with them
seems to make a BIG difference
odd that KONA does NOT allow carbon booms
guess they don't want to make it about the equipment
local Kona rider (sailboarder) tried my boom and loved it !!
SAD to hear the mast popped through webbing on a TR-8
happened on my TR-4 10-oh
Barry had said it was a problem of that year and was corrected
also have a TR-6 8.4 with none of those issues
sails seem to last and last
and YES - use an HPL carbon boom with them
seems to make a BIG difference
odd that KONA does NOT allow carbon booms
guess they don't want to make it about the equipment
local Kona rider (sailboarder) tried my boom and loved it !!
there was a batch of TR4s where the sail maker didnt follow the instructions precisely. as a result the mast would slip out through the top webbing. easy fix though.
SAD to hear the mast popped through webbing on a TR-8
happened on my TR-4 10-oh
Barry had said it was a problem of that year and was corrected
also have a TR-6 8.4 with none of those issues
sails seem to last and last
and YES - use an HPL carbon boom with them
seems to make a BIG difference
odd that KONA does NOT allow carbon booms
guess they don't want to make it about the equipment
local Kona rider (sailboarder) tried my boom and loved it !!
there was a batch of TR4s where the sail maker didnt follow the instructions precisely. as a result the mast would slip out through the top webbing. easy fix though.
Cheers Russ
I sailed my new 6.3m tr2017
Black tie sailing TR2017 It is:
So easy to rig
Easy to set correctly
Fantastic rotation (just the best)
Super deep foil
Drive locked in down low
Enjoyment on the water
Easy top speed (take it to the limit)
The best low end acceleration ever
Gyde like a dream
Worth every cent
I want to own one
Quality of product/durability
GPS GUNFIGHT READY
Worth your consideration
Ask Remi for a test drive then get one!!!
I read somewhere that Loft Sails tested two identical sails - one in full monofilm the other half monofilm / X-ply.
The full monofilm sail was around 3 percent faster.
The X-ply has a different feel to it than monofilm. It feels lighter and softer but not as good!
Ive had two now in X-Ply the 6.3 and 7.0m and both sails felt like they had much less forward drive than my other Maui race sails that have monofilm. Doubt I'd buy another one with the X-Ply again.
Phil McGain should do a test of identical sails with the different material.
I read somewhere that Loft Sails tested two identical sails - one in full monofilm the other half monofilm / X-ply.
The full monofilm sail was around 3 percent faster.
The X-ply has a different feel to it than monofilm. It feels lighter and softer but not as good!
Ive had two now in X-Ply the 6.3 and 7.0m and both sails felt like they had much less forward drive than my other Maui race sails that have monofilm. Doubt I'd buy another one with the X-Ply again.
Phil McGain should do a test of identical sails with the different material.
3%.........
in freeride and freerace sails, I HATE the monofilm crinkle and then the ensuing cracks after
the BEAUTY of the MauiSails (and others') race sails is the wide luff sleeve
the monofilm does NOT crinkle
people are ALWAYS amazed at how well the monofilm holds\held up on my TR-4 10 meter sail
that's a 2008 sail still going strong and looking good
have had 2007 Pursuit 8.5 and 2009 MS2 8.0 - both gone !! sold or destroyed !!!
so, as mr. peterman said - NO need to remove monofilm from race sails
not sure about dacron on luff sleeve, but that is just me ...
On the 3 percent. That's actually a huge figure!
The differences between current model race sails and boards and older models is like microscopic.
3 percent is like 30 metres every kilometre which again is huge.
At best the new sails and board that come out each year are likely less than half of a single percent better.
And I'm very sceptical of even that improvement.
The overall improvement in terms of speed in sails and boards over the last say 5 years - I believe is much less than 3 percent.
On the 3 percent. That's actually a huge figure!
The differences between current model race sails and boards and older models is like microscopic.
3 percent is like 30 metres every kilometre which again is huge.
At best the new sails and board that come out each year are likely less than half of a single percent better.
And I'm very sceptical of even that improvement.
The overall improvement in terms of speed in sails and boards over the last say 5 years - I believe is much less than 3 percent.
Maui Sails used to offer their race sail in both construction mono film and mono film/X ply. I don't think they dropped the mono film version because it was faster !!
Maui Sails used to offer their race sail in both construction mono film and mono film/X ply. I don't think they dropped the mono film version because it was faster !!
Quite possible they had to drop one of the two because of reduced demand. MS used to be quite popular in the US a few years back. Now, virtually all stores have dropped MS. Many switched to S2. There are some "interesting" stories to be heard about this that are not for here. But we have had a couple of not-so-great experiences with Maui Sails. On was an extremely slow response to get a replacement boom clip; another one was the discovery that MS masts don't match TR-7 sails, which require a softer top. Never publicly acknowledged, but well known to racers who were on the MS team that time.
Older TR-'s up to TR-9 were offered in both full monofilm, or part Technora X-ply construction.
Mind Barry always said monofilm was the best for performances, so the latest of those (I think TR-8 and TR-9) had Technora X-Ply used only where it would not impair performances, in the upper leech where tension is lower. The advantage was in lightness, whici seems was good on larger sails (racers used to choose full mono up to 7.0 - 7-7 and part Technora from there up).
From TR-X on, they switched to one only construction with a polyester X-Ply (not Technora) and monofilm mix. Again, X-Ply is used where it does not do any harm to performances, but has positive effects on softness and durability.
S2Maui made another nice move offering their Venom with a new superlight Technora X-Ply expressely developed for windsurfing sails. This new material not only is light and durable, but also offers great stability.
What's the story on the masts? Didn't they change from hard top to constant curve? Did everyone have to get new masts for the new sails?
What's the story on the masts? Didn't they change from hard top to constant curve? Did everyone have to get new masts for the new sails?
The masts indeed changed to Constant Curve from the TRX (2014) onward.
The last TR on the hard top were the TR9 (2013).
www.mauisails.com/masts
Maui Sails used to offer their race sail in both construction mono film and mono film/X ply. I don't think they dropped the mono film version because it was faster !!
Quite possible they had to drop one of the two because of reduced demand. MS used to be quite popular in the US a few years back. Now, virtually all stores have dropped MS. Many switched to S2. There are some "interesting" stories to be heard about this that are not for here. But we have had a couple of not-so-great experiences with Maui Sails. On was an extremely slow response to get a replacement boom clip; another one was the discovery that MS masts don't match TR-7 sails, which require a softer top. Never publicly acknowledged, but well known to racers who were on the MS team that time.
As far as i remember some on the team at that time preferred the 75% carbon mast (which believe is softer top than the race mast). I picked up a couple of TR7's in the light weight version for a bargain last year together with the 100% mast. For me at least they are performing as expected and an upgrade to what I had. Once I sorted out that they are millimeter sensitive to down haul that is. But I'm inexperienced with race sails. I'm interested to hear if you can share what mast's actually where preferred.
Is Gabriel Browne (Goya PWA rider) using Maui Sails or Point 7 in the PWA Slalom for 2017 ?
Gabriel is on P7 for this season, joined with the rest of team on the P7 Camp in Lanzarote early this year.