TEST EDITOR: JAMES HARDY // SECOND TESTERS: TRIS BEST, SCOTTY STALLMAN, CALLUM BLACKWELL // PHOTOS: OTC // LOCATION: PORTLAND HARBOUR, HAYLING ISLAND
The 7.5m no-cam freerace or sails around that size are for me your summer weapon. As we move from spring into summer, for the vast majority of us conditions don’t tend to favour our wave boards and smaller sails. Conditions tend to be lighter and sea states flatter, now if we remove every form of foiling from the mix these are perfect conditions for pinning down bigger rigs on boards carrying some volume to support us and the rig happily.
Not having cams offers a handful of benefits to the majority of us. Key ones that spring to mind instantly is its reduced weight in the rig, there isn’t this giant luff tube that fill with water at every opportunity making uphauling and Waterstarting more physical and of course no cams remove’s added steps in the rigging process, saving time on the beach and more time on the water. Now before you all assume I hate camed sail I don’t they offer a different layer to windsurfing and blasting that we will cover in a later issue in another category.
So what do we want from a no-cam freerace sail? Well ease of rigging for the reasons above, stability that’s going to hold its load well and not unsettle the rider, some decent power delivery that is going to make the most of those light summer airs or the building sea breeze that we hoping to encounter. Lasting we are wanting something that’s going to gybe wonderfully and effortlessly, rotating with ease. We are after all in “big sail” territory here.
The test was conducted in the butter flat conditions of Portland Harbour in both marginal and well powered breeze, all the sails were also treated to bumpy outing off the front at Hayling Island in well powered to over powered conditions. The sails have been really put through their paces. All were used on 120 litre freeride/freerace board from last month’s test. Personally, I haven’t sailed bigger rigs consistently for a little while since moving to the coast and I rarely use anything above 6.5m, but having spent time on each of these sails I have been impressed, each sailing holding its own personality and offers something different for the rider. Some more stable, some more grunty and some incredibly easy to use. It was certainly a fun category to test and really put the sails through their paces.
Kicking off with punchy power straight out of the bag we have the Mark B from Goya and the Duotone E-Pace, at first glance they have little in common in terms of their outline but they both share some punchy power delivery and their range elevated by some added tuning from the rider. Ultimate stability is delivered from the Loft Sails Oxygen, a flatter draft that others on test it required a little more input to get working but once up and going it naturally tunes to conditions, remains fast and always stable. Covering all the basis and delivering in every area well we have the Naish No-Cam Freerace and the Gun Sails Zoom, good bottom end, good top end, they allow the rider to commit and enjoy the ride and always remaining stable. Requiring a little more form the rider the AC-0 from Point 7 gets better the faster you go, requiring a little more input to really get the AC-0 working it delivers performance in a no cam package. Severne’s NCX has been re worked and gives ultimate stability and easy access speed requiring very little from the rider to reach those speeds that we all long for. That leaves us with the North Free Speed with automated speed, smooth and athletic gybing and it’s ultra-light rig offers complete freedom.
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