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  Svaret från Nik ang testet i BOARDS av DrX

  Posted by voodoo on 21 maj, 2002 at 14:40

  North 5.0 Dr.X Tested Boards March 02

  *Set: North, like Ezzy, design sails which deliberately do not possess ‘rotation’ in the traditional sense. In anything other than the lightest-wind setting, the battens pull back centrally from the mast. This means you can’t judge your downhaul set by the appearance of the rotation, but fortunately the useful
  North VTS system is there to guide you easily to the recommended amount. It sets in very distinctive fashion. It twists quite a lot right at the head but the leech is fairly closed low down, and there is definite shape in the batten above the boom which continues to curve right to the leech.
  There is a lot of fullness down low, and if down hauled and outhauled to an average setting or beyond the foil is extremely stiff with very little give.
  The fullness is located fairly centrally (front to back), and higher in the sail than on most of the others on test.
  It is also quite pronounced, unless you apply the maximum recommended outhaul, which flattens the sail off substantially
  but makes the foil very rigid indeed.

  *On the water: It has a very powerful and solid, almost slalomy, feel to it. It has a distinct pull that gets you going with positive drive, and the stiff foil is very stable since it moves very little in gusts. However, it’s not the best for releasing wind when overpowered, and due to the high centre of effort it does tend to pull up a little on the back hand.
  Extra outhaul cures this to a.large extent, but also reduces the responsiveness of the sail.
  Being so rigid it is one of the hardest to read in marginal conditions, as it doesn’t adjust itself to gusts or poor sailor trim as a more springy sail would do.

  *Overall: It enjoys a good wind range and one or two of our guesters were favourably impressed but all five of our testers would have preferred more response and feel from the sail.
  The general consensus was that the higher, more centrally placed fullness, improved power but didn’t particularly inspire manoeuvres or aid release.
  North are clearly trying to do something different with their non-rotating luff and very distinct design – some people out there will love it, but it won’t be for everybody, so it’s definitely worth trying before you buy.

  Svaret från Nik…

  hi guys

  firstly sorry it has taken so long to get back to this question. i have been flat out travelling, competing etc.
  it was a very interesting test report i must say.
  without being to harsh on the mags around the world i would like to say that the only mag test worth reading is the german surf mag. they put a lot of effort into sailing each sail with the correct mast and settings and in a number of different conditions regardless of who places the most adverts in there mag. i’m not saying this is the case here but it does have its effects in some mags sadly.
  also the  north sails do have a slightly different feel to them and if the tester is a pryde or gaastra type of sailor and then jumps on to the north it may take him a little longer to get settled but once settled he would probably find he would see the results.

  the one thing that has me spooed is that the north supposedly feels that the power is higher up the sail than the so called pryde etc. this i find desturbing due to our cross batten design this would help keep the power low down in your hands were you can control it.
  i do wonder if the tester had a little to much outhaul on.this would in turn keep the leach from releasing and make the sail flex in the midle and effectrivally hold the power in the head of the sail and make it feel top heavy.
  once again i was not at the tests so i can not really comment dirrectly but can only make my asumptions from what i read. testing windsurfing equipment is a very dificult thing todo and is allways going to be subjective.
  i would love to be able to be at all tests just to make sure things were rigged right and that the testers were on the right track but obviously cannot and our fate is left up to them. i’m sure they do try to do there best.

  i hope this helps a little

  if you have any more questions do’nt hesitate to ask.

  regards

  nik baker

  voodoo replied 22 years, 7 months ago 1 Member · 0 Replies
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