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AMERICAN WINDSURFER MAGAZINE
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THE LOFT O2 FREERIDE CONCEPT 5.9
Red alert! Red alert! This sail was rigged on a 430/25 Fiberspar Reflex 6000 mast, the latest, lightest, most responsive, most expensive ($599) mast Fiberspar makes. Spindler rigged the sail himself, and informed us about the mast, and we felt it was acceptable under the “prototype” circumstances, with an asterisk over the score. (There was another Reflex 6000 on the Neil
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LOFT FREERIDE 5.9
Mast: 430/25 Boom: N/A
Battens: 6+ Cams: NONE
Weight: 8/3.6kg Speed: 4.33 Power: 4.25 Stability: 4.42 Range: 4.42 Wtrstart: 4.17 Overall: 4.32 Price: $440
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Pryde 5.4 SuperNova.)
If you believe Nevin Sayre of Fiberspar, on some sails the mast makes an amazing difference—he said it gave the 5.4 SuperNova the planing power of a 7.0 (which would revolutionize windsurfing, assuming everyone had 600 bucks to spend on a mast). Curiously, he rated the 5.9 Loft lower than our guest testers’ average in all categories, including a mere 3 in Power.
So we did a blind test using two Pryde 5.0 NR sails with the RRD 266, and Tony Cicale as our sailor. The mast markings were covered with tape, and one sail was rigged on the recommended Fiberspar Tidal Wave mast, the other on the Reflex 6000. Tony said the Reflex 6000 made the sail easier to pump and thus got the board on a plane faster in marginal wind, and its increased responsiveness lessened the effort required to maneuver the rig. But he was reserved in quantifying how much easier and faster. Was it clear to him which mast he was using during the test? “I was 65 to 70 percent sure the Reflex 6000 was better when easily powered, and 80 to 85 percent sure it was better when lightly powered,” he concluded.
The 5.9 O2 was the highest overall rated sail in the test, among those with more than five ratings. How much this high-end mast improved the score of the sail can be your own conclusion.
And if in combing the stats you wonder how the sail can be so light while containing so much X-ply, the answer lies not only in Spindler’s approach of no-frills plus integration, but that much of the X-ply is 4 mil, with 5 and 6 mil used in the highly stressed areas.
SCORE: (12 ratings)
Speed 4.33 Power 4.25 Stability 4.42 Range 4.42 Waterstart 4.17 OverallL 4.32
COMMENTS:
“Well balanced, stable, great range, easy to depower, nice soft feel.”
“It feels very heavy,” said a sailor who gave it straight 3’s with a 4 in Waterstart. Given the comment, the higher mark for Waterstart is curious. And on the scales, it’s actually quite light.
Again, Nancy Johnson found the Loft very powerful. She gave it two 4’s and two 5’s, but only a 3 in Range because, “It just felt like it would not give.” Again, curious,
given the mast.
“I couldn’t believe the range and control of the Loft 5.9,” said a tester whose personal level of range and control needed some help. “In overpowered conditions I still felt very comfortable.” This is another case where the most significant comment might be coming from a lesser-skilled sailor, because of those lesser skills.
“I love this sail!” said Randy Johnson. So much that later that week he became the new U.S. distributor for it.
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LOFT FREERIDE 6.6
Mast: 460/25 Boom: N/A
Battens: 6+ Cams: NONE
Weight: 8.5/3.8kg Speed: 4.75 Power: 4.75 Stability: 4.75 Range: 4.75 Wtrstart: 4.75 Overall: 4.75 Price: $467
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“A small amount of outhaul can have a dramatic impact on the power.” This comment supports Spindler’s intent to provide broad flexibility through tuning.
O2 FREERIDE CONCEPT 6.6
SCORE: (4 ratings)
Speed 4.75 Power 4.75 Stability 4.75 Range 4.75 Waterstart 4.75 Overall 4.75
COMMENTS:
We hate when this happens. With only four ratings, the sky-high score can’t be considered as reliable or valid as others. Two of the four testers gave this sail straight 5’s, and one commented “very balanced,” but that’s all the input we got. It sure looks as if this is some sail, though.
Meanwhile, on the staff side, Andy Gurtner was not so impressed, giving it straight 3’s with a 4 in Speed. Go figure. No comments from him, either (he was in Europe and out of touch when this was written).
Changes in the testing procedure are planned for next year, which should prevent such small black holes of information.
“Hard to rig. Same batten tensioners as Windwing: sharp protuding corners, with no protection against scuffing on ground. Inaccessible head adjuster, otherwise attention to detail and build is very good. Single grommet, but sail comes with pulley block.”
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