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NEIL PRYDE
One marketing approach to sailmaking is that fewer options is good, because it means fewer chances to buy (and thus sail) the wrong type of design. Jack of all trades is better than Master in the wrong one. The Neil Pryde philosophy couldn’t be farther from that. It grabs the technical nature of the sport by the throat, and the pocketbook: There’s a sail not only for every sailing application, but the designs get specific to sailors’ styles as well. The cynical might argue (and we’ve heard it from more than one former Pryde employee) that the Pryde philosophy is really that the more you have to sell, the more you can and do sell. Even Nils Rosenblad, Pryde’s star designer, suggests this when he says, “We spent years convincing people they needed cambers. We did an excellent sales job.”
Of course, Rosenblad wears his sardonic wit like a wetsuit. Of his own role, he says, “Designers are basically useless people who design stuff once in a while.”
But Pryde’s aggressive approach to sales doesn’t change or diminish the fact that, technically, Pryde offers some extremely good sails, as well as specialized ones.
The best example of both is the Signature Series. Three lines of wave sails, for three wavesailing styles, signed by three diversely charismatic Pryde stars. The Core, if your style is loose like Josh Stone. The Zone, if it’s loopy and you love bottom turns, like Jason Polakow. The Wave NR, if it’s forceful like Bjorn Dunkerbeck.
Rosenblad, who designed all three, reduces it to: Core=Maneuverable, Zone=Stable, and NR=Powerful. Or, he takes it one step simpler: Core for lightweight sailors, Zone for medium weight, NR for heavy.
The problem is you need to know this before you buy, and it’s easier to miss the story than it should be (come to think of it, that’s the generic Big Problem with buying boards and sails, which is where this test comes in). It’s on the Pryde website, but, realistically, your dealer is the guy who has to inform you what’s up. His own problem is that he needs to have all three lines in stock, to make the correct choice convenient. If you want a Pryde wave sail, and he has a quiver of Cores on his rack, he might be tempted to offer it to you, even if you seem to be an NR kind of guy. However, the dealers at our test pointed out that their problem is not so much lack of communication with their customers, but usually a lack of technical understanding by those customers, and that customers don’t always want to accept their guidance.
Pryde sells the most sails in the industry, which means they’re reaching the broadest range of ability, which means they’re also tapping the lowest level of sailing knowledge. This has got to be a dilemma. In the end, the correct sale still has to get down to knowing yourself.
The Signature Series was introduced in 1998, and it’s been a success in terms of sales, indicating the marketing idea was a winner. In Europe, especially, sailors identify with World Cup stars. We’re not marketeers, but it still seems that Neil Pryde might be risking an eventual backfire, not unlike the bust that followed the undisciplined high-performance boom of the ‘80s. Technically, the Pryde approach is exactly right; they’re trying to match sailors’ abilities to equipment. But it may be too right.
Confusion and dissatisfaction is preventable if Pryde communicates thoroughly with dealers, and dealers with salespeople, and salespeople with customers, and customers with salespeople, and those salespeople themselves are knowledgable. Gulp. Only then, such ambitious and possibly great sails won’t just be sold, but sold to the right sailors.
CORE, ZONE & NR SIGNATURE WAVE SERIES
It began with freestyle/freeride champion Josh Stone wanting a sail he could call his own. He’d been sailing in late light on Fiji, and had trouble seeing through the window, because of the scratches and sponsors’ stickers. Rosenblad gave him a big eye-shaped window, and it looked so cool that Polakow and Dunkerbeck said they wanted sails with their stamps on them, too. Ding. Can you spell Marketing Opportunity?
So the Core solved that first technical problem; all those sailors who sail with scratched windows and sponsors’ stickers in late light on Fiji are now covered. Rosenblad then turned his attentions to Polakow. “The prototype had these huge banana-shaped boomerang things all over it. I thought it looked totally insane, like nothing else on the water. Jason immediately loved it.”
Two down. You got a cool eye-shaped window for Josh, huge banana-shaped boomerang things for Jason, and now Bjorn, who had just won the overall world championship for a 10th time. Mr. No-nonsense. Better give the man just what he wants, no more. Power and flexibility. He don’t need no stinkin’ panels with funny shapes. Such silliness is “for those who like to be noticed,” as Pryde says, further telegraphing its design.
Visual elements aside, clearly these pros can’t afford to sail on something that doesn’t perform well, assuming that their sails are production sails. Certainly Josh Stone is pleased and impressed with Pryde’s responsiveness.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen a company really allow the riders to get this involved,” he says, either pointing out or forgetting that Pryde ain’t dumb. There’s something in it for them, too, and they’re getting their money’s worth out of Stone’s name and his very genuine and marketable personality—which he spread like half-Hawaiian (his ethnic chemistry) sunshine around our test site, along with his lovely wife Amy and beautiful blue-eyed baby boy, Harley.
The four-batten Core is soft and maneuverable, good for flying, and that big window has a function: to see more of the wave face. For 2000, the luff curve has been reduced with a new Dacron panel, moving the draft forward to make depowering easier. The leech is scalloped, or in Pryde-speak it features Batwing Leech Technology (BLT), a cool-looking cut that allegedly reduces flutter and thus drag.
Conveniently, Polakow likes his power low and forward, like Stone, although he likes a bit more of it, so the Zone gets a fifth batten. He likes twist to get him out of the radical situations he likes to get into, often upside-down. He needs range because you can’t exactly switch sails in a wave event. Same refined luff curve as the Core, same batwing leech.
Be careful with the NR. Just because Dunkerbeck is your idol doesn’t mean you can handle his sail. You’ll be happier on a sail that represents who you are, not who you wannabe. Evidently a lot of our testers at least wanted a taste of what it’s like to be Bjorn, because the five-batten 5.0 NR was the most popular sail in the test. They found it hair-trigger sensitive to downhaul and outhaul: tune it right and it will fire you forward like a cannonball blasted from a pirate ship; tweak it wrong and it will toggle-switch you off the gangplank.
CORE 4.4
SCORE: (8 ratings)
Speed 4.0 Power 4.13 Stability 3.89 Range 3.75 Waterstart 4.13 Overall 3.98
COMMENTS:
“I pulled out my Easy Rig and downhauled the 4.4 Core into a 4.0,” said Jackie Butzen, using resourcefulness to keep from being blown off the water. “It worked. The sail was easy to handle, and still had power when flattened to the max, although the speed was not the best tuned like that. The leech rattled a bit, and it was unstable in the strongest gusts, but overall it was relatively easy to sail considering I would normally be on a sail a full meter smaller.”
“Amazing!” said Randy Johnson, who sells them, and who gave it straight 5’s. “The powerful bump-and-jump sails were all too heavy on the back hand for me, just not strong enough to power through wave turns, whereas the Core was easy.”
STAFF: Andy Gurtner gave it 3’s in Speed, Power and Range, 4 in Stability and 5 in Waterstart.
ZONE 4.7
SCORE: (7 ratings)
Speed 4.29 Power 4.0 Stability 4.29 Range 4.0 Waterstart 4.33 Overall 4.20
COMMENTS: None
ZONE 5.0
SCORE: (12 ratings)
Speed 3.67 Power 3.83 Stability 4.0 Range 4.0 Waterstart 3.92 Overall 3.97
COMMENTS:
“Light, well balanced, spills wind well.”
“Comfortable even overpowered in waves,” said Marco DeMoraes. “It luffs well and survives big whitewater!”
“It didn’t feel any faster than the 4.2 and 4.7 Windwings I sailed today,” said Jackie Butzen.
STAFF: Andy Gurtner gave it a 3 in Speed, 4’s in Power, Stability and Range, and 5 in Waterstart.
NR 5.0
SCORE: (20 ratings)
Speed 4.05 Power 4.05 Stability 4.2 Range 3.85 Waterstart 4.2 Overall 4.12
COMMENTS:
“Sailed it once, the power was thrilling. Sailed it twice, couldn’t control it. The difference was all in the outhaul.”
“Handled well even overpowered,” said our freestyle dabbler, definitely not an NR kind of guy, let alone an overpowered NR guy.
“Good all-around sail, stable and powerful.”
“Very well balanced but a little heavy,” said Coach, who sailed it underpowered and gave it straight 3’s with a 2 in Waterstart. They’re sold across the street from his own shop.
Except he wasn’t totally sure if it was the NR or the Zone or the Soul he was testing. Maybe the score should have been thrown out. But there’s also the matter of keeping the picture well-balanced, like the sail. Read the next comment.
Randy Johnson gave it straight 5’s, but commented, “Heavy on the back hand.” Let’s get this straight. He gave the Core straight 5’s (“Amazing!”), largely because it wasn’t heavy on the back hand. The NR was heavy on the back hand, but still gets straight 5’s. A paradox? Well, he does sell them. The paradox fades a bit.
Let’s look on the positive side, and give Randy points for noting he found the NR heavy on the back hand. And Coach for finding it well-balanced.
STAFF: Speed 4.33, Power 5.0, Stability 4.67, Range 4.0, Waterstart 5.0, Overall 4.6, from three staff testers.
SOUL 5.0, 5.4
The Soul is a five-batten, no-cam freeride sail with heavy doses of freestyle in the 2000 shape. Both Stone and Dunkerbeck provided input in order to give the 2000 Soul better handling and a lighter feel. “Race sail seamshaping” was used, to provide more shape. Plus BLT.
SOUL 5.0
SCORE (2 ratings)
We think this sail was tested so infrequently only because of the stampede toward the Signature 5.0’s, the NR and Zone. Its low score compared to the 5.4 Soul (with 15 ratings) doesn’t jibe; but with only two testers’ opinions, the verdict could be anything. But here it is:
Speed 3.0 Power 4.5 Stability 3.5 Range 3.0 Waterstart 4.5 Overall 3.7
COMMENTS:
“Very powerful with a softish feel,” said Justin Miller.
SOUL 5.4
SCORE (15 ratings)
Speed 3.87 Power 4.26 Stability 4.0 Range 3.87 Waterstart 4.40 Overall 4.08
COMMENTS:
“Very friendly,” said Jim DeSilva, a dealer who seemed especially focussed on what will work for sailors out there. “Easy with good power. People say freestyle is not them, but in the case of sails like this, it is them.”
STAFF: Mark Archer gave it a 3 in Speed, 4’s in Power, Stability and Range, and a 5 in Waterstart.
SUPERNOVA 5.4
The Supernova is intended to be primarily easy to use. Mild all-around performance for non-aggressive intermediates, at a mild price. It worked for Pryde in ‘99, and hasn’t been changed much in 2000.
Another sail that claims to be the lightest freeride sail on the market, our four-batten 5.4 Supernova (5 percent X-ply) weighed 7.0 pounds, a full pound less than the same-sized five-batten Soul (10 percent). But half a pound more than the 5.25 Aerotech Carve, and one pound more than the Hot Sails Maui 5.0 Spider Slide. Keep in mind that the American Windsurfer scale rounded off to the nearest half pound, so these are hardly numbers you can take to the bank.
Pryde sent a $599 Fiberspar Reflex 6000 mast for the Supernova to be rigged on, evidently to see if the sail’s performance could be brought up to the level of some of the higher-profile sails. Very light sail, lightest and most responsive mast, most popular size… should have the testers lining up, right?
Wrong. The sail didn’t generate any excitement, except from Nevin Sayre of Fiberspar. Apparently when our testers come to Maui, they come armed for aggression. Maui time is too short for mellow.
SCORE: (4 ratings)
Speed 4.0 Power 4.13 Stability 3.75 Range 3.5 Waterstart 4.33 Overall 3.9
COMMENTS:
“Very responsive and light,” said Marco De Moraes, who gave it 5’s in Speed, Power and Waterstart. He noticed the mast, but not the name of the sail, calling it the Soul. But we’re assuming it was the Supernova; if it’s not, the score drops by a bunch.
STAFF: Nevin Sayre found the Supernova “amazing” on this mast, which is made by his company. He commented that he was planing when guys on 7.0-meter sails were slogging. And he’s a big guy.
DIABLO 6.2
Much as we loathe to add to the confusion by supporting new categories ourselves, “freerace” is a very appropriate name for sails like this. Camless race sails. Recreational race sails. Sails for sailors whose racing is unsanctioned, unorganized, spontaneous, free of commitment and hassle. Streetlight racers: you see a guy on the water and you race him. Sails that were designed to combine the early planing, acceleration and speed of a race sail with the light weight, easy handling and rotation of an RAF sail.
The Hot Sails Maui Stealth also comes to mind, maybe because it’s the only other sail in our test that specifically markets itself as a “camless race sail.” But the race-winning Sailworks Retros and the Windwing Synthesis convertibles fit the category, never mind that a vague word like “freerace” would probably make Bill Hansen do a loop. And wouldn’t it be fun to see these four great 6-meter sails lined up at a stoplight?
The 6.2 Diablo is the smallest in the line, which grows to 9.2. As with Hot’s Stealth vs. Daytona, it uses the same outline, shape and seven-batten layout as the race sail. It features Pryde’s successful Shear Tip, a rotating rod at the tip of the mast that angles upward and elevates the head of the sail over the mast, in pursuit of better control from twist and more speed from a fatter head, while protecting balance with a slightly shorter mast. Our test sail was rigged on a superlight Pryde RacePro mast (made by Fiberspar), the ultimate recommended mast. Which is fair, because a sail like this deserves just that.
SCORE: (6 ratings)
Speed 4.67 Power 3.67 Stability 4.5 Range 4.17 Waterstart 4.17 Overall 4.23
COMMENTS:
The only two comments came from Neil Pryde dealers. Said Gary Stone of Neil Pryde Maui, “FAST! FAST! FAST!” Yeah, yeah, yeah.
“When the wind was gusty it was easy to feel the sail winding and unwinding from the mast,” he added. Sounds like Shear Tip working as it’s designed to do. He also observed that, “Fast jibes tended to backwind the sail if the flip wasn’t just right, an indication of higher speed than apparent wind, and no sense of weight.” Added Jim De Silva, “Lots of range, decent power, good draft stability, easy rotation and waterstarting. Enormous top end, with a slalomy feel. Big guys should be fired up. It goes fast!”
STAFF: Speed 4.5, Power 4.0, Stability 4.0, Range 4.0, Waterstart 3.5
“SPEED DEMON,” said Mark Archer, who was very overpowered. “This sail is incredibly fast and controllable, yet you do feel the big gusts in your back hand.”
SUPERSONIC 6.7
The camless freeride five-batten Supersonic is one of Pryde’s best and most successful sails because of its solid and balanced combination of speed, control and range. The 2000 Supersonic, although not greatly changed, might be considered second generation. It was designed by Pat Goodman, who took a handoff from Rosenblad and ran with it.
New computer design software led to the seams being shaped differently. “Very differently,” says Goodman, “especially in the horizontal seams, although I can’t go into detail because I don’t want to give away our tricks. But if you roll out this year’s sail alongside last year’s, you can see the material orientation is totally different. There’s less shape through the middle and there’s a tighter leech, and it’s given the sail a really different feel.”
Such computer software, also used by other sailmakers—Sailworks, to name but one—allows designers to create a sail on screen and examine the calculated loads and position the draft. They can play with luff curves, materials, seam shapes, the works. The prototype marks the beginning of reality, of course; but the computer’s knowledge gives the sailmaker a head start on the way to the water. It sure beats intuition.
SCORE: (7 ratings)
Speed 4.0 Power 4.14 Stability 4.0 Range 4.0 Waterstart 4.43 Overall 4.11
COMMENTS:
“Astonishing range on the high end. Redefines ‘overpowered’ for a freeride sail. Oddly insensitive to downhaul; I had it cranked way, way down because other sailors around me were getting blown off the water with 6.0’s, but then someone who owns Prydes told me it was too much, so I released it maybe as much as two inches, and in the same wind felt no difference. Still stable as a rock. Not terribly fast, but steady.”
“I liked it a lot, although it was less powerful than my 6.5 Retro. And it wasn’t even in the same league as the Retro when it came to pumping to get on a plane.
STREET RACER V8 7.5
Rosenblad calls this three-cam recreational sail a “thug.” It started out as a thug about eight years ago, got steadily refined into a “really elegant slalom sail,” and now in 2000, because there are a lot of other such sails on the market, it goes back to its roots. That’s thug as in hot rod. Do you see a primed ‘50 Ford Coupe with a 427 under the hood?
“These days, if you put cams into a sail, you want them there for a very good reason,” he says. “In the case of the StreetRacer, we’re talking about insane amounts of power!”
So the V8 has been reborn. A key change to the 7.5, in order to deliver that power, is going back to just one of the six battens below the boom, for maximum fullness. Rosenblad says this provides the tractor-like torque of the original V8, but now the latest seamshaping affords control and balance like never before, by directing the twist. The batten relocation also means that there are three tubular battens in the middle of the sail, improving stability.
We only wish we had requested a 6.0- or 6.5-meter V8, so it could have been sailed more often; based on the scores for the 7.5, a 6.0 might even have been a contender for best overall sail. Next year we’ll be smarter.
SCORE: (3 ratings)
Speed 5.0 Power 4.67 Stability 5.0 Range 5.0 Waterstart 3.67 Overall 4.67
COMMENTS:
Again, from a Pryde dealer, Jim DeSilva. “Felt like a full race sail. Light, amazing draft stability, fantastic upwind, mind-
boggling top end.”
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