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SIMMER
Klaus Simmer and his brother Malta got into sailmaking on Maui nearly 20 years ago, and when he says he did it because things were exploding, he doesn’t mean the market. Durability was the design then, and it remains so. Except then, the brothers were pioneers; now, there are other good sailmakers with the same philosophy and technology.
They grew up in Hong Kong, Holland, Brazil and California—mostly California, where they were neighbors of Hoyle Schweitzer in Pacific Palisades. They went to Maui encouraged by Barry Spanier, who was doing the memorable HiFly fathead sails at the time. He hired them, mostly for their sailing abilities. “We were just 18. 19, 20 years old, and everything was windsurfing, windsurfing, windsurfing. So working for Barry for $3.50 an hour was a great opportunity.
“But Malta is the kind of guy who when he thinks he can do something, just goes out and does it. Very opinionated. Barry wasn’t hearing what he wanted to hear from Malta. Word got out that Malta had his own seamstress. We started building sails in a garage in Haiku. The first was a bulletproof down-the-line wave sail.”
The Simmers came late to the test, which partly explains the low number of ratings. But even after they got here, they weren’t very popular, despite their very attractive appearance. Momentum means a lot, and good word of mouth is everything. They had neither.
REEF WAVE 4.2
If the seminal Simmer was a bulletproof down-the-line wave sail, things haven’t changed so much. So is the 2000 Reef. With 90 percent tight-weave X-ply, five battens and every seam glued, taped and triple-stitched, our 4.2 weighed 8.0 beefy pounds. Not surprisingly, Simmer says its feel is conservative, further softened by the PVC window that gives a lot, and has memory.
SCORE: (5 ratings)
Speed 3.8 Power 4.0 Stability 3.8 Range 3.8 Waterstart 4.0 Overall 3.88
COMMENTS:
“A nice feeling sail. Soft, well balanced,” said Tony Cicale. (“Isn’t that what I said?” we hear Klaus Simmer saying.)
“Extremely powerful and somewhat unstable when the wind was at its peak,” said Jackie Butzen.
STAFF: Stein Erik Gabrielson gave it straight 5’s, rigged on the Starboard Starfish on the day he says he blew them all away in the waves. Andy and Hedy Gurtner’s ratings were thrown out because they have a close relationship with Simmer (an exclusion which actually increases the overall score, if there were one, but… oh, you get the point).
The 4.2 Reef was also one of 12 sails that Steve “Newfie” Hutchinson gave straight 5’s (including three of the four Simmers), all of which regrettably had to be thrown out, for their unfailing generosity. Most of his comments went like this: “Great in all respects!” But here’s what he had to say about this sail: “The 4.2 Reef was a great sail that could be turned off easily while on the wave, and powered up again when needed.
Well-balanced feel, great sail for duck jibes.”
WAVE COMP 4.7
The WaveComp is the same sail as the Reef with stiffer and lighter materials, affording better reflex and response to pumping, as well as 80 percent of the weight. It uses extensive monofilm, and about one-third as much X-ply. Simmer says it’s more
manageable and stable at the high end. Anders Bringdahl, who’s paid to swear by it, swears by it. He’s also possibly the most technically-minded World Cup sailor. He isn’t easy.
SCORE: (7 ratings)
Speed 3.86 Power 3.86 Stability 4.0 Range 3.57 Waterstart 4.14 Overall 3.89
COMMENTS:
“Powered just right, I had quite a bit of fun riding it.”
“Felt tuggy with a lot of backhand pressure,” said a dealer who gave it 3’s and a 2, and whose crosstown rival sells them.
“I really liked it, it felt so stable, probably because the wind was perfect for it.”
“The downhaul line is about to break!” We checked. Was not.
ON SHORE WAVE 5.3
Here’s the sail for the Starboard Starfish. It’s designed for 90 percent of the world’s waves—”onshore junk,” says Simmer, who was smart enough to stop short of naming the sail with such full description. It’s shape is full, to enhance upwind capability, an onshore need; and it has a lot of head, for more twist. The boom has grown and the luff has shortened in 2000,
consistent with the direction of most sailmakers.
SCORE: (3 ratings)
Speed 3.33 Power 3.33 Stability 3.33 Handling 3.67 Waterstart 3.67 Overall 3.47
COMMENTS:
“A good all-around sail, but the leech seemed a little loose even with only moderate downhaul tension.”
FREEZONE 5.7
“A full-on freestyle sail,” says Simmer. Meaning: a
rearward draft for low end, and a foot cut like a wave sail for freestyle maneuvers, although that compromises low end. The leech is scalloped, to eliminate those mini-batten stabilizers. Some say that scallops are for fashion, that they only look cool, giving a sail that Batman presence; but Simmer says no, they have a function.
SCORE: (5 ratings)
Speed 3.4 Power 3.6 Stability 2.8 Range 3.8 Waterstart 4.6 Overall 3.64
COMMENTS:
“It felt heavy and unstable, although correctly powered. I adjusted the outhaul and it still felt awkward.” So said a good sailor who was not careless with his criticism. He was one of the three testers who gave it a 2 in Stability.
STAFF: Nevin Sayre gave it a 2 in Stability, commenting that the sail was a disappointment. He found no use for the scallops, and said that the upper half of the sail was “unstable and overly floppy.”
Andy Gurtner gave it a 5 in Stability, but Andy is “biased.” So we turn to… Newfie. We’re tempted to say that if Newfie offers a
discouraging word at all, it must be absolutely dreadful. But we won’t.
Says Newfie, “This sail did not overpower well, and felt unbalanced and heavy.” Allright, Newfie! So give us your numbers: 5, 5, 4, 4, 4-plus, and an extra 4-plus in a write-in category: Handling.
Go figure.
SIMMER REEF WAVE 4.2
Mast: 400/19 Boom: 148
Battens: 5 Cams: NONE
Weight: 8/3.6kg Speed: 3.80 Power: 4.00 Stability: 3.80 Range: 3.80 Wtrstart: 4.00 Overall: 3.88 Price: $479
SIMMER WAVE COMP 4.7
Mast: 400/19 Boom: 158
Battens: 5 Cams: NONE
Weight: 8.5/3.9kg Speed: 3.86 Power: 3.86 Stability: 4.00 Range: 3.57 Wtrstart: 4.14 Overall: 3.89 Price: $489
SIMMER ONSHORE WAVE 5.3
Mast: 430/21 Boom: 171
Battens: 5 Cams: NONE
Weight: 8/3.6kg Speed: 3.33 Power: 3.33 Stability: 3.33 Range: 3.67 Wtrstart: 3.67 Overall: 3.47 Price: $499
SIMMER FREEZONE 5.7
Mast: 430/21 Boom: 180
Battens: 5 Cams: NONE
Weight: 8.5/3.7kg Speed: 3.40 Power: 3.60 Stability: 2.80 Range: 3.80 Wtrstart: 4.60 Overall: 3.64 Price: $469 |
