| Home | Current Equipment | Light Wind Equipment | Fanatic Rip 253 |
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I sail a Fanatic NewWave 69 (2006), a Naish Enduro 264 (2002) and a Naish Hybrid. My Fanatic Rip 253 (2001) was lost at Troon in September 2006.
I have several Gun WaveMC sails. In 2005 and 2006, I acquired some used Gaastra sails from Club Vass. I now have spare sails.
Current sails are :
In stronger winds, you may normally expect to see me using the Gun WaveMc 3.7m² or 4.2m², Gaastra Manic 4.7m², or Gaastra Poison 5.4m² on the Fanatic NewWave.
In light winds, you will see me with the Gaastra Matrix 6.0m² with Naish Enduro or Naish Hybrid.
Gullane gets several days each year of extreme conditions, so even the small sails are used regularly.
Light weight masts make sailing more fun. I generally use C75 or C100 standard diameter masts.
Until September 2006, my short board was a Fanatic Rip, 253 cm long, 76 L, 53.5 cm wide. This was a great board for the conditions at Gullane. It is fast through the chop, turns well, and has plenty of buoyancy. I sailed it with sails up to 5.4m².
This board was last seen swimming half a mile offshore at Troon on 18 September 2006. If you find it, it is a great board, and I'll miss it. My Gaastra 5.4² (2005) sail was lost at the same time.
The replacement is a Fanatic NewWave 2006. 239 cm long, 69 L, 53 cm wide. Like the RIP, it is light weight, and very fast over the chop. The shorter length helps it gybe even easier. The lower volume means that the tail tends to sink when the wind drops.
The board sails very well with my Gaastra 4.7m² and 5.4m² sails. It is a fast board, but lacks the control which is needed in stronger winds.
The Naish Enduro is 8'8", 264 cm long, 95 L, and 57.2 cm wide. It was bought new in May 2003. It is a 2002 model board, but the specs for 2003 seem unchanged. This is a modern board, quite light, with the mast track very well back. It is very flat underneath, and is very fast indeed. It ships with a 28cm skeg, and is supposed to take sails up to 6.5m².
It sailed well with my Gun FreeRace 7.0m² sail using a 34cm skeg in fairly light winds. A 32 cm skeg seems insufficient for the 7.0m², but a 36cm skeg threatens to turn the board over.
With a smaller sail, it is quite bouncy on chop at Longniddry, going over the chop rather than through it. It certainly gives the feeling of speed.
Within six months of new, I have had to repair two small holes in the top surface of the board. One seems to have been caused by the impact of the boom, and the other perhaps when changing sails. This board is clearly quite fragile. It is built very much in the manner of an egg shell. Repair seems to be easy using white epoxy.
I do a lot of sailing with the Enduro and Matrix 6.0m². I get good sailing in fairly light winds.
The Naish Hybrid Slalom is very much an updated version of the Enduro. It is fast, flies upwind, copes well with small chop, and will handle a 7.0m² sail.
The short length helps it gybe exceptionally well, especially on waves. It is more fun than the Enduro and works well at Gullane with sail sizes from 4.7m² to 6.0m².
It was bought new in May 2007. It has a length of 214 cm, volume 89 L, width 56 cm.
The Gaastra Matrix 6.0m² is light and powerful. It has quickly become my favourite sail for light wind sailing.
The Gun Mission 6.9m² (2003) replaced my Gun FreeRace 7.0m². It was too large for the Enduro, and not as much fun as the FreeRace. I have now sold this sail.
The WaveMc sails are powerful sails with a solid feel. I have been using them for some years, and have been very happy with them.
In recent years, there have been problems with build quality, but this does not effect performance on the water.
The Gaastra Manic sails are a lot flatter than the WaveMc sails, and very different to sail and to waterstart! As flat sails, they may be better in overpowered conditions.
The Gaastra Poison is a very full bodied, powerful sail, with even more built-in shape than the WaveMc sails. It serves very well as a large sail for my Rip. It also serves as a small sail for the Enduro.
The Poison 5.4 (2005) and Fanatic Rip board in the photo were lost at Troon in September 2006. I have replaced the sail with a Gaastra Poison 5.4 (2006).