Hey,

Back after 2 years of MBA hell and no sailing. I just had 30+ awesome ski days this season and now I'm shooting for lots of windsurfing days. The new teaching job means I have lots of time to sail from May to September.

Windoc, Kus....any others with more windsurfing knowledge than me.

I now own some Sailworks Huckers for my smaller sails.....I have yet to sail them and am just interested in your thoughts on these sails? Or did anyone read the article on Power Sails in Windurfing mag (April '07)?

I can't do any tricks and I don't ever sail waves so I am planning to sail these sails straight and fast on a JP SuperX 86L or JP Super X116L at the Nat.

Comments?

I know I don't have more knowledge than you Casey, but thats never stopped me before, so

I've read that article, and several others on the Hucker. They sound a lot like my old 1988 'speed sails', though I'm sure that they'll be a little easier to sail and a lot lighter. The Hucker gets its power from throwing out the last 10 years or more of 'twist off' design. So that top leach is effectively driving the whole time instead of flopping around. I expect they might be a handful in gusty conditions but even there you have the choise of using the extra power to accelerate, or to turn broader to get less apparent wind, or maybe even to sheet out if you can avoid tailwalking. I expect they would shine at Nitinat with its steady thermal and flat water, and you'll be doing a lot of looking over your back shoulder to see whoever you happen to be drag racing!

Oh yeah, and we expect to see at least 15 foot high jumps off Nitinat chop from those sails! Did you see the promo videos from the Gorge with Dale Whatshismname sailing the Sailworks Huckers? I look forward to seeing them at Nitinat!

I have no windsurfing "knowledge", just TOW Those huckers, if the reports are any indication, will be fantastic for the Nat, maybe no so much for gusty wave conditions tho. Lots of over the handlebar moments with those I bet, fun fun

Hi Kus,

By no means am I any expert in any windsurfing area but here is what I have found out so far (without having sailed them remember).

I've read articles where Bruce Peterson keeps talking about the range of the Huckers.....which after talking to Bruce myself I think means the larger Huckers can be sailed overpowered ....eg. it is blowing perfect 5.8 Ezzy and I am sailing a Hucker 5.6 with lots of downhaul so the Hucker leech has some looseness.....then when the wind dies and everyone is back on 6.5 to 7.0s the 5.6 Hucker's downhaul can be loosened and then the 5.6 Hucker''s leech would be tighter and thus would have the same power as a "loose leech" 6.5. It kind of makes sense.....on paper.

In the April 2007 article they also talk how "loose leeches" have gone too far and that today we are all sailing sails that are too big....ie don't sail a 6.5 with a loose leech, you should sail a 5.6 with a tighter leech = same power but in a smaller rig. A smaller rig is easier to control but you do give up some "feel".

I want to see what happens when I rip up to the island at Nitinat on the 5.6 Hucker.....and then it cranks. I may have to stay up there!

I rigged a 5.6 Hucker in the front yard with a ton of downhaul and it is possible to get a loose leech. Not as loose as a Retro or Ezzy but that should help with control. Sailworks recommends their 430 Backbone RDM which is very stiff up top if you want more control in the 5.6 Hucker.

See KC7777 gallery for a pic of it rigged.

Go Canucks!

Regards,

they also talk how "loose leeches" have gone too far and that today we are all sailing sails that are too big....ie don't sail a 6.5 with a loose leech, you should sail a 5.6 with a tighter leech = same power but in a smaller rig

Yippie, someone thinks like me for a change My view exactly, I rig my sails probably fuller than anyone I know just so I can manage to sail a smaller rig, I'd rather slogg on occasion with a 5.8 than rig a 7.0. Then I crank 'em down and gain all that wonderful range of the sailworks sails when the wind starts to rip. It works for me The Gaastra Manics rig similarly and excel in waves but not as huge a range as the Sailworks.

Go Canucks

Kus, More Force....

I put a pic of a 5.6 Hucker in my gallery pics (miscellaneous) .... shows that you can get the Hucker leech loose with lots of downhaul.

These sails are also full down low. Bruce Petersons says the Hucker has more shape than the Retro....so you get lots of power down low with the deep shape which balances/offsets the power up high from the tighter leech up top?. He says you should use an adjustable downhaul on the Huckers to be able to control the shape to control the power.

KC

If I borrowed it I'd probably go over the front and through the new sail!

I often thought the Retro could do with a bit more shape down low to give it bottom end grunt. I find even with the battens past the front of the mast - less downhaul than there should be, and the top at minimal flop, it doesn't pull as hard as I figure it should (maybe its all the red tuck tape screwing up the shape......). And somewhere else (Sailworks site?) I read that it is actually easier to get planing with proper downhaul on and a good shape set than to ease right up like I have it in light wind. That really doesn't make sense to me.

Interesting that they say it needs an AO for even the little guys. Thats different! It also sounds like they would be great paired with those clicky North? on-the-water-adjustable downhauls that Wyatt Miller had last summer.

Hmmmm, extra power at the bottom to balance the extra power up top. Sound like the makings of an extra-fun fling around the front!

I'm going to take my old speed sails up to the Nat this summer and try them out again for fun. I still have the old mast but modern booms don't fit. I'll try it on a newer mast. I think there's actually lots of life left in the 5.0. It should feel like a 5.5 or 6.0 by rights!

edit - checked out your pic of the hucker with max downhaul - the leach looks plenty floppy! And you have a whole quiver of these .... where's the emoticon for envy?

They say that longboards are really well suited to tight leach sails. Maybe I can trade runs with the Hucker for runs on the Kona with the Hucker on it!

Hi mf4,

Though it kind of sucks to have new gear that I have never sailed. The closest I have been to sailing since last September is rigging in the backyard.

Check out the new Retros pics I just posted....a lot looser in the leech.

I would love to try the Kona. Which one do you have? I have been researching those. My parents live at Hornby Island and a Kona would be great to explore around the island in light winds.

KC

I've been contemplating the huckers for the same reason...though i see the same thing when i rig my voodoos with the same tight leach ie...less downhaul lots of shape..and i have on the fly outhauls on all my booms complete with pullies...touche..the north system ..then and now with bjorn influencing things have always been a very tuneable system...ever tried one of the 100% viper masts ? i have one....turbo is minimalizing a titanium covered mast...my reaction...well..it more than lives up to it's name,...

KC7777 wrote:Windoc, Kus....any others with more windsurfing knowledge than me.

I now own a quiver of new Sailworks Huckers (5.6, 4.8 and 4.2) for my smaller sails.....I have yet to sail them and am just interested in your thoughts on these sails? Or did anyone read the article on Power Sails in Windurfing mag (April '07)?

I can't do any tricks and I don't ever sail waves so I am planning to sail these sails straight and fast on a JP SuperX 86L or JP Super X116L at the Nat.

Comments?

Sounds like a nice match to me! I haven't yet tried the Hucker, but I'd love to on a nice fast board. The increased jumping potential appeals to me but I prefer lighter/flicky sails for maneuvering. From the design brief of the Hucker, it seems like it should really be called the "Retro" because of its full head, tight leech, and big belly like older sails. This looks like a sail tailor made for Kus! I'm looking forward to seeing 'em in action at Nitinat! Interestingly, my Hotsails Superfreaks have very little apparent twist on the beach yet aren't pitchy at all on the water. They are also known for having huge range without having crazy amounts of twist. Looks like we've gone full circle in yet another design area with better engineering to get rid of the old nasty habits of the old gear.

On the other hand...
Last year, I bought bwd's Ezzy 5.8 wave and sailed it at the Nat for three days in a row. I had been sailing an old Sailworks Race 5.0 for many years; which, from what I've read sounds surprisingly similar to the Hucker. I broke a batten so had to sail the old Sailworks which I had brought along for the fourth day. So I got to compare the two; the newer Ezzy wanted to be powered right up but was silky smooth and quite effortless to sail. It felt very nice. The stiffer Sailworks was hard driving all the time and rather rough and cranky rather than nice and twitchy. I was used to the heavy forward pitch so it didn't bother me but I did prefer the smoothness of the Ezzy. It seemed to smooth out the chop as well as the wind. It was quite heavenly. The sails seemed identically powered in the same wind.
I wonder if some of this isn't about sailor weight and mast stiffness. I am small and seldom lack power so I appreciate the twist top and a soft mast. A big person, on the other hand , may be disappointed by the lack of power they get if the sail is twisting too early for them. I wonder if a greater range of mast stiffnesses to length would help so we could dial in the exact twist needed for our particular weight. Maybe, say, a 430 mast available in three different stiffnesses rather than the one "25".