I just got back into windsurfing the wind was about 12 to 15 knots nw at rye,so i rigged my new 6.5 naish koa, on my JP exite ride 120 liter board. All the kiters were haven a ball skimming pass me. Like I am 90 kilos and i had a guy go sailing by on a 5m, pass me on my 6.5 ? 120 exite ? He was alot smaller, but g I wish I still had my old neilpryed raf sail, then i would like to see him go flying by. I use to sail on a old 6.1 neilpryed raf no cam, about a 1986 model, it had alot more power. I was saying to a windsurfer on the beach, I would normally be still out there sailing my old 6.1 and one other thing I thought of what the mag reviews say, yes the best most easy sails to use, but how come you never see Bgorn, kevin and all the top pros use them, no cams cant be that good .
I gave my brother ago and he said the same thing, has no power, he is getting back into it and said he will not buy a 6.5 no cam after trying mine out, he is now chasen a cam sail. So I really saw alot of other sailors going home that day and the kiters had all the fun. The new sails have wrecked windsurfing, they are flat as a window and i think they are designed for maui, hood river, or pozo.I think they have got it wrong and thats why windsurfing died out. Look up the video called dale cook jumping high in the sailworks web site, he backs me up on what he says, dale designed a sail for power called the hucker, to use anywhere, not just pozo.
If i need a strong clean 15-20 knots to windsurf everytime, i might just take up fishing instead.
well it's nice to hear a heavier guy express that opinion, I thought it was only because I'm a 68kg light weight.
I tried a 7.0 no cam out, thinking it would work for me from 10 - 15kt. As you say the battens held it dead flat, took almost 15kt before it had any shape.
Almost impossible for me to use, as the wind varied, shape moved around all over the place, and the sail turned on and off.
I couldn't see the point why would anybody design a big sail that turns hard off till about 15kts.
I know some wave sailors like to be able to switch their sails off hard, but how many of them use 7.0s???
My 08 4.7 and 5.2 wave sails have cross cut shape, (insted of using excess luff curve) so it's partly on even in no wind, the battens don't sit behind the mast, so it only takes 8-10kt to be fully on.
The 5.2 was more use to me between 10-15kt than the 7.0.
Check out the 07-08 Ezzy sails. As much shape as a cammed sail, but much easier to flip.
The 09's are much flatter, bit of a backward step for me, I'll keep my 07's I think.
All the big names like Naish, North, Pryde etc use wind to give the sail shape, and have the effect you describe (gutless unless they're well powered up).
Next time you're down the beach see if you can find someone with an Ezzy and check out how much shape it's got.
I have to disagree to a point. I am 73kg and I can get planing on my 5.8 Gaastra poison and a 100lt in about 12knts. I think it comes down to technique as I know a few guys who can get planing on even smaller gear before me. Cambered sails do give you more power and hold the plane alot longer but i think for the bottom end improvment they are not much better.
Technique? Probably, I love no cams, I'm 85kg, can plane in 12-13knts with a 7.3.
and out pace most other cam sails around this area. I'm sure after 30 odd years of sail devolpment they havn't "got it wrong"
I use naish sprints 6.6 and 7.3 on my 122 futura, and find with couple of well weighted pumps they jump onto the plane easily.
Maybe, like the rest of us, you have more muscles(weight) than you used to have when you were sailing before.
Maybe, seeing as you just got back into windsurfing, you rigged your fancy new no-cam sail the same way as you rigged the last sail you used before you stopped windsurfing last time...?????
Maybe the mast is the wrong stiffness, or curve, or you just don't have enough downhaul..
Or maybe the sail is just rubbish despite many thousands of dollars of R&D, testing, and computer modelling.. it does happen!
If I were you, I'd wait until that guy who was flying around on a 5m gets back to the beach and ask him to take a look at your setup and see if he can offer any suggestions..
when there's enough wind to get going, and others are going and you are not
check the advice here as well, rigging can be crucial, the right mast, the right fin etc. But you can't beat the laws of physics either,.... you need enough usuable power!!! Was that 6.5 enough if every other variable was OK??
Agree with 555. It's amazing what a little tuning can do to a rig. I've been just as pizzed off in the past with people scooting past and me only dogging away on a 6.2. Only to go into shore, release a little bit of down haul and sure enough planing straight away.
Also, there is a lot to be said about pumping and technique.
Don't be mad at your no cam sail, it wants to get planing just as much as you do 
Hey Mr windsurf
I have a 2006 NP 7.0 V8 for sale, that would see u blasting past the kiters 
I do agree with your post some sails seem way to flat when outhauled to specs, maybe try less outhaul.
i think camber inducers are an invention of the devil, trying to waste precious sailing time for sailors and adding frustrations to a simple task like rigging up.[}:)]
Personally, I reckon cammed sails are the go for anything above 6m and especially above 7m. When you are out blasting, cammed sails feel more locked and loaded. Thats what I want.
In response to the original question, new no cam sails have not wrecked windsurfing. If the sail is flat and twists off so the leech profile looks the same shape as an aeroplane propellor then clearly its not going to have as much bottom end as a blown out wally sail. So you have to rig bigger for the same wind strength you would use a smaller, fuller sail in.
You probably needed a 7.5 or 8 meter sail of the type you were using for those wind strenths. I know I'd be using my 7.2 RS6 and my Tabou 140 in that wind strength, and I weigh about 20 kgs less than you. I'd be planing, no problems too.
Formula guys are using 11m sails up to about 20 knots and change down to a 9 when it gets much windier, so it shows you the sort of wind range modern sails are designed for.
Old sails had a very deep profile, so generated a lot of power - and they had long booms too. Compared to modern sails that have a finer entry and lots of twist.
Some would even argue that old sails had wider wind range -> you old had one of them, so it must have worked!
The reality is that where we used to use a 6m, we now use 8 or bigger - and its probably about the same weight too. But that 8m is going to be more efficient than the 6 ever was (well... excluding winds of 5 knots), so generating higher top-end boat speed.
interesting read, the gear has changed so much. I have just recently converted to cambered sails (North Ram F8) and found them to be very twitchy, problem was I was still running a 5 year old mast. Once I stuck the right mast into it, it was like a different sail. Also spent a lot of timing ginning around with different rig tensions. The great Fred Haywood used to say "its not how you rig it, its what you do with that thing." well the problem seems to be that the new sails are much less forgiving in the rigging department, but get it right and it certainly is worth the effort. I could not be happier with the rams.
WANTED anyone got a 6.5 cam sail for sale i am looking for one no older than 5 years old now i think i might put me naish Koa no cam sail up for sale
This is a bit off topic, but I don't think modern sails are much flatter than the old ones, it's where the shape is that has changed IMO. New sails are full below the boom and flatter above the boom as they transition to the twisted off top section, placing the power low and easy to control. Old sails were full above the boom giving a lot more lift as the power was higher up but this made them harder to control when over powered.
Well I took out a 7.2m NP Hellcat today which is a uncamed flat water blaster sail, no probs at all with it being nice and stable getting 30knots out of it.
Rigged a 7.2m NP RS Slalom II after to get a good comparison which was only 1-1/2 knots quicker.
I've got to admit the sail shape of the camed sail was did have a more stable foil shape.
It was quite a nice sail if you don't like cams
But what do you weigh Elmo? I'm sure it wouldn't have worked as well for my 68kg.
On the beach I put all my weight on the window, and the sail didn't fully turn on.
And for me that sail would be for a wind strength of 10 - 15kt, not the 15 to 20 you use it in.
This is almost a reversal of the wave sailing "100kgs are lepers" thread.
No Way!!!!
There's no reason big guys can't wave sail, and why shouldn't they?
All they need is the correct sized wave board, and I can't see any reason why they can't have one.
Same goes for small guys and speed, maybe we're at a disadvantage, but it's still loads of fun, and why shouldn't little guys be able to see just how fast they can go?
It just needs sails that don't turn off so hard, not hard to make if you know what you're doing.
(not saying I do here, but I know somebody who does, my 5.3 wave sail fully turns on in about 10 - 12kts.)
