Nowadays consumers tend to have an innate sense that if something is complicated or difficult, it must be better than something that is simple.

Take food, for instance. Sat at a table waiting for your jus-drizzled ensemble of painstakingly designed food to arrive, you might believe that you’re at the absolute pinnacle of gastronomic delight. But really, can you honestly say that it gave more satisfaction than the fried egg sandwich they serve at the local cafe after a cold day’s windsurfing? Possibly not.

Empirically, simplicity is often the key to happiness. Keep things simple and they generally work well. Complicate them and even with the best intention and design in the world, more often than not they end up a disappointment. So what’s that got to do with freeride sails? Well, many people make the step to cambered sails because they want a new challenge. They want to go faster and be able to hold on to a bigger sail in stronger winds. Whilst rotational sails have many strengths and virtues over cambers, there’s no doubting that cambered sails offer a sense of glide, stability and speed that rotationals simply can’t match.

Once you’ve resolved to make the step to a cambered sail, you need to decide how far to go. Looking through most brands’ ranges, you’re likely to see a thoroughbred, wide luff-tubed race sail, which will have around five cams. One step down from this and most will offer some kind of ‘detuned’ version of this sail – still sporting that wide luff tube, but trimmed down on the camber inducers to around three. And then at the bottom rung of cambered ranges, most brands offer a narrower luff-tubed ‘entry-level’ cambered sail, most of which are twin-cam.

Whilst it’s easy to be seduced by the full-on race designs’ promise of ultimate top speed, stability and kudos, there are some serious warnings that need to be considered…

Read the full test on our sister site, Boardseeker.com

Discover more at: www.neilpryde.com

NeilPryde H2 7.7m on test in Dahab

NEILPRYDE H2 7.7

£645 – 01642 498543 neilpryde.com

The H2 is an evolution of NeilPryde’s extremely successful V8 range, and we’re told this new incarnation offers both more speed and more power through new levels of efficiency. It remains a twin-cam six batten freeride sail, but now incorporates features found on the World Cup winning RS:Racing Evo II. It’s also said to maintain a beautifully balanced and constant drive, with predictable handling for a greater wind range. Available in seven sizes from 6.2 to 9.2.

Set: With a luff length of 469 the sail sets on a 460 mast. We set it up on a 100% 460 NeilPryde X9 SDM. This is the shortest luff length of any sail in this test. It features six battens plus one ultra flex head batten and has two cams, one on the second batten (from the foot), and another on the third. It has an average amount of depth for this type of sail, mainly below the third batten (from the foot). The H2 also features the shortest boom length of any here at 206cm thanks to the inset clew. We found it could be set with a neutral outhaul for general blasting, but setting it for specific headings with an adjustable outhaul enhanced its performance. The H2 was one of the easiest sails to rig until the battens needed tensioning. We found the keyless tensioning to be more of a hindrance than help. Putting tension on before rigging is highly recommended.

On the water: The H2 feels extremely compact on the water with its short boom and low aspect design fooling you into thinking you’re on a smaller sail. The power however is nothing like that of a smaller sail – it has you up and planing in no time, and is delivered in a smooth and progressive manner. It’s very easy to pump in marginal conditions, or you can be a little bit lazy and let the rig do the hard work for you, and you’ll be planing well before all of the other sails here. It’s perhaps not the fastest sail in the group in a straight line, but if you’re racing round a course you’ll be better off coming out of the gybes, and you’ll only ever have to rig one sail to compete all day! It’s comfortable throughout its huge range, and has an amazing top end. The short boom really helps with gybing because it feels like you’re on a sail much smaller, and the rotation is really smooth, making the exit from even the worst gybes easy.

Overall: It’s clear that NeilPryde know exactly what they’re doing when it comes to blasting sails. The H2 has heaps of power, it’s the most comfortable sail in this group, and has a great top end. It’s almost too good. With this sail, you wouldn’t need anything bigger and you could hold on to it until you require your wave sails. The H2 is an amazing one-sail quiver for blasting in anything from 10 – 25kts! Powerful, versatile, and worth every penny.