Just thought I'd share me experience with a 2013 NP Combat HD 5.3. I got out with it late Sunday for about an hour. Conditions where 5 to 25 knots NE (maybe a bit more in gusts), waves chest to mast high.
I have previously had NP Atlas but thought I'd mix it up a bit.
First impression on land:
The sail looks solid with lots of reinforcements. Looking at it you'd think it's very heavy but it's suprisingly light given the re-inforcements. I used some luggage scales to check the weight and it came in at 3.44 kgs. I have had a 2005 Combat 5.3 for a while back in the day and that weight 4.4 kgs. The 2013 feels light in comparison.
The yellow / green fluro colours actually look ok. I don't think the photos on the web site do it justice.
One thing that I will need to get used to is the wide mast pocket. It made attaching the boom a bit fiddly. Surprisingly the mast pocket didn't fill up with water.
First impression on the water:
This sail definitely sits between the Atlas and Fly. It doesn't have the same bottom end power the Atlas has but it's not a late planing sail by any means. On the other hand once you get going the sail stays pretty neutral. Even being overpowered in gusts the sail doesn't seem to develop a life of it's own. With the Atlas the power always starts wandering a bit once you get to the upper limit.
The biggest surprise came when getting on a wave. With the Atlas you notice it's low end power as soon as you setup for a cut back. The amount of load the sail produces is sometimes a bit much to handle. Not so with the Combat. It seems to deliver a more constant power both in bottom turns and cut backs. It actually reminds a lot of what the Zone use to be like. In addition the boom is a bit shorter compared to the Atlas which helps in bottom turns.
I didn't do much jumping so can't comment on that yet but so far I would say this a good wave sail for a heavier rider that needs some extra power to get going but doesn't want to compromise to much on wave riding.
To be continued...
