Hot Sails Maui Speed Demons

Disclaimer
First off I must advise I am friends with the importer of Hot Sails Maui (HSM). I've known Jon or known of Jon through his family for many years. He is a mad keen windsurfer and is keen for the sport to grow. Plus he is a Seabreeze sponsor.

HSM says its their no cam slalom and freeride sail with outstanding speed, control and ease of use with exceptional value for money.

Last summer I demoed the 6.6m Speed Demon at Kyeemagh in a seabreeze of around 20 knots. I really enjoyed using the sail. It felt fast, stable and easy to use. I was never totally comfortable with my older sails. I don't think this was the fault of the sails though. The recommended mast for these sails was never used, thus they probably never rigged as they were designed to. In comparison the Speed Demon felt stable and slippery through the wind.
After the demo and with both sails and masts for sale at very reasonable prices I purchased two Speed Demons and the recommended HSM mast.

The sails appear to be well built with for example some form of leather material in hard wearing areas such as batten pocket tips and the mast tip. The sail package comes with some goodies such as an extra batten bolt, rigging instructions and some stickers. One aspect I miss is a little hole in the integrate mast base cover to thread an uphaul through. Overall the sails appear to be very well made.

I decided to buy the recommended mast for the two sails I bought, the HSM Hot Rod 460cm 97% carbon content mast. This is an RDM mast, the first I've had so I needed a new mast base. Jon sold me a Chinook carbon fibre mast extension, again for a very reasonable cost.
With the correct mast and base I found the sails rigs very well. With the recommend downhaul the leach of the sail progressively falls from the top of the sail. The sail fills out at the bottom creating a bit of draft there. These dodgy photos illustrate this.









The demo greatly impressed me with the performance. Since owning the two sails I am still enjoying sailing them. They are quick to get on the plane. They seem to have good top end speed. I'm able to keep up with some fast sailors since using the Speed Demons. Being very light in the hands they are easy to flip when gybing. They are easy to fly when waterstarting. With the GPS I've had the 7.3m up to about 27 knots and the 6.6m up to about 29 knots. I'm not the fastest sailor in the world so those speeds are good for me. Until recently I was lucky to get over 26 knots for a 2 second average.
The sails have a definite body shape around the boom when rigged. The result of this shape is stable draft. They give a positive thud when flipping the sail in the gybes. That is pretty impressive with a no cam sail. The battens seem up to the job as the sail feels extremely good when overpowered and just wants to keep going. I've had the 6.6m up when other sailors are on 5m sails or less.

To my eye the Speed Demons appear to be rather plain. There are large monofilm panels and few seems. When I first saw a Speed Demon I thought they looked quite simple compared to other sails. However after having them for a while I appreciate what the designer has done, creating a well shaped sail without unnecessary complex design. Other windsurfers think the sails look good out on the water.

I'm happy with the sails. They are excellent value for money selling from about $900 with the recommended mast. I plan to extend my quiver of Speed Demons in the future. I'd like to go up to about 8m and down to the 5m. We have had quite strong westerlies this autumn where a smaller sail would have been more comfortable.

Here is a short video of the 6.6m sail in action at Canton Beach NSW. The wind was a typical westerly, up to over 20 knots and down to around 10.

So I'm really happy with the Speed Demons. They make windsurfing a joy.

Hi Mobydisc,

nice report but if you want extend your quiver....no speed demons more for 2013...

greetings uwe

P.S. and give a little more downhaul till the wrinkles down on the sail will go away

Yeah I read on the HSM forums that the Speed Demon may be replaced by something modelled on the GP2. Despite this I really found the Demon to be a great sail at a great price. So I don't mind buying something that won't be up to date next year.

I'm considering getting either a GP2 or GPS when I get a bigger sail. However I think the smaller Speed Demons, 6m and below would be wicked little sails in strong winds.

So the sail shouldn't have those wrinkles down the botton? I'll try to give it a bit more downhaul next time.

I did not say the Speed Freak will replace the Speed Demon just that the Speed Demon would be around in 2013 as the Speed Freak as the Speed Freak is a Dacron version of the Speed Demon.

I actually broke the 30 knot barrier on my older Loft 02 5.9 sail. Having used both I think both the 02s and the Speed Demons are good sails. However I can't really compare them as I never used an 02 on its recommended mast. I've no doubt I'll be getting more speed pbs with the Speed Demons in the future.

I don't think I've tuned the Speed Demons to the best they can be. That shot was with perhaps a bit under the recommended downhaul. However the leech does fall away progressively.

Firstly the GP2 is a 2 cam sail very different from the Speed Demon. The GP2 is a simpler GPS.

Secondly The Speed freak is derived from the Speed Demon look at the cut it is very similar to the the Speed Demon, just made mostly with Dacron which will give it a lighter feel and should absorb gusts better as SuperFreaks do. Unfortunately currently only available in 7.5m and up.Remember I did not say it replaces the Speed Demon just that it will be available to obtain in 2013. Some people who really like the Speed Demon as I do (my 8m Speed Demon is my most used sail) might consider getting a SpeedFreak to expand there quiver if they are happy with their current Speed Demons and can no longer get one.

Now the GPX is derived from the GP2 similar panel layout but with no cams and with a more crossover focus in its smaller sizes and a more slalom focus in the bigger sizes. It looks like it will be a really good sail and I am looking forward to trying one out.

Remember it is only half way through 2012 and the GPX is not available.

I'm the annoying noisy bugger at the beginning of the video..

This thread is a poor substitute for the real thing but it's keeping me going so thanks guys and gals.
There's no Hot importer in NZ anymore so picked up my 6.6 in Sydney 5 weeks agoon a work trip. Not much wind here in Auckland in autumn and it's pretty cold now , although that's unlikely to stop me trying out a new toy even if I do loose a digit.

Hey thanks to all on previous posts as well which helped me decide on no-cam.
Next decision. What cheap reasonably new slalom or freeride board will go best with 6.6 Speed Demon as largest board for 67kg? My old Fanatic Bee really needs replacing.

Well, finally got out on the Speed Demon 6.6 for the first time yesterday.

Not too sure on batten tension (trying not to over do it but I think it needs some more as seems to be particularly flat.) Wind was picking up to conditions where I would consider rigging 5.5 so gave it a bit of downhaul.

Not sure on the specs (I am using 430 Hot Rod long extension so it may look different) found I needed to use at least the next notch on downhaul and outhaul. Rigged to the picture for loose leach with downhaul, outhaul was pretty much neutral.
One thing I noticed was a lot of bend in the mast (more than the old psyclone or Smacks) giving quite a gap in the boom cut out.

Out on the water (on a very gusty day) it was superb. Really smooth power delivery and never seemed overpowered until I let off lots of downhaul and then only once in some extreme gusts did it sheet out. Need to experiment with tuning.

It certainly got the old Bee up to top speed easily and felt like the sail had much more to give.
All up a very happy customer (thanks Jonathon).

Not sure but I think tightening the tack strack removes the wrinkles. When out on the water the wrinkles are not really noticable anyway.

Unfortunately the wind was too strong yesterday for my Speed Demons except for early in the morning when the wind was not too strong. I was out on my 7.3m. However by the end of the day I was using an old 4.4m Sailworks wave sail that isn't all that good compared to modern sails.


I'd like to buy a couple more smaller ones later on plus an 8m one too. However funds are tight so it looks like I'll miss out on getting any more.

Today would have been a good day to use them but I am sore and tired after being out all day yesterday in quite windy and cold conditions.