Neil Pryde RS:Racing EVOXVI 7.4

Thanks to SHQ, I was able to get my hands on a new Neil Pryde RS:Racing EVO XVI 7.4, my first new sail in 10 years. My last new sails were the RS:Racing EVO IV in 6.4, 7.8 and 9.5m, and I have the EVO V in 7.8 & 8.6, so I was keen to see and feel what progress has been made over the last decade. 7.8 is my favorite and most used sail size and I was hoping the new 7.4 would generate similar power with improved efficiency. I have only had one session so far in a slightly gusty 15-18+ knots at my local and so I wasn't fully powered for my 110kg.

First impressions
Firstly, the sail colours look much nicer in the flesh! The orange is a bit brighter than the classic burnt orange used on the original RS:Racing which are still my all-time favorites. The clear window does appear to be "extra clear" as advertised! It seems the shaping is similar to the last few years with upgrades in materials and obviously colour changes. There is a lot less reinforcement in the leech and foot areas than the EVO V, however I am not too worried as the construction & durability should be pretty well sorted if things haven't changed drastically in the last few years. The tack pully rollers are now plastic(EVO V were metal) and the clew has pully blocks in 2 positions(Evo V had an upper and lower eyelet). The clew is also reinforced with some nice aramid fabric. I think NP have also moved away from 3-piece battens which should help durability at the expense of possibly a less progressive transition between the batten sections.

Rigging
I rigged on a Slake NP-15 460 and fed the mast to the top cap without needing to yank on the mask sleeve above the boom cutout, due to the wider luff pocket in the top half of the sail. I rigged with the old routine of light downhaul, fit the boom and outhaul, let off the downhaul and fit the cams, and then final downhaul. The top cam was prone to popping off before the final downhaul, but I think a bit more fine-tuning will sort this issue. I downhauled to the max marking on the second to top panel and it seemed too easy. I still had a fair distance between the tack pulleys and the lower leech was still tightish, but I thought I should try "factory settings" first. I pulled on a small amount of tension on the tack strap and utilised the upper clew fitting for more power(?) in the gusty conditions. The cam battens were tensioned to just remove wrinkles, and the upper battens were left untouched. I headed out on the 130L board as the wind was a bit gusty and the sail was noticeably lighter to carry with the board than the Evo V although it is 0.4m smaller in area.

On the water
When rigged to the printed settings the sail pulled like a Mack truck with the draft moving way back and so I headed upwind and found a spot to add more DH using the harness hook. I ended up with about a 4cm pulley gap and the sail was now more locked-in, with the cams rotating easily. Time will tell if the printed settings are more accurate after everything stretches in. I sailed for a few hours and it was the first time I have compared upper and lower clew positions in the same session. They were easier to compare with the new clew pully block rather than the eyelets I have been using as you can pull off the loop out on the water when using an adjustable outhaul. I felt that the draft was more locked-in using the low/short position which makes sense and I really liked the feel of the sail this way. It will be interesting to see if the upper clew position helps on the lower end of the sails wind range, or when sailing deep off the wind. The EVOXVI has the same refined NP feeling of the older sails but seemed to carry speed better in the lulls without the feeling of needing to over sheet. The finer entry as well as shallower profile in the foot area may have something to do with that sensation.

Conclusion
The sail has really impressed me with its smooth and constant power delivery and I am looking forward to getting it tuned properly. So far, it seems to have a pretty wide wind range and should suit my preference for plugging in different boards rather than rigging other sails with changes in wind strength. I will post more once I have had a bit more TOW. Happy sailing!

Looks and sounds awesome mate!! Dad's keen to run his new XIV's at LG this week!

where did you sail ?

First session for dad on his. 6.5m. Before a quick go on his 7.4m. Notable changes for him straight away were a lighter feel. Bigger luff and the draft in the sail has moved compared to EVO 13's he had. More wind to come might see him fully powered on the 6.5m and into the 5.6m later in week SHQ (Fletcher) again managing to secure supply in Aus with some of the first available.
gpsteamchallenge.com.au/sailor_session/show?date=2025-02-02&team=27