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Neilpryde Fly ?

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Created by Upthere > 9 months ago, 20 Jan 2009
Upthere
QLD, 348 posts
21 Jan 2009 12:17AM
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Hey i was just interested if anyone has used these new sails. Just read a review in one of the mags and they did not rate them very highly, saying they are very hard to rig correctly. So i was just wondering if anyone who has bought one is having these same difficulties.

Also how do they feel to sail, cause from the Boards Mag there was a very mixed view on this issue.

dan berry
WA, 2562 posts
21 Jan 2009 7:21AM
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the fly's are sick sails. Best windrange out of any sail ive ever used ( and Ive used alot). They are a real grunty little sail with plenty of low end power, basically i go down a sail size from what I have in the past eg if I used to be on a 5 im now on a 4.8, and where i used to be on 5.4 im now on a 5.1. What i have found too is that the extra power is offset by the shorter luf length, esentially making it a super powerful super manouverable wave sail.
As far as riggin goes they are really easy. I downhaul it till you get any creases out of the body (not full downhaul yet) then put the boom on to the settings (the boom setting are pretty accurate) then just down haul again till the creases are gone out of the body and the head is twisting off a little. Once you have rigged it a few times its a no brainer, just tweak it a little as the conditions dictate and use the boom setting as your guide, the luff settings are best worked out yourself.
I cant rate these sails highly enough, if you got any more questions just let me know.

Upthere
QLD, 348 posts
21 Jan 2009 8:40AM
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Dan u say they are pretty grunty sails with plenty of low wind power but what are they like on the top end of the scale. And what sort of mast do you rig it on.

dan berry
WA, 2562 posts
21 Jan 2009 5:30PM
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if the wind gets up just rig it closer to the specs on the sail, which is quite flat.
i rig them a little fuller than i guess your supposed to (when its lighter wind) but it enables me to run a sail size smaller than most other people on the water
i rig them on 400 combat rdm for 4.8 and 5.1 and 370 combat rdm for the 4.2.
i forgt to mention batten tension i found to be quite important as well

Upthere
QLD, 348 posts
21 Jan 2009 7:02PM
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sweet sounds like you enjoy using the sail. It also sounds like it is very suitable to our east coast beach break conditions where power is needed on the way out.
hanks Dan for your help it has been much appreciated

Krusty
NSW, 441 posts
23 Jan 2009 12:04AM
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I've just recently got my self some flys aswell and have been super impressed with them. Just got back from a few weeks in WA so I've had lots of time to really test them out. I'm using the 5.4, 4.8 and 4.2 with specified mast for each sail. I'm not sure how the mag test came out with them being hard to rig? I've found as Dan has said you simply just rig them to the specs and the tweak to suit the conditions. Batten tension does however play a big factor, I was suprised how much more power I could get out of my 4.2 when I increased the batten tension.

The 4.8 seems to be a favourite for everyone whos used the flys, If i were to have one sail only it would definately be the 4.8. The low end power of the flys to me seems bit different to a sail like the NP Alpha, Gaastra Poison or Severne Blade. The powere seems to generate much more effectively from working the sail with a few pumps, whereas a power sail just powers on. The benefit of this seems to be a more neutral feel when manouvering with out the drawback of no power when needed.

As far as contruction goes my 4.2 copped a whoping on Gnaraloo reef last week and got a few gashes up the luff but to my suprise theres a double layer of material so the sail was still completely usable after a few big gashes as it only tore the outer layer. My 5.4 also copped a whopping at Windang before xmas with a solid 6ft wave tearing it down, the good news nothing broke (mast included).

Hope this helps you make your decision.

Upthere
QLD, 348 posts
23 Jan 2009 12:07AM
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Thanks Krusty it sounds like it is a pretty sick sail for me as mainly sail sideshore beach breaks and i need the power on the way out but not so much when i ride the waves. so it sounds almost ideal for the type of wavesailing
I think i might put deposit on it tomoz



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