I recently picked up a used 5.5 SDS. It's incredibly fast and has a massive low end. Feels almost more like a 6 to 6.5. On average, I find that I go about 1-3 knots faster than any other wing I own in the same conditions. This includes a 6M Ozone V2 Flux in Aluula.
I've mostly ridden it in 10-15 knots with some higher gusts. I also have all the battens in. I've read on their site it has a bit top end, but I find it hard to imaging given how hard it pulls in winds up to 20. For those who own or have ridden these, how much difference does it make to pull the inner skin battens out for top end? Does it change performance?
I know I can try it myself (and plan to this Friday 20-25 knots forecasted), but was curious if anyone has some first hand experience with this?
Thanks!
A few months ago I bought a used 4.5 M1-R SDS for a good price (ex NZ) and sold both my PPC-M1 4M and 5Ms before I got a chance to use it.
My first session I instantly regretted it, as the PPC-M1 wings were awesome and I thought I could replace them both with the SDS in 4.5M
The issue I had was the savage back winding when I pointed too high into the wind, the wing comes through the eye of the wind very easily and...Nek Minnit...I was being pushed violently off the board as the pressure on the back of the wing was incredibly powerful and there was absolutely no way to push it back. This happened every run on that first session and I was confused because the "sales pitch" of the SDS was that it could point higher into the wind and it actually felt like I was not pointing as high as on my regular M1s or any other wing for that matter. The wind was pretty gusty so I dropped into the water and removed the inner skin battens to try and make it more like a regular single skin wing. I shoved those long battens down the back of my PFD vest. Removing the battens didn't seem to make much difference as I was still getting blown off the board when the wing backwinded, so I came in with a heavy cloud of disappointment hanging over me.
I searched the internet and forums and YouTube for any rider reviews of the SDS and then watched Lachie Whites YouTube videos.
I contacted Lachie for advice and his response is below
"Outside of the tips in my tacking video, the best thing I've found is to not get stuck in dead zones. As in, don't try to steal too much height/angle to the wind when going upwind as that's when it can catch breeze the wrong way. And don't get stuck going directly downwind, get through your turns without hesitating in those spots It definitely gets better the more you use it and the acceleration is unmatched. What sort of gybes are you doing mostly? I've found Heineken gybes work really well with the M1-R"
My next sessions on the SDS were definitely better each time and I learnt to read the messages the wing was sending me when I was pointing it too high so I could back off a tad and prevent the savage backwinding. For light wind Gybes Ive found the best technique for me is to hold the wing absolutely flat above my head as I transition it through the wind.
Like all the PPC M1s there is absolutely no flutter in the canopy and the response is very direct and consistent.
The full length boom on this wing is really good.
End result is the 4.5M SDS has in fact replaced my 4M and 5M M1s and my 6M M1-X handles everything from 8 to 20kts
Thanks Cameron, the backwind potential is definitely no joke. I let a friend try it last week and watched what looked like a fully committed attempt to do a 360 as he took his front hand off the boom and it backwinded.
I'm not sure if it's decades of windsurfing or what, but I quickly got used to what needed to happen to trim the wing while riding. I agree with Lachie, don't try to point too high. I've been doing some runs with down wind sections and haven't' had problems yet with backwinding, but I also haven't' tried it at the upper end of its range.
PPC folks responded to a message I sent them and said to remove the two battens closest to the center strut when riding overpowered.
Tomorrow, I'm going to get it out in winds that should be 20-25 knots. I can try it with and without inner battens and see which feels more doable. I'll report back.
