CHASING FREEDOM

Whilst daily life is changing by the minute, the kit for the latest test managed to arrive in time for the test team to get out on the water before the lockdown. On the menu this month is no-cam freeride contenders … and here is the test team’s findings.

- Tris Best, Maurin Rottenwalter, Joe North & Dan Hallam

FINDINGS

Whilst the ‘no-cam freerace’ sail category looks rather straightforward at first glance, the inter-pretation by each brand leads them down their own individual design pathways, resulting in some very different options on the market. It’s not a bad situation at all for you or I, the end consumer, but an important step is to unpick what’s available and make sure you get the sail (and performance) appropriate for your sailing ability and style. Freeride, performance freeride, freerace or no-cam slalom … call it what you will, the brief for all the sails is largely made up of the search for the same qualities: ease of use (both on land, whilst rigging, and on water), performance (straight-line and around corners) and range. The varying emphasis that each loft puts upon these qualities ultimately determines the sort of sail they end up with in their lineup. Some have focussed on ease of use, making their product super user-friendly, requiring minimal technical input in fine-tuning or on the water. Others have focussed on top end performance, designing their sail to feel fiercely competitive in a straight-line. Others have targeted the other end of the wind spectrum and charged their sail with the minerals to push bottom end grunt to get planing as early as possible. Finding a balance between all the qualities is a focus for some therefore, aiming to give their sail top honours in the ‘all-rounder’ category.