Fire test

Windnews, the italian windsurfing magazine I work for, published the test of the Hot Sails Maui Fire and Jeff asked me to translate it for him.

That made me think that somewhere I had some nice photos/videos of Hot sailors that I didn't publish yet. Here are both.
Ola Helenius riding a Smack (all his photos by Gisela Helenius).


Eyal riding a Fire (photo Martin Ritzenhoff).


Ola.


Glenn just finished editing his third gopro wide clip. I like it because most videos you see from Maui are either from Hookipa or Kanaha. This one instead, shows Sprecks pretty much as good as it gets. Enjoy.

THE WINDSURFER - Maui Sessions - Vol. 3 from Glenn Haslbeck on Vimeo.

This instead is Bart flying down the line at Hookipa.

Hookipa, Maui from Bart de Zwart on Vimeo.

And here's the translation of the test of the Fire.
I remember the faces of the La Coudu’ windsurfers when we did this test. They were very impressed for two reasons.
Firstly because the sails were delivered directly on the spot by the Hot Sails Maui French distributor Eric. Six brand new sails: he looked like Santa Claus, but it came in a minivan.
Secondly because once out of the bags and rigged, the sails looked really beautiful thanks to the bright colors and the catchy design.
We rigged a couple of Fires right away: 4.2 for me (I like to be underpowered to wave ride in more control) and 4.7 for Max.
What a revelation the Fire was. Never too jerky, soft and reactive at the same time. That day I rigged the 4.2 kind of soft and it was never too bossy. When the wind increased, I gave it a bit more downhaul and it became even more precise, also thanks to the double clew ring that allows quick adjustments on the beach.
80% of the sail is X-Ply and that allows us, who are not pro-sailors, to push it a bit more without risking to damage the sail.
Apart from the mast protection pad that is a bit short, we didn’t find any other flaws and we strongly recommend to add one of these sails to your quiver.
And this is Max’s feedback about his 4.7.
Let me state beforehand that I’m quite excited to try everything that arrives from Hawaii. This sail was a great surprise. I loved it both in red and yellow. It is strong, yet light and it shows care for details. I noticed too the short mast protection pad, but it’s still acceptable and otherwise the sail is very well built.
But let’s get down to the water test. Coudu’, classic NW wind, waves around two meters. The sail is easy to handle, it becomes neutral while wave riding and it depowers very well under gust making for some comfortable sailing. It’s not a power wave sail, but trimming the outhaul will allow to keep enjoying your sailing even in underpowered conditions… without having to change size. It was the first Hot sails I tried and I was stoked about it: one of the most beautiful sails I ever tried, really easy and fun to sail.
A this point, my curiosity for the other sails of the brand is sky rocketing and I can’t wait to try the Superfreak that the good old Cammar has been bragging about forever. “Cammar, you’re too far ahead… we always knew that!”

BTW, Jeff told me the short pad issue is fixed already.