New Super Freak color system on line.
posted by Jeffrey, Glenn and Tom at
2/26/2008 12:37:00 PM
3 Comments
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Sail Design Process
By Tom
Let's look at the design process for the Speed Demon as an example.
The first thing to do is to establish the conditions, equipment and level of sailor that the sail is for and what they want from it. In this case we are making an all-round sail for generally flat water with some chop and swells thrown in. It will probably be used on production boards 90-140 litres and 65-80cm wide with a fin 35-45cm in length. The sailor will probably be from intermediate to advanced level but probably not expert. The sailor wants to blast around as fast as the can get a few chop hops in and overtake their friends. They might do the occasional local race but are really just into zooming around for fun.
Now we can identify the qualities the sail needs to have. The end goal is to have a fast sail, but it must be powerful enough to drive a big board and accelerate quickly from those muffed gybes. It needs to be easy to rig and to handle. The owner will probably fall a lot so it needs to be easy to waterstart and be strong enough to handle the crashes. It will need to have smooth rotation and transition nicely and have good manouverability.
So now we can start making choices. Obviously a wide sleeve and cambers are not for this customer. A moderately narrow sleeve that will accomodate both RDM and SDM masts (so the customer does not need to buy a new mast). A narrow sleeve will not fill up with water and makes waterstarting easy.
Seven battens will make the sail nice and stable and resist compression at the loads that we be imposed on it with tubes in four of the upper battens. Eight battens would be overkill and add extra weigh and cost to the sail.
The outline is determined by many factors but simply put it needs to provide the right platform to deliver the power and twist charicteristics required. In this case we want a fairly powerful sail with good acceleration, wide wind range and a high top speed. A relatively low aspect ratio outline with a wide head with lots of roach, moderate boom length and a medium-low foot will deliver. This outline helps to make the leech more reactive for better power and acceleration. I like to use a little trick I call "Reduced Boom Length" to aid the twist and stability of the sail. The idea is that instead of the clew being at the corner of a triangle between the leech and the foot it is moved in effectively shortening the boom but maintaining the chord length (batten length) above the clew. This moves the tension line from the clew to the head forward aiding in stability and and allowing a more responsive twist in the lower leech. This also makes the sail feel smaller than it is when it comes to handling as the foot is the size of a smaller sail. Mini-battens and scaloping help eliminate leech flutter. The head batten is also slightly shortened for better aerodynamics and to prevent backwinding.
The luff curve is chosen as the best compromise between power, handling and ease of rigging. Generally more luff curve provides more power and less gives a softer more forgiving feel.
The shaping must be matched to the luff curve and outline of the sail. The 3 dimensional sail shape when sailing is created by controling the tension in the body of the sail and is a dynamic system. This is the most technical, complex and closely guarded part of sail design. The goal is to create a complete system that works together in unison. The more shape a sail has the deeper the camber and the more lift it produces. The problem is that with more lift comes more drag so again a balance has to be found. Fast sails tend to have a more draught forward foil as they are going faster and have more apparent wind. This makes the apparent wind move forward so the sail is always going up-wind even when sailing off the wind, and a forward draught is more efficient for going upwind. The Speed Demon needs a moderately deep camber which will provide good power but still be very easy to handle.
The materials are selected next according to their properties and asthetic appeal. Stretch, weight and cost are the primary considerations. We want a sail that is light, does not stretch much and is not too expensive. Lightweight monofilm is the material of choice in these curcumstances. X-ply is used in the luff area where the sail is wrinkled during rigging and extra durability is required.
Reinforcement is added as needed for the expected loads and materials used. The batten tapers are specified to match the sail shaping and Voila we have a complete sail design!
Let's look at the design process for the Speed Demon as an example.
The first thing to do is to establish the conditions, equipment and level of sailor that the sail is for and what they want from it. In this case we are making an all-round sail for generally flat water with some chop and swells thrown in. It will probably be used on production boards 90-140 litres and 65-80cm wide with a fin 35-45cm in length. The sailor will probably be from intermediate to advanced level but probably not expert. The sailor wants to blast around as fast as the can get a few chop hops in and overtake their friends. They might do the occasional local race but are really just into zooming around for fun.
Now we can identify the qualities the sail needs to have. The end goal is to have a fast sail, but it must be powerful enough to drive a big board and accelerate quickly from those muffed gybes. It needs to be easy to rig and to handle. The owner will probably fall a lot so it needs to be easy to waterstart and be strong enough to handle the crashes. It will need to have smooth rotation and transition nicely and have good manouverability.
So now we can start making choices. Obviously a wide sleeve and cambers are not for this customer. A moderately narrow sleeve that will accomodate both RDM and SDM masts (so the customer does not need to buy a new mast). A narrow sleeve will not fill up with water and makes waterstarting easy.
Seven battens will make the sail nice and stable and resist compression at the loads that we be imposed on it with tubes in four of the upper battens. Eight battens would be overkill and add extra weigh and cost to the sail.
The outline is determined by many factors but simply put it needs to provide the right platform to deliver the power and twist charicteristics required. In this case we want a fairly powerful sail with good acceleration, wide wind range and a high top speed. A relatively low aspect ratio outline with a wide head with lots of roach, moderate boom length and a medium-low foot will deliver. This outline helps to make the leech more reactive for better power and acceleration. I like to use a little trick I call "Reduced Boom Length" to aid the twist and stability of the sail. The idea is that instead of the clew being at the corner of a triangle between the leech and the foot it is moved in effectively shortening the boom but maintaining the chord length (batten length) above the clew. This moves the tension line from the clew to the head forward aiding in stability and and allowing a more responsive twist in the lower leech. This also makes the sail feel smaller than it is when it comes to handling as the foot is the size of a smaller sail. Mini-battens and scaloping help eliminate leech flutter. The head batten is also slightly shortened for better aerodynamics and to prevent backwinding.
The luff curve is chosen as the best compromise between power, handling and ease of rigging. Generally more luff curve provides more power and less gives a softer more forgiving feel.
The shaping must be matched to the luff curve and outline of the sail. The 3 dimensional sail shape when sailing is created by controling the tension in the body of the sail and is a dynamic system. This is the most technical, complex and closely guarded part of sail design. The goal is to create a complete system that works together in unison. The more shape a sail has the deeper the camber and the more lift it produces. The problem is that with more lift comes more drag so again a balance has to be found. Fast sails tend to have a more draught forward foil as they are going faster and have more apparent wind. This makes the apparent wind move forward so the sail is always going up-wind even when sailing off the wind, and a forward draught is more efficient for going upwind. The Speed Demon needs a moderately deep camber which will provide good power but still be very easy to handle.
The materials are selected next according to their properties and asthetic appeal. Stretch, weight and cost are the primary considerations. We want a sail that is light, does not stretch much and is not too expensive. Lightweight monofilm is the material of choice in these curcumstances. X-ply is used in the luff area where the sail is wrinkled during rigging and extra durability is required.
Reinforcement is added as needed for the expected loads and materials used. The batten tapers are specified to match the sail shaping and Voila we have a complete sail design!
posted by Jeffrey, Glenn and Tom at
2/20/2008 01:07:00 PM
5 Comments
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The Weekend
Last weekend started at about 4pm Friday. The winds were light and I got a call from Glenn telling me the conditions were perfect to sail my SUP board at Kanaha. Sure enough light winds and pretty little head high waves beckoned. I rigged my 5.8 Fire on the minimums and took my 12’6” out for my first longboard wave riding session. I must admit I am more cautious in my later years. I picked a small first wave and went left. I then picked a bigger wave and went left. Enough of that rubbish! The next wave I went down the line and to my surprise the board was game! I put in a couple of turns and ended the ride with an off the whitewater lip. Not a fat curling lip, more of a dribble, but still a good hit. That was it for me, I just wanted to find out what was possible, and each ride after that got a little more aggressive.
It was a perfect session, there were only four sailors, Glenn, myself, a guy I don’t know and that guy from second Wind who’s name escapes me and I hope he does not read this blog! Ralph Sifford was out on a longboard surfing then two more guys came out one on a Sup and another surfer. I was having a blast as everyone else seemed to be – nothing but smiles!
Saturday and Sunday were Launiupoko days as we had a guest (one of Anne’s best friends) and I was teaching her to surf on the SUP. I am a terrible surfer, but the SUP made me into a hero! I took Deanna out for her first surf ever and I told her to just lie on the board and enjoy the ride. I gave the board a good shove when a macking 1 foot set came in and she was off. She loved it and she must have caught over half a dozen waves before she got tired from paddling back out and we took a rest.
Deanna catches her first wave
Next we gave the SUP a go for real – with hilarious results! Damn it is hard just to stand on the thing! I still got it together enough to catch and ride my first wave as a stand up paddler! We discovered that kneeling paddling is a good way to get to know the environment without falling off every two seconds and a great tool to getting out through the monstrous flat to a foot surf.
Tom's first stand-up session
We went back out “regular” surfing having been humbled somewhat. This time we took it in turns as I did not want to tire Deanna out to quickly and I of course wanted a crack at it. I gave D a 30 second lesson on how to stand up and on her very next wave she did! If that was not impressive enough, I caught every single excuse for a wave I paddled for! Seriously this is ridiculous it totally looked like I knew what I was doing!
Tom surfing?!!
Tom back from SUP session
Heading back out for more surfing
So Sunday found us back at the same south shore surf break as D was absolutely hooked on surfing. Unfortunately the surf had disappeared and the sets were a meager half foot. The tide was also lower, so the reefs were still generating waves, albeit without much water! Much fun was had but the lack of water resulted in several groundings and numerous reef cuts to boot. It’s okay I got more plasters and have a good supply of Betadine and Neosporin at hand. D caught her first wave SUP and was only perforated by an urchin once. Good fun!
Tom Meets Reef
Deanna Gets Up
Tom SUP on a monster!
The girls needed to leave the beach early which gave me two free hours to play in the afternoon. Being short of time I opted for a quick windfishing session at Sprecks. When I got there it was windier and much wavier than I expected. I ditched the windfishing idea and just took the 12’6” to ride some waves. This turned out to be a misyake as it was too big for Sprecks which turned out to be one big lumpy mess with no defined waves to ride - still a blast.
So over the weekend I used my 12’6” (can’t call it a SUP ‘cause it does so much more!) to surf, stand-up-paddle and windsurf, two of which were genuinely new experiences. Actually catching every wave I paddled for was a new experience too! I have no desire to surf anything else now as it is so easy to paddle and catch waves. I could turn the board just fine at least as good as any other longboard I have ridden. It takes some foot work but is not hard to sort out. I guess you could call me old, but I tell you I have never ridden so many waves in such a short period of time, so maybe I am just impatient!
For those of you expecting a blog exclusively on windsurfing I apologize. I am writing this and this is what I did this weekend. So actually I am not sorry at all as I had a ball!
It was a perfect session, there were only four sailors, Glenn, myself, a guy I don’t know and that guy from second Wind who’s name escapes me and I hope he does not read this blog! Ralph Sifford was out on a longboard surfing then two more guys came out one on a Sup and another surfer. I was having a blast as everyone else seemed to be – nothing but smiles!
Saturday and Sunday were Launiupoko days as we had a guest (one of Anne’s best friends) and I was teaching her to surf on the SUP. I am a terrible surfer, but the SUP made me into a hero! I took Deanna out for her first surf ever and I told her to just lie on the board and enjoy the ride. I gave the board a good shove when a macking 1 foot set came in and she was off. She loved it and she must have caught over half a dozen waves before she got tired from paddling back out and we took a rest.
Deanna catches her first wave
Next we gave the SUP a go for real – with hilarious results! Damn it is hard just to stand on the thing! I still got it together enough to catch and ride my first wave as a stand up paddler! We discovered that kneeling paddling is a good way to get to know the environment without falling off every two seconds and a great tool to getting out through the monstrous flat to a foot surf.
Tom's first stand-up session
We went back out “regular” surfing having been humbled somewhat. This time we took it in turns as I did not want to tire Deanna out to quickly and I of course wanted a crack at it. I gave D a 30 second lesson on how to stand up and on her very next wave she did! If that was not impressive enough, I caught every single excuse for a wave I paddled for! Seriously this is ridiculous it totally looked like I knew what I was doing!
Tom surfing?!!
Tom back from SUP session
Heading back out for more surfing
So Sunday found us back at the same south shore surf break as D was absolutely hooked on surfing. Unfortunately the surf had disappeared and the sets were a meager half foot. The tide was also lower, so the reefs were still generating waves, albeit without much water! Much fun was had but the lack of water resulted in several groundings and numerous reef cuts to boot. It’s okay I got more plasters and have a good supply of Betadine and Neosporin at hand. D caught her first wave SUP and was only perforated by an urchin once. Good fun!
Tom Meets Reef
Deanna Gets Up
Tom SUP on a monster!
The girls needed to leave the beach early which gave me two free hours to play in the afternoon. Being short of time I opted for a quick windfishing session at Sprecks. When I got there it was windier and much wavier than I expected. I ditched the windfishing idea and just took the 12’6” to ride some waves. This turned out to be a misyake as it was too big for Sprecks which turned out to be one big lumpy mess with no defined waves to ride - still a blast.
So over the weekend I used my 12’6” (can’t call it a SUP ‘cause it does so much more!) to surf, stand-up-paddle and windsurf, two of which were genuinely new experiences. Actually catching every wave I paddled for was a new experience too! I have no desire to surf anything else now as it is so easy to paddle and catch waves. I could turn the board just fine at least as good as any other longboard I have ridden. It takes some foot work but is not hard to sort out. I guess you could call me old, but I tell you I have never ridden so many waves in such a short period of time, so maybe I am just impatient!
For those of you expecting a blog exclusively on windsurfing I apologize. I am writing this and this is what I did this weekend. So actually I am not sorry at all as I had a ball!
posted by Jeffrey, Glenn and Tom at
2/12/2008 11:28:00 PM
4 Comments
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
How sails are designed.
Bloged by Tom
I was recently asked about sail design by an Italian magazine. Unfortunately due to the timing I was only able to give the most cursory answers. Having thought about it a bit I decided that the people who buy HSM products deserve to know a bit about what goes into them. I cannot fully explain the designs or how they are created (top secret!), but I can give you an insight.
Take a piece of paper. You can easily curve it in one direction or another. It is a two dimensional object and can be made to conform to any 2D shape. Piece of cake. Now take that paper and twist it. It does not want to do it does it? All you get are giant wrinkles. This is the problem the sail designer faces – making a 3D object from 2D materials. Not only that but we deal with dynamic systems, that is to say they are constantly changing. One last spanner in the works is that what a sail wants to do naturally is the opposite of what you want it to do. A little tricky.
So it seems impossible, yet we have come so far. Modern sails are engineering feats no doubt. The windsurfing environment is so complex with so many variables that it is impossible to model. So how is it done?
I can’t speak for other designers, but here is how I do it. I look at the sail as a complete surface. I look at the whole system rather than individual isolated points. So if I change anything it changes EVERYTHING. Imagine this, big soap bubble. If you touch it, it will adhere to your finger (if it does not pop!) and you can manipulate it. You only move one point on the bubble but the entire bubble changes. I treat it as a 4 dimensional object – 3 spatial dimensions and a tension dimension. They are all related and any change in one causes a change in the others. Understanding tension in a sail is the key to understanding how a sail shapes and how a sail performs.
Understanding the mast is the other side of the equation. The mast is super critical as it dictates how the sail will be tensioned under dynamic conditions. Use a mast the sail was not designed for and who knows what the sail will do. Most people don’t seem to notice but sail designers cringe when another mast is used. Look at it from our perspective – we’ve been tearing our hair out to eek out meager gains in performance this last year, and some kook takes the sail and rigs it on a mast that sets the performance back 5 or more years!
Anyway, that was just shaping, we put the same effort into material selection, durability, pricing, quality and many other factors.
When you buy a sail from Hot Sails Maui, you are buying it from people who have windsurfed for a very long time, and have put everything they know into the sails. You are getting the very best in performance, durability, quality and price. To be honest we do it for ourselves, so we can have better sessions, ‘cause it’s what we do. You just happen to benefit!
I was recently asked about sail design by an Italian magazine. Unfortunately due to the timing I was only able to give the most cursory answers. Having thought about it a bit I decided that the people who buy HSM products deserve to know a bit about what goes into them. I cannot fully explain the designs or how they are created (top secret!), but I can give you an insight.
Take a piece of paper. You can easily curve it in one direction or another. It is a two dimensional object and can be made to conform to any 2D shape. Piece of cake. Now take that paper and twist it. It does not want to do it does it? All you get are giant wrinkles. This is the problem the sail designer faces – making a 3D object from 2D materials. Not only that but we deal with dynamic systems, that is to say they are constantly changing. One last spanner in the works is that what a sail wants to do naturally is the opposite of what you want it to do. A little tricky.
So it seems impossible, yet we have come so far. Modern sails are engineering feats no doubt. The windsurfing environment is so complex with so many variables that it is impossible to model. So how is it done?
I can’t speak for other designers, but here is how I do it. I look at the sail as a complete surface. I look at the whole system rather than individual isolated points. So if I change anything it changes EVERYTHING. Imagine this, big soap bubble. If you touch it, it will adhere to your finger (if it does not pop!) and you can manipulate it. You only move one point on the bubble but the entire bubble changes. I treat it as a 4 dimensional object – 3 spatial dimensions and a tension dimension. They are all related and any change in one causes a change in the others. Understanding tension in a sail is the key to understanding how a sail shapes and how a sail performs.
Understanding the mast is the other side of the equation. The mast is super critical as it dictates how the sail will be tensioned under dynamic conditions. Use a mast the sail was not designed for and who knows what the sail will do. Most people don’t seem to notice but sail designers cringe when another mast is used. Look at it from our perspective – we’ve been tearing our hair out to eek out meager gains in performance this last year, and some kook takes the sail and rigs it on a mast that sets the performance back 5 or more years!
Anyway, that was just shaping, we put the same effort into material selection, durability, pricing, quality and many other factors.
When you buy a sail from Hot Sails Maui, you are buying it from people who have windsurfed for a very long time, and have put everything they know into the sails. You are getting the very best in performance, durability, quality and price. To be honest we do it for ourselves, so we can have better sessions, ‘cause it’s what we do. You just happen to benefit!
posted by Jeffrey, Glenn and Tom at
2/06/2008 10:01:00 PM
5 Comments
You Cannot Be Serious!
Do you know the best thing about weddings (not including the wedding night)?
No, it’s not when it’s over, it’s the presents! If Anne reads this please note it is tongue in cheek!
My long time boss and good friend Jeffrey Henderson just gave us a very early wedding present. Anne and I are both agreed it was worth getting married already (even though we actually haven’t).
Tonight I added two 2x2 pieces of lumber to my board rack and secured them with four screws. This is highly significant as you will see in the photo of the rack below:
Notice an odd one out? Yes we got a SUP!!!!!
I have not been this excited since I got my first shortboard! This is an amazing gift and Anne and I are very thankful. It is certainly the best wedding present we will get so I guess it’s all downhill from here.
Why am I so excited? This is the most versatile piece of kit I have ever had. We can:
Surf
Stand-up-paddle
Tandem surf
Learn to Windsurf
Windsurf on light days
Go on long exploratory sails
Windfish (this will happen a lot!)
Whale-watch platform
Generally enjoy life!
What a brilliant gift!
Thanks Jeff.
No, it’s not when it’s over, it’s the presents! If Anne reads this please note it is tongue in cheek!
My long time boss and good friend Jeffrey Henderson just gave us a very early wedding present. Anne and I are both agreed it was worth getting married already (even though we actually haven’t).
Tonight I added two 2x2 pieces of lumber to my board rack and secured them with four screws. This is highly significant as you will see in the photo of the rack below:
Notice an odd one out? Yes we got a SUP!!!!!
I have not been this excited since I got my first shortboard! This is an amazing gift and Anne and I are very thankful. It is certainly the best wedding present we will get so I guess it’s all downhill from here.
Why am I so excited? This is the most versatile piece of kit I have ever had. We can:
Surf
Stand-up-paddle
Tandem surf
Learn to Windsurf
Windsurf on light days
Go on long exploratory sails
Windfish (this will happen a lot!)
Whale-watch platform
Generally enjoy life!
What a brilliant gift!
Thanks Jeff.
posted by Jeffrey, Glenn and Tom at
2/06/2008 08:47:00 PM
2 Comments
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Interns Gone Wild!
Hot Sails Maui interns "Frenchy" and Hessel had a going away party thrown for them last month. The party at Jeff's house these two boys let loose! After a grand dinner and drinks, they decided to do a little night windsurfing before their departure.
The Vodka was flowing, the girls all went out to watch and drink and common sense went out the window. Well they deserve a good time for their efforts, and shall not be soon forgotten.
posted by Jeffrey, Glenn and Tom at
2/03/2008 07:31:00 PM
5 Comments
