The SO is the resulting culmination-work of world renowned sail designer Jeffrey Henderson and the innovator of new school windsurfing and one of the worlds top wave-board shapers of Quattro fame: Sean Ordonez. The concept behind the SO was to design a sail that matched Sean’s radical crossover wave / freestyle sailing character. Equally as challenging was to design the SO to perform on both a regular and RDM type mast. Today’s hard-core wave sailors are switching to RDM masts, which provide unparalleled strength against breakage in high surf conditions.      The SO’s hi-tenacity-weave luff material was exclusively developed by HOT to provide the highest level of performance from both an RDM and Regular mast style.

Excluding the smaller sail sizes 3.0 and 3.5 the SO is a 6 batten sail. The SO’s 6 batten layout with a low forward draft foil provides one of the most stable wave sails available. In overpowered conditions the SO truly excels.  When strong gusts slam against the sail there is absolutely no shift in the draft point…the SO remains stable and easily controllable. From the moment you roll out this sail it is apparent that the SO is built tough to withstand the harshest Hookipa conditions. The feel of the sail is light, making new maneuvers that much easier to pull off. The SO is also fast, whether you’re a hardcore wave rider or a new school slashing, spinning, looping freestyle rider or a die-hard Bump and Jump sailor the SO delivers beyond all! It’s got Sean Ordonez written all over it!

December 2002 issue of Windsurf UK 2003 sail test: Hot Sails SO 4.5m      Heralding from the Island of Maui, the Hot Sails brand boast a long heritage producing sails designed to excel in the radical waters of the world¹s capital of windsurfing. Sitting alongside the Smack that we tested last month, the SO is designed to be more of the all round wave sail as opposed to the down-the-line specialist. Built with a great deal of lateral thinking, all of the Hot Sails use functional combinations of materials that are heavily reinforced with scrims and secondary laminates. Features like padded tacks, boom cut-out measurements and twin position clews give the sail a technical and well engineered look. There is a great deal of scrim Mylar on the sail and as such it looks like it would withstand a hefty impact. Supplied with a skinny mast, rigging was much easier than last year¹s model, thanks to a new style head turban arrangement that allows easy placement of the mast.

On the water the SO is a far more balanced and all round sail than the Smack; there is a greater wind range and a larger capacity for tuning the sail. Power is there to get you up and going, although still fairly well back in the sail, giving you a grunty feel. The scrim construction is surprisingly light and the foiling of the sail very neutral, commendable for a sail that is built so strongly. It makes faster more radical movements of the sail very easy and precise, whilst giving a respectable amount of feedback to the rider. In rougher choppier water the sail has a certain elasticity to it, working together with the skinny mast supplied to bring a softer, easier feel that helps you keep control. As to whom the SO will suit best, I would have to say that its tuning range coupled with its neutral balanced nature makes it a very capable sail in the hands of all levels and sizes of rider. It¹s a multipurpose sail that does everything asked of it with confidence and competence, making it one of our favourite sails on test.

Verdict: A soft, easy, rewarding sail to use that gives the rider a lot of feedback , with a good tuning range for all abilities and weights. A real all rounder.