Hello people! Congratulations for the excellent site.
I have a question, I'd appreciate any feedback please:
I'm thinking of buying the Lefebvre 9.5 Race pro raceboard sail. The reason I'm changing sail is that my sail (the starboard 9.5 raceboard sail) needs a stiffer mast than my RS:X mast, on which it sets absolutely horribly. In the Lefebvre website I noticed their sails are always rigged on RS:X masts, so since I can't find anyone to sell my mast to and it costs me less to buy a new Lefebvre sail I'd like to know if anyone has had any experience on it.
Thanks in advance!

Hi,
I do not have one but thinking to buy one either.

They are quite famous in Germany and often used at low and medium wind conditions as a competitor for the Aerolite.
But you will find better in strong wind like the Starboard Race you want to sell or the RSX.

They have 2 nice vidoes on their site showing Moritz Martin (Vice-Worldchamp in 2009 using an older verison of this sail in that time) and Fabian Grundmann (German Champ in 2010 with a newer version).

But they have a very good price for the sail.

I do not see a reason against, only that you need something else for strong winds.

Hi Bananetiger,
thanks for your reply. I saw the photos link on their website, which takes you to photos from the Chiemsee marathon events, and there everyone seems to be on these sails! Impressive, I guess they can't be bad sails anyway! I suppose the Aerolites have to be even faster in light winds, but I know these sails are just too fragile for anything other than racing use, plus they seem to go completely out of shape as soon as the wind hits 12-13 knots. The price is also exaggerated.
Have you ever had the opportunity to try a Lefebvre out? The new Loft sail might also be a good alternative at an attractive price...
Thanks for your time!

KA-Sails are working on a set of raceboard sails (7.8/8.5/9.5). All Ka-sails are mast friendly. With that I mean that the sails work great on different masts. I expect the same for there raceboard sails.
I am waiting to buy a raceboard sail for my Equipe II until the new Ka-sails arive.

How is it possible that KA Sails 'work great on different masts'? That is, different masts have different bends/curvatures, which require different cut of the sail.

I am not saying that you can use masts of different curves, althow i have done that in the past to change the caracteristics of a sail. Some sailbrands make there sails so you can only use there masts for optimum performents. A mast from another brand will never work great even if it has the "same" curve.

Some sailmakers like KA devellop there sails with masts for multiple brands and so these sails are more forgiving for different masts. Sails that need little downhaul tention are normaly more forgiving to different masts.

The KA-Sails website recommends KA-Sails Masts as that is were the sails are designed for.

I think the mentioned situation is feasible for all sails. You can find masts in the market with a slightly different
bending in bottom or top than the recommended mast and therefore a surfer is able to adjust the bending in the
sail to his wishes.

speedsurfer142 wrote:KA-Sails are working on a set of raceboard sails (7.8/8.5/9.5).

that is great news, i have a KA Vector, a 7.5 raceboard sail Andrew says he did for the Japanese market years ago, it is a very good light air sail. Any idea when they plan to release the new sails?

I don't know when they will release the sails, but I will let you know as soon as I know. It will be this year, thats all I know.

speedsurfer142 wrote:KA-Sails are working on a set of raceboard sails (7.8/8.5/9.5)

Heard that news myself and i can't wait to get my hands on the 9.5m when they are ready

gre26 wrote:Hi Bananetiger,
thanks for your reply. I saw the photos link on their website, which takes you to photos from the Chiemsee marathon events, and there everyone seems to be on these sails! Impressive, I guess they can't be bad sails anyway! I suppose the Aerolites have to be even faster in light winds, but I know these sails are just too fragile for anything other than racing use, plus they seem to go completely out of shape as soon as the wind hits 12-13 knots. The price is also exaggerated.
Have you ever had the opportunity to try a Lefebvre out? The new Loft sail might also be a good alternative at an attractive price...
Thanks for your time!

I heard similar about the robustness and quality of the Areolites here in Germany and was also surprised about their prices.

I have never been sailing a Lefebvre yet, but would like to for 2012.

The former Loft RB was a strong wind sail, I can not say how good it is for low wind.
I just have seen that Curro Manchon, the Loft Teamrider, has been using the Aerolite during the worlds and not the Loft RB
and this is interesting.