Types of sails.

You might argue that the majority of (non-competition) sailors shall be best suited with a sail from the level just below the top race sails (for instance Neil Pryde V8, Maui Sails MS-2, North Sails Daytona, Gaastra GTX ... etc.):

• The sail is relatively easy to rig.

• The 2-3 cambers are enough to stabilize the sail - and the sail shall rotate a lot better than a pure race sail.

• The mast sleeve isn't so wide that it swallows too much water (which ruins the starts).

• The mast shall probably be so strong that you dare sail alone (also in the wintertime).

• The price is clearly lower.

• The sail often have better low wind power, at least if your style of sailing isn't very active.

But that said, there's also a couple of (decisive?) advantages sailing the pure race sails (Neil Pryde RS, Maui Sails TR, North Sails Warp, Gaastra Vapor (earlier Nitro and Neutron) ... etc.), among other things:

• The sails are made in bigger sizes.

• The stability in increasing winds is much better - and the same is the speed and upwind performance.

• The handling isn't so much  worse as some sailors think.

• If you feel very unsafe as to the durability of the dedicated 100% carbon masts (and for good reasons so!), you don't give in too much performance by choosing a mast from the next level of that particular brand. An seen away from Maui Sails and Gaastra the next best/expensive masts have almost the same characteristics (as to stiffness and bend curve) as the top masts.

At this place it is the predominant opinion that formula boards deserve pure race sails, and in this respect two things are decisive: First of all a duel on the water is very often dependant of the ability to hold the sail (or to make it function efficiently) in the higher wind span - and secondly it boosts your self confidence to know that if the wind increases in trips over longer distances, it's somewhat easier to make it home to the shore without too many catapults.