Nitro 4s Have u had em on the water yet??

[<Allan>]

Hi Sukhdev,

Just wondering if you have had the Nitro 4 out on the water?? any thoughts?? You also said that Meng was getting a 11m and also a 9.3? Are these the only 2 sails he is intending on using for his Formula racing?? What do you the sizeing?? too far apart??

Cheers Allan

PS The weather is no warmer here in the UK Yet??

[Meng]

Hi Allan,

I just had about an hour on the new 11m Nitro 4 on Bic 1.4 today.
Initial impression is that the 11m sail feels lighter.
Feels smoother and able to take in more top end speed.
Need more time to 'play' with both 11m and 9.3m.
I will be using these 2 sizes for this year's.

Sukhdev was out on a 12m Nitro 4 too.

May the wind be with u
Meng

[<Allan>]

Hi Meng,

Yes, I was alos thinking of just a two sail quiver like you with those two sails sizes aswell, but was told the gap maybe too big?? obvioulsy you dont think so??

Im told the 11m has a very good bottom end? over exsisiting model? are you able to comment?? As I have a new 11m on order, are you using ignition masts to??

Cheers Allan

[sukhdev]

Allan, had the 12 Nitro IV out today in gusty conditions, from non planing to 12 knots or so,pretty good test of the 12. Had a tad too little downhaul on it at first, fixed that. Boom setting seems a big longer than the printed recommended settings. Sailed on 147 + r13h 70. Sail is very stable, as expected.

Need more time on it but so far the most obvious difference to me relative to what I've used past 2 years is the downwind angle. Rigged it on a 550 Powerex 100%. My quiver will be 12, 10.4 mostly, i'll keep a 9.3 i reserve. The 11,9.3 jump you noticed is not ideal but it works..we have slightly different sailing styles. Meng likes to be properly powered and I prefer to be slightly over powered, choice reflects weight and that preference. We will also be testing the 7.6 and 6.6 for slalom use.

On a side note our Hypersonic 125s are in, we've set up one demo board but wasn't windy enough today.. hope to test it and write a test report in the coming days.

[<Raze>]

Sukhdev, Meng,

have you guys test the 9.3 Nitro4 yet? What is the feedback. Will you compare 9.3 with 9.0? Also, if you modify the battens like in Sukhdev's other post can you please share the before/after impression?

If I take the 10.5 N4 as my biggest sail, what would be a good 2 sail quiver for formula. I am also thinking of a slalom board so if I have one slalom board how would I choose the sail size? I am 75kg.

[sukhdev]

Haven't rigged up the 9.3, Meng should be setting his up tomorrow. We will post settings & impressions on all the sizes once we are done testing; this should cover 12, 11, 10.5, 9.3, 9.0, 7.6 & 6.6 .. if the wind cooperates.

If you take 10.5, your next step down could be 9.0  or 9.3 if you want a smaller spread. For slalom its hard to say without knowing the wind range you will sail in and board type of the slalom board you are using.

[Meng]

Hi Allan and Raze,

The Nitro 4 11m² & 9.3m² are my FW preference cos of the S'pore conditions which varies from 6-18 kts.
I weigh about 75kgs. 11m² is sufficent for me to get moving fast in lighter condition.
As for the 9.3m², I feel that I can get lot more speed in stronger condition while under control.
These choices are made after I had sailed & raced on 11.7m², 11m² and 9m² in 2002.
Regarding battens, I have never 'tweak' any of it. So I can't help u on that topic.

As for the masts, I am using the Powerex 550 on the 11m² and a YES 520 (both 100% carbon) for the 9.3m². No chance to use the new Ignition mast yet (not available yet).

Need more time to sail on the new Nitro 4s as wind has been quite bad recently.
I will be racing on the N4s in Penang Regatta in early March. Hope to do well there.

Raze,
What is your ideal slalom board ? Need more info b4 anyone can make any sail size suggestion to u ?

rgds to all
Meng

[<Allan>]

Any sailing done on the Nitor 4 11m yet??? Mine arrives with ignition mast in 3 weeks time!!!!

I hope its a good en with the mast???

Ive been told it has a really good wind range however my interests are mainly in the bottom end as i have Nitro 3 9.8 to change down too!! then now a Nitro 2 9m now, which I hope to sort out batten ends shortly to can be a fairly useful sail on the hyper too

[<XRser>]

Sukhdev any tuning comments on the nitro IV u had used so far?

[sukhdev]

Allan I've been on the 12 but Meng has put in a fair bit of time on the 11. We retuned the 11 yesterday, adding both downhaul and outhaul. Meng is happy with the current settings which seem a tad over recommended. Still more work to do before we get all the sizes dialled in but the rock solid stability is already there.

Xrser, so far nothing unusual, downhaul helps smoothen the sail alot, we were too conservative with downhaul initially. Battens need a fair bit of tension but whacking on lots of tension doesnt seem to adversely affect the cambers from rotating.

I have been using a dry lubricant on the entire 550 mast used for the 12, seems to make sleeving the sail very much easier during rigging.

[<Allan>]

Hi Meng,

So what you to report on the Nitro 4 11m then?? Is it superior to last years on the bottom end?? what are ur recommended rigging settings?/

Cheers Allan

[Meng]

Hi Allan,

I have managed to sail the 11m² for the past few days in 9-18+ kts gusty conditions.
As Sukhdev mentioned, I was rather conservative on the downhaul tension cos I broke a mast extension from it.
After 'tensioning' the downhaul more than usual, I felt the sail is more alive especially in >15 kts. I could handle the sail better than initially.
As for the outhaul, I tend make the sail 'barely' touches the boom, but I will pull it flat if I'm getting too much wind for comfort.
My impression is that the sail 'friendly' in stronger condition considering I'm only 75 kgs.
I got the new N4 9.3m² on the beach standby but I was using the 11m² for the whole time.

I wasn't on the N3 last year, so I can't compare it to the N4.
But I can attest that the N4 is a powerful sail.
It needs right amount of downhaul and batten tensions.
I'm enjoying it alot with the N4.
I'm just waiting to take the 9.3m² if the condition is suitable.

Pls tell me about your impression on the ignition mast when u get the chance.

Happy sailing
Meng

[<Allan>]

hi Guys,

Keep us updated on your findings of the Nitro 4s. still would like to know your rig settings for the 11m meng. also have you been able to use that 7.6 yet on they Hyper

Cheers Allan

Sails and mast should arrive in a week or so!!!

[sukhdev]

Meng is away in Penang for a race, looks like he did ok. We will post our settings for 12, 11, 10.5, 7.6 by next weekend, rigging & testing 7.6 today.