For the second of this summer’s range finders we needed two things: a brand that weren’t getting involved in the imminent half-yearly new product launches, and another seriously busy man.
Then it hit us: looking at our latest technique movie, the answers were staring us in the face – Ezzy ever-so-sensibly hold new launches until January every year, and SeaSpriteSports brand manager Jem Hall has a little bit on right now. Newly married to the lovely Sophie and fresh back from another sell-out technique clinic in Rhodes, we caught Jem as he was waiting for a good old clicking from his osteopath before heading up to Hunstanton for this weekend’s slalom and freestyle extravaganza. He’ll be at the National Windsurfing Festival in September too, which he somehow fits in amongst recording technique movies for Boardseeker, writing wave technique in Boards Mag, pimping Ezzy / RRD / Flying Objects in the UK, and coaching around the globe (click jemhall.com for more on his clinics; the last few places available this year are Mauritius, 22 Sep, with 2011 already taking bookings).
Once we’d broken Jem away from his favourite mantra – “Ezzy joy, quality is our strength. Ezzy joy, quality is our strength. Ezzy joy, quality is our strength…” – we coaxed a few lines about each of Ezzy’s four ranges from him.
Wave Panther 2
Wave / bump-&-jump – in a nutshell a massive wind range, superb control and unrivaled quality of construction. The sail is super-easy to rig using the guides and has both a fantastic untuned and tunable wind range. The wave sails are renowned as bulletproof but are now much lighter in feel and physical weight, plus with its superhuman stability everything is easy with an Ezzy. 3.3m to 6.9m. £415 to £488
Freeride
Freeride / bump-&-jump. This feels like a scaled up Panther to me and has the stability of a cammed sail with both the ease of use and rigging of a rotational sail. Their huge wind range means you need fewer sails I use 7.0 and 8.5. The new materials give all the Ezzys a lighter, softer feel. As for the Panther, its both highly tunable and easy to rig and you can use any standard or reduced diameter mast! 5.5m to 9.5m. £467 to £550
Infinity
Removable twin-cam powerhouse. More power than any sail in its class and with a narrow luff tube that gives you ease of uphauling and waterstarting. The Infinity comes with three pairs of removable cams to fit your specific mast. The deep, draft-forward profile means that the sail feels very balanced with the trademark Ezzy stability giving your back arm a rest and thereby maintaining a locked in and forward pull.
Zephyr
One size for 6.5 to 8.5 and light wind loving. The Zephyr takes us back to when 10 knots or less meant a really fun time. The long boom combined with a stable profile gives the Zephyr the power of an 8.5 and the control of a 6.5. It suits larger freeride boards, longboards and is great for powering along on a stand-up paddleboard with a mastfoot. As for all the Ezzys it takes the guesswork out of rigging with its colour coded outhaul and downhaul indicators. 7.5m. £460
All Ezzy sails are rigged in the factory before you get it to ensure you get a high quality product. David Ezzy has loads of informative rigging and tuning videos on his site and takes his customer service very seriously indeed. If you email him on [email protected] you will get a personal response within 12 hours.
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