SPECTRO 2025

A sporty freerider 

The Spectro, which is only available in 7.8 m² for these tests, replaces the Exceed and Vector by adopting a sporty design with 7 battens (6 tubes) with two cambers in a moderate mast pocket. 

ON THE WATER: The Spectro has a reasonable weight for a 7.8 m² sail, is easily accessible and creates more dynamics and sportiness than the Exceed due to the additional batten and the slightly less pronounced hollow behind the mast. This 7.8 m² sail logically develops a higher explosiveness than the others in light winds to take off after a few metres to plane and pass the wind holes, at the expense of more limited control in stronger winds: it is more electric, the profile deforms less and reacts immediately. The DNA of the Exceed can be found in the accessibility/simplicity of the rig, with more momentum and a small stability bonus. Despite a nice opening of the leech, the performance lags behind the freerace models as the profile saturates a little faster at high speeds. You have to quickly switch to the lower, more inboard eyelet in established winds to neutralise the sail more easily than others in medium winds and show less physical effort: It lays itself into the wind with a force that is easier to channel. In choppy conditions, the profile does not deform as much, which means the sail jerks less. Finally, the very good rotation of the camber in the jibe and the ease of the water start are appreciated. 

CONCLUSION: The new Spectro is sportier than the old Exceed, without reaching the stability, control or performance of the Vector, and covers a recreational and sport freeride programme while maintaining the ease of rigging the two cams and the power to pass through wind holes in light winds. 

+Easy rigging/unrigging, camber rotation, power, good balance between planing and stability. 

-Less power, less stable than the Freeracers, slightly more backhand than average 

GunSails has confirmed all sail lines from 2023 for the 2024 season, following ‘the reasonable habit of launching new lines every two years’ .... However, there is no shortage of new products that anticipate the launch of the 2025 sails, such as this Spectro, which will retire two long-serving sails such as the Exceed and the Vector, which will be phased out in the 2025/26 season. The new sail adopts the two-camber configuration and combines the qualities of the two previous models: a six-batten design in the small sizes and a seven-batten design in the large sizes. 

Since a 6.3 was available, we tried it out and didn't regret it!  

As I have reduced the surface area and number of camber of ‘my’ thermal sail year after year up to the 7.0, when I first tried the Spectro 6.3 I was surprised by the generous amount of drag it had to offer and it didn't make me miss the 7.0 at all, even with two cambers that I normally use.  The fact that you can easily rig it with a 430/21 mast from rdm or sdm (in the case of this test we tried it with Reptile Fibre rdm carbon 100 and with Dynafiber 430/21 sdm carbon 80) is another good point in favour of this sail, and the combination with the rdm carbon 100 mast (also thanks to the adequate washers supplied as standard) was ‘blessed’ by my old back, who appreciates more comfortable and lighter equipment more and more! And if you have a 430 rdm with a good amount of carbon, you don't need to buy a ‘special’ sdm mast, nor, with this sail having ‘only’ 193/200 cm for boom adjustment via the two offset clew eyelets, too long a boom! Having said that the Spectro is extremely flexible to handle in this size, you shouldn't think that you're dealing with a sail with little ‘performance’. I could almost dare to say the opposite, because when I sailed up and down the home spot several times at different speeds, I had the impression of reaching an amazing top speed combined with my old 125-litre Slalom. 

Maybe it's simply because it's so easy to control compared to a 7.0, even in the strongest gusts, that you can concentrate on your board set-up to get every knot out of it. As it is a freerace sail with a nice deep foot, the acceleration at the start of planing is at least ‘generous’ and always guaranteed even in gusts. The control and ride comfort remain honourable, considering that it is a camber sail and therefore a little more physical, especially for light pilots. For the vast majority of rides on our local thermals, I didn't miss my old 7.0, given the greater lightness and similar performance of the Spectro... and that says a lot about the ‘ greatness’ of this sail! 

Plus : Performance in medium/light winds, range of use, generous torque, stability, easy trim with rdm/sdm, comfort, price 

Minus: A little physical for light pilots