In the late 1990s, performance windsurfing has become a matter of very finely tuned precision design.
Boards are lighter, faster and looser than ever.
Rapidly developing mast technology has dramatically reduced rig weight while improving aerodynamic performance through quantum advances in mast reflex response. Sails must have a wide wind range. They must be tunable across a wide spectrum of outhaul and downhaul settings to match the full range of sailing conditions working in harmony with mast, board, fin and rider to optimise wind and water conditions. The Vert-X design system combines vertical luff panels and horizontal body panel shaping to offer designers the opportunity to regulate both sail shape and skin tension with a high degree of precision. For the 1997 Neil Pryde Collection, designers Barry Spanier and Nils Rosenblad have systematically tuned the relationship between luff curve and seam shape, reducing the downhaul tension required while increasing the tension and stability in the surface of the sail.