Windsurf – July 2019

84 JULY 2019

FREERIDE FOIL SAIL TEST

THEY SAY

To get you started as quickly and as

easily as possible, and to make sure

the fun never ends while on the

water, Duotone has introduced the

new F_Type – the ideal sail for silently

hovering over the water.

WE SAY

Introduced for 2019, the F_Type has just two

sizes in the range and is specifically designed for

foiling and making the most of the lightest winds.

Set on a 430 cm Platinum RDM there are lots of

unique features to draw the eye. With just four

battens in its structure, it exhibits next to no luff

curve and a massive Dacron luff panel from head

to tack. There are a couple of removable Switch

Soft Cams on the two bottom battens, (akin to

the split cams of old), for improved response in

light airs. Rigging the sail and fixing the cams

in place certainly isn’t as easy as the brand’s fa-

bled Hyper Cam, but with minimal downhaul

and outhaul, they can be pushed on, closing the

zips and tensioning the battens through the ret-

ro cleats to ensure they sit in place as the rest of

the tension is applied. With a long gap between

the main batten and foot batten, a low-cut foot

shape, convex trailing edge outline and minimal

Duoton e F_TYPE 6.8M

WEB WWW.DUOTONESPORTS.COM PRICE £629

VITAL STATS

Size: 6.8m Luff: 466 cm Boom: 196 cm

Battens: 4 Cams: 2 Ideal Mast: 430/460

Duotone Platinum Extension Required: 36 cm

Available Sizes: 5.8,6.8

looseness in the leech, the F_Type is a long way

removed from a contemporary freeride sail, but

would the extra performance capacity as a result

be noticeable?

Used in light winds and with minimal down-

haul, the F_Type is incredibly light and easy in the

hands at rest, the centre of effort high yet relative-

ly far back in the draft, providing balance through

both hands. The innate softness and geometry of

the F_Type make it incredibly successful in trans-

lating the smallest gust into usable energy. Pump-

ing the sail is easy, the reduced luff curve enabling

the soft mast to flex and spring back into place,

whilst the distance between the lower battens pro-

vides extra room for movement. The large Dacron

luff panel deepens the sail’s lungs, uninhibited by

the play in the soft cams, and the extended foot

and lower leech panels provide positive feed-

back whilst pumping, reducing the chance of

over-sheeting. It all adds up to a pretty impressive

bottom end performance, injecting power and en-

ergy early so that the rider can shift their weight

back and pump the foil too.

Once planing, the F_Type’s natural stance is

upright and easy, the high centre of effort pull-

ing the rider over the board. Supremely light

and manageable in the hands, it is also efficient

• the set back profile, tight leech and low foot
  providing plenty of balanced feedback for the
  rider to maintain their stance and glide through
  prolonged lulls. In the Duotone blurb, it is sug-
  gested to remove the cams entirely for improved
  handling. For playful manoeuvring, ducking and
  diving around the rolling swell of a coastal are-
  na ... perhaps. But for use in the harbour there
  really wasn’t the need – the sail remaining light
  and balanced, inspiring the rider to enter carving
  transitions positively, whilst the cams rotate in
  a soft forgiving manner. As the wind increased,
  we did apply more downhaul (beyond the single
  VTS marker in the upper panel) to discover its
  limit. And whilst it wasn’t going to win any drag
  races (for racing performance look
  to the newly released Warp_Foil
  of PWA stardom), the F_Type
  certainly didn’t present the han-
  dling issues envisaged. Ease the
  sail out through the back hand
  and the induced profile simply
  lets the extra energy pass through,
  blessing the rider with the time
  and control to reengage whenever
  they desire.