Sport Today

I have a 5.3 & 4.7 Gridlock and like them alot. I haven't tried the
Wave Vision Classic. I think the grids have good low end because of
the 3/4 battens. The only problem is that they seem to overpower a
little easier. I love the light weight feel of the Grid's. I try and
get sails at the end of season so I can save $$$. I think the Grid's
are excellent for the price and performance.

Brian

HI Brian...what's up! I agree grid-locks are way cool!  I own 4 of them.
3.0, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0.  They all work very well for me and I bought them at
close out prices for about $200 -$250 ea. in Hatteras.  If it's too windy
for the 5.3 rig down to the 4.7 and bag it out a little, take advantage of
it's good low end power to get you out through the soup and enjoy ripping
in the big puffs in control.  That seems to work for me because they are
pretty gutsy sails. If it's too windy for the 4.7, downhaul the shit out
of it, so the leech is floppy then out haul it so it's nice and flat. If
that doesn't work, buy another smaller size for cheap and shred on!  Do
you have any tricks that you use?

Hey what's up Brian.  I use gridlocks as well.  3.0,4.0,4.5,5.0 they are
the most perfect sail I've ever used for the conditions I sail in.  I live
in Michigan and sail lake Mich. exclusively.  It's usually sloppy on-shore
to side on-shore conditions, with big ugly closed out waves that will
steal the wind from your sail at every opportunity.  I love the low end
power that these sails have because it allows me to punch through the
*** whitewater zones with full on power. On the out-side when the wind
picks up the sails do get a little hard to handle, so I usually rig a
smaller size than normal (ie. if it's crankin to hard for the 5.0
outside, I'll slap on the 4.5 and take advantage of it's incredible low to
get me out through the soup, then it's full on yaaahoooo, big controlled
air, and snappy,snappy, slashy jibes. Ha Ha I'm getting geeked up just
thinking about it.) Sorry to ramble on and on.
Any way I'm interested in talking more about these sails and how they work
for others.  I love em, and they are easy to repair. Hey lets rap if you
want.  This is my first time on-line and I can't beleive all the great
stuff avaiable.

Wind-E-Dog  

I too sail Grids for wave conditions & sail a lot.  Unfortunately, the 96's
have a spider grid pattern that doesn't appeal to my sense of sail of
technology.  I'd buy the 95's forever, but am looking to other brands (Mr.
Naish has a good one).

Having been involved with aero/hydro types on two A-Cup programs - I've
seen state of the art sail development.  Take Kolius tape drive, or North
3D L, or the America 3 Liquid Crystal ... they have reinforcements & shapes
that 'jive' with my sense of 'right' (computational structures of
composites is my thing).  Shapes are fine, but the spider reinforcement
looks like marketing to me.  Just can't relate to the new HOT Grid's
direction.  Dissapointing as these guys are my friends, but i have to say
'no go'.

Just got back from 3 weeks in Maui.  Wind was good sometimes, crappy
others.  Holy Sh-- it was big on Thanksgiving day. 20 foot.  6-8 is
considered mast high, you do the math.  No wind fortunately, could have
died.
  Well, the spider pattern on the 96 grids, by Hot Sails own admition, has
nothing to do with the performance of the sail.  Neither did the previous
grid pattern.  It is only there to prevent the monofilm from blowing out
completely.  These are some of the only monofilm sails to solve the
full-blowout problem, which is why a lot of consumers are reluctant to buy
a monofilm wavesail, just too fragile.  They should though because the
performance is unreal.  The logic behind switching to the spider pattern
is (yes there's a reason besides marketing) that the smaller patches are
concentated near the foot where 90% of the damage to sails occurs because
of board noses, fins, knees, and harness hooks.  The smaller the patch
that rips, the cheaper and quicker to fix and the more chance there is you
can stay out all day anyway, and more importantly, your sail will be in
shape to let you sail in after it is torn.  I readily admit that the
spider web is a bit strange at first but is does serve some function.
It's in the eye of the beholder I guess, but if you want a light wavesail
that works well and  wont rip head to foot when you break your mast, then
the Spiderlock's should be on the list for consideration.
Brian Caserio

I was in Maui a little before you - got a mast high day 6 days before
thanksgiving - the day the guy drowned. It was real marginal 5.0, so
pretty scary (at least for us mortals) in the impact zone.

Anyway, I met a girl on the beach who had a spiderlock, and she said that
they do a lot better when overpowered than the '95 gridlocks. Since
instability when overpowered is my major complaint with my 5.0 gridlock, I
was wondering if you had tried the spider, and had an opinion on this
matter? I'm gonna get a 5.6, and was wondering if it is worth the extra
money for a '96, since I can get a good price on a slightly used '95.

I'm emailing you direct because I rarely check the news these days since

Geoff Boehm, Ben Lomond