Neil Pryde Hellcat 2008 , WOW it is hot.

New for 2008, the Neil Pryde Hellcat is a no-cam freerace sail designed for speed and acceleration. With race sail inspired shaping and outline, the Hellcat is lightweight, planes easily and is quick to accelerate to top speed.

The camberless design ensures the Hellcat is easy to rig, handles smoothly with a soft easy rotation and is the most manoeuvrable sail in the 2008 Neil Pryde flatwater collection. So, whether you’re blasting with your friends or fine tuning your slalom gybes, the Hellcat is one hot ride.

Design Objectives

• To design a fast, powerful flatwater sail without cambers.
• The sail must be responsive, have good acceleration and a light sailing weight.
• Compared to the 2007 Neil Pryde Saber, the Hellcat needs to be relatively more powerful. However the extra power can not come at the expense of stability or control in the top end - especially when sailing in overpowered conditions.
• The Hellcat needs to be easy to rig, particularly on X3 and X6 masts.

Achieved By:

• Using a classic flatwater outline with a longer boom and increased foot area - relative to a wave or crossover sail - to promote speed. This, in conjunction with the Compact Boom Concept, delivers more controllable power.
• Reducing the luff-curve to allow the sail to ‘inflate’ rapidly when exiting gybes or sailing into a gust therefore ensuring responsiveness and acceleration.
• The introduction of a ‘hollow’ leech to promote draft stability, and help prevent the mid-leech from ‘blowing out’ and distorting the profile of the sail.
• Increased shaping (relative to the Saber) in the bottom of the sail to ensure good low-end power, acceleration and draft stability.
• Reducing the surface area in the head of the sail to assist in achieving power with control. This redistribution of surface area ‘down’ the sail effectively reduces the aspect ratio, making the size of the "power triangle" (an imaginary triangle that joins the tip of the mast, the clew and the foot) smaller and bringing it closer to the rider delivering a significant increase in control.
• The Hellcat ’s luff pocket has been designed to easily accommodate wider diameter masts (X3 & X6) and the no-cam design ensures the sail is quick and easy to rig.

"The HellCat is closely based on the Saber from 2007.  With a little increased shaping and increased foot size you’ll find the sail has a bit more power to get you that extra performance.  Also without the cams rigging is super easy so when you come down to the beach and you’ve very limited time or the conditions are changing fast you rig up, you get out there and you maximise your time on the water."

Pieter Bijl /NeilPryde Design Center

"The new HellCat is similar to the Saber in that it doesn’t have any cambers, but for sure it’s a lot faster. This is because the sail has more of a flatwater, race-like outline and a deeper profile at the bottom of the sail. This means the HellCat is powerful but thanks to the sails’ other features like the compact clew, its controllable. But the best thing is that its really easy to rig which means you can get on the water quickly; and once you’re on the water the sails gybes easily and accelerates well."

Antoine Albeau / FRA192

"The HellCat has great straight line speed, is super easy to gybe and really easy to rig up because it’s a camberless sail. Basically if you are looking for the speed and performance of race sail without the difficulties of rigging and tuning a sail with cams this is the sail for you."

Robby Swift / K89

Your chance to win a new Neil Pryde Hellcat 2008

Specifications:

Antoine Albeau being chased on the Neil Pryde Hellcat

Robby Swift laying into a gybe on the Neil Pryde Hellcat

Robby Swift and Antoine Albeau showing off the new Neil Pryde Hellcat

More info and a chance to win a new Neil Pryde Hellcat - see www.neilpryde.com