On the topic of sail profiles - the real test of the small head sails versus the new big heads will be the upcoming European titles in Austria. So far there are 87 entrants with most of the top runners from the last Worlds attending. Even some blasts from the past like Mitch Booth and Goran Marstrom! Rumour has it that Glenn Ashby has shipped a Geltek prototype from Australia and will use his big head sail. That is if the rigors of fatherhood don't get in the way. Steve Brewin has settled on a 1 metre head and is sailing very fast. Andrew Landenberger is staying with the small head which has proven very fast for him. It's a pity no US have nominated as it would be good to see some of the leaders from their current national event test themselves against the best.

For what it's worth, my own experience in testing an 1100mm head Brewin sail has shown some promise. I've now done 11 races with it - including seven against numbers 2, 3 and 10 in the last worlds. I've found it to be slower upwind but much faster downwind. We are working on the upwind speed with different batten tensions and stiffening the luff with carbon tape. I'm on the heavier end of the scale at 90kg, so the extra grunt up high in the sail seems to be working downwind.

Anyway, I think the concept has merit and wouldn't be surprised if we are all using big heads by this time next year - particularly if they are at the front of the fleet in the Europeans.

Cheers
John Dowling
AUS 9