Photo Credit: Pierre Jezequel

Test XO SAIL 9.5 COACH by Benjamin Longy (CNBPP)

 

For the 2017 French championship in Brest, Benjamin Longy came to defend his French championship title equipped with an Exocet /XO Sail pack.

The XO took the opportunity to make its first official appearance at a national regatta. Benjamin gives us his feedback:

"The equipment was kindly loaned to me by Exocet, so I could take part in the 2017 French Championship and try out this freshly arrived 2018 gear.

I'd like to give you my impressions of this equipment after it passed through my hands, following several requests for information from raceboard enthusiasts.

Let's start with the sail: its design hasn't aged a bit since its first edition. In fact, the Xosail Coach 9.5 is a reissue of the famous Coach produced by Christophe Boutet a few years ago, which was already working very well. The flamboyant colors added to it are turning the heads of every enthusiast in the parking lot.

The sail was supplied with an Xo mast and boom. Both are very well suited to the sail. The carbon wish is of very good quality and exceptionally stiff, thanks to its wide, large-diameter rear handle. The mast is also very well suited to sailing, but if you already own an RS:X mast, this one will do just fine.

 More specifically, the Xo Coach 9.5 sail is equipped with 3 cambers, giving it a very homogenous steering curve. The construction is of high quality, and looks solid and durable.

The Coach has lighter materials than the RS:X, but a little more reinforcement than the Aerolite. What we have here, then, is a glider that's a real winner for people who only want one glider and intend to keep it for a long time. I'll only compare the sail with the experience I've gained over the years with my RS:X 9.5 and a quick test of an Aerolite 9.5.

The Coach is a very good sail, and I think more versatile than the Aerolite, which is very much a small-air sail. The sail is easy to pump, it doesn't pull your arms out, so you can pump for a whole run without any problems. Its relatively well-stretched leech enables the sail to respond quickly to requests and to be precise in piloting. Once the wind picks up a little, the sail is powerful but doesn't become too "truck-like" (feeling like it's being ripped off). It allows strong acceleration but needs to be flattened out. If I had to have only one sail in my quiver, and not two (a light-weather sail and a heavy-weather sail), I'd take the Xosail Coach 9.5!

RATES : LINK

PRICES : ENGLISH

 

 

XO Sails 9.5m²