Neil Pryde
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Neil Pryde Ltd. is a company designing and manufacturing windsurfing and other water sport equipment. It was founded by Mr. Neil Pryde in 1970[1]. Neil Pryde Ltd became a member of the Shriro Group in 1985[2].
Among the Neil Pryde line of leading edge sail technology is the Neil Pryde yacht sails division, otherwise recognized as "Neil Pryde Sails". Neil Pryde Sails is one of the worlds largest producers of sails and has a long history in producing both custom yacht sails and OEM manufacturing for production yachts. With a global representation with its ring of Neil Pryde agents around the world and its corporate and design headquarters located in Stratford, Connecticut Neil Pryde Sails is recognized as one of the leaders in the industry and is a continually growing presence in the sailing community.
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[edit] Neil Pryde RS:X
Neil Pryde RS:X is a windsurfing discipline that was selected by the ISAF in 2005 to replace the Mistral One Design class for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The discipline has similarities to formula windsurfing - mainly in that the equipment used was designed to allow windsurfing in low and moderate wind conditions with good performance.
RS:X equipment includes a board with a daggerboard, and a sail of a specified size. The board was designed by Jean Bouldoires, and measures 286 cm in length and 93 cm in width. Unlike formula boards, it is quite heavy - 15.5 kg, which is almost twice that of regular competition formula boards, but is very similar to the weight of Raceboards such as the previous Olympic board, the Mistral One Design.
The RS:X seems to be a compromise between traditional Raceboards which work well in 5-35 knots, and Formula boards which go fast in 12-30 knots, and has shown itself to be competitive with past Raceboards in the medium wind range.
The shape and design of the RS:X sail is based on that of the Neil Pryde formula windsurfing sail RS4. The size is 9.5 m² for men, and 8.5 m² for women. For the 9.5 sail a 520 cm long mast is used; 490 cm for the 8.5 sail. Only a single sail and mast is allowed.
