Test Review - 09/09/2015



For anyone who is considering upgrading or maybe trying out the four battened Ezzy Elite (Mk 1 to 3) this should be a really helpful review from a local sailor called Nic Locker.

(Note. My apology to Nic as I am late with this too!)

Hi Guys,

I meant to send this review earlier.. (just a reminder that I am on the smaller side -5’8 and 66kg, sail along the south coast and travel to Ireland once a year for proper stuff). Having upgraded my old Ezzy Elite MkI (3.7 and 5.3) to the MkIII I thought I’d give you feedback. I have now used all versions (still own 4.2 MkI and 4.7 MkII) so I really have a feel for how the sail has evolved.

When I switched to the Elite 3 a year ago it was due to the compactness and build quality of the sails that had always appealed to me. I wanted sails that could resist nasty a shore-break / take an Atlantic rinsing and to date Ezzy’s sails haven’t disappointed with no problems for the past 3 years, and I do crash a lot.

As far as the difference between the sails' feel', the Elite MkI was for me quite 'direct'. Even if Ezzy came quite late into the 4 batten design, my opinion as a lightweight was that it was a grunty sail, perfect in fact for those days where you can't really figure out if the wind is up or down, so I tend to just go with a smallish size. In underpowered conditions you still get good pulling power and I had some fantastic float’n’ride days on the 5.3m in really light conditions. They also worked really well in side-on or onshore conditions. The only downside was that the bigger Mk I/2 sizes felt a big heavy when just slogging along, and in the top end the direct feeling could be a burden and forcing to switch sizes early. I would say the MkI did not like to be ridden too overpowered.

Comparing that now to the MkIII .. I feel they have retain the quality of the earlier Elite but made the sail much softer. I had a few days in Ireland in nuking winds on the 3.7m and although I was overpowered the sail just sucked up the gusts so much better. This has all made sailing and wave-sailing easier as I do not have to concentrate on the sail as much as before. I also think the wind range has been improved, control in top-end is definitely better, but what really makes the difference is not a bigger wind range but that the sail is comfortable over a larger wind-range. I would say the only downside as been losing slightly on the bottom end but this is really out-weight by the extended comfort range. In addition, especially with the bigger size for super light float and ride don’t hesitate to add a few cm to the light-wind settings.
So overall, super happy with my Elite, and they really evolved from MkI to MkIII, and good evolution in my opinion.

Cheerio
Nic
ps: Will come around mid-July to upgrade the last remaining MkI 4.2 for a MkIII 4.2 aqua…


(Note. Nic has updated his 4.2m and will be collecting a 4.7 this weekend!)
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Reviewed by Nic Locker

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