INTERVIEW PHIL MCGAIN MAUISAILS "THE TR6"
Mauisails gave us the opportunity to have an interview with one of the windsurf legends; Phil Mcgain AUS7. Phil is PWA Vice Chairman, former PBA world champion course racing (and a lot more titles in slalom, formula and course racing) and last but not least president of Mauisails.
Since we like to know everything about trimming and tuning equipment we asked him about the TR6 race sails and Carbon Art boards. A recap of the past and what the future will bring us in sail design. An insight of how Mauisails develops their race sails and more about Phil himself.
If you want to know more about Phil, Mauisails and the TR6, get something to drink and read on.
Hi Phil, you have been involved in wind surfing for a long time and you have seen the complete transition from long boards to short (Formula) boards in the windsurfing history. Can you briefly talks us through the race sail evolution of the last 10 years?
Phil: for us at Maui Sails and also working with Barry over the years, it’s been a constant refinement of shape and tension. Our goal is to improve the sail each year and keep up with the competition. I always say we are not racing ourselves, we are racing the other brands, so we make sure we test everything we can and look at all aspects of the sail design, ie masts, battens, shaping, sleeve, twist. As you can imagine there are many variables.
Our designs over the years I think have gone towards lower aspect. We start to see other brands doing this now, which we already did over 8 years ago now. We want power in the sails so I think the power zone has gotten lower in the sail and fuller around the boom area. Of course the wide sleeves have enabled better shaping forward with more cam pressure, this leads to better stability and ultimately better speed and control.
LOCALSAILING: Looking at the formula sails, can you highlight the differences in sail shape (design) when comparing the 12, 11 and 10 sqm TR-6xt.?
Phil: Well we don’t want the sizes to be so different. One design aspect we feel we are good at is getting the same feel across the range of sizes. So when you jump from a 12 to a 10, you want the sail balance and feel in the sail. If anything there might be a little more shape and tension in the larger sizes which helps in lighter wind and the 10m maybe a tab softer to allow for more stronger conditions and extreme water conditions. We do a lot of cross testing on the sizes to make sure there is an overlap on the sizes, so again this drives the designs to feel very similar.
LOCALSAILING: I can imagine that the 12 sqm must be trimmed more sensitively because of its light wind purpose, what are your tips for light wind formula trim?
Phil: The 12m is fuller and we do this to eliminate the sensitivity of it. For light wind we want to bag the sail out, let off the outhaul and let the leech out, almost to the point you think it’s too full and outhaul too loose. Keep a stable trim is the most important thing for light wind, stayed sheeted in at all times and drive the board with the legs.
LOCALSAILING: And how would you set up these sails for windy conditions?
Phil: Pull the outhaul, until you get the desired power. Don’t pull the downhaul or over tension it, this will only flatten the front section of the sail. Make sure you have a good length of harness lines, so you can get your body out as far as you can, bending your legs. High wind is really about fitness and technique. The key Is not to get tied and sheet out. Keep control of the board at all times, so it means having strong legs and breathing, staying relaxed and letting the board trim and fly.
LOCALSAILING: What feedback do you require from the team riders like for example Gonzalo Costa Hoevel in order to develop / design the new sails?
Phil: This is always difficult because each rider has a different feel and different way
Communicate. I like to sail a lot with the guys and understand what they want. Gonzalo is very good, he gives detailed feedback and knows what he wants. But Gabriel also knows what he wants and goes after it when communicating. We all want faster sails, which are easy to use and can win races, so it’s just a matter how to achieve that. I spent a lot of time with Barry and Art discussing sail design and the direction we want the designs to move in. We receive feedback, discuss it, maybe make some recuts and few proto’s, then get the guys on the sails here on Maui. We all meet at the beach and have a big brain storming session. That is the best way, get everyone together, go sailing and just talk about it.
LOCALSAILING: Nowadays, the race sails must be capable to cover a large wind range, how did that change the design of the sail?
Phil: Again it’s about tension and shape, controlling those factors and not giving up too much in power, control and acceleration. Power is depth in the sail and also leech tension, so you want to make sure you have enough power but also the leech is moving, so you can hold the sail steady. The sails from all brands are very good these days and over a huge wind range, I think the windsurfing industry does a good job supplying the customers with a good product.
LOCALSAILING: Do you see in the near future race sails, like being used with the long race boards where it is possible to change the outhaul trim during sailing, in Formula races?
Phil: High performance windsurfing boards don’t require much adjustment of the sail, except downwind and upwind. The tops of the sails are already flat and have very little power, so the bottom is where the power is and very manageable. I don’t see too many radical changes in the designs. We are still building products for the customer so there are restraints on materials and wanting to supply the market a good product at a reasonable cost.
LOCALSAILING: Do you have any tips and tricks for the Formula fans?
Phil: I tell everyone the same thing. Get on the water, tune your stuff, that is how the pro’s got so good. Just going sailing and working on equipment. Keeping the body in good shape helps. Windsurfing is hard on the body so you want to be in good shape. Go biking, running and spend time on the water when you can. Ask friends and other people lots of questions, use the resources available today. Mauisails forum for example, you can ask us any question you want.
LOCALSAILING: How do you prefer the set-up of board, rig and fin (what works best for you) when you have a down wind slalom race and when you need to sail higher courses (figure 8 style slalom).
Phil: I like to keep my boom around the bottom of my chin for all sailing, long harness lines, except in lighter wind on FW gear. Downwind slalom I wear a waist harness and going across the wind in slalom I use a seat harness, also for Formula I use a seat harness. Don’t pull too much outhaul for any slalom. Give your sail lots of power and go fast, bend your knee’s. I like the mast track fairly far forward, so I can be overpowered and sheet in.
LOCALSAILING: You are also the main tester for MauiSails, how do you develop and test a race sail like the TR-6.? And when are you happy and satisfied with the result?
Phil: your never really satisfied with a race sail, but we have to stop for production in December. We keep working on the design, looking for more speed, control. We test sizes against each other a lot, we test other brands. I like to use a GPS a lot for testing, I can tune sometimes alone and really figure stuff out. Play with tension in the rig with downhaul and outhaul. Figure out which direction you want the designs to go. I like to have Barry and Art at the beach, so they can get a feel for exactly what I’m communicating. Art is a good sailor, so he gets out there and we sail together.
LOCALSAILING: What will be the focus of MauiSails the coming years in terms of sail development? Will there be more focus on the mast, sail and boom as a total package in order to gain a total better foil?
Phil: we just want to make sure we deliver a product which works well, easy to use, doesn’t break. We want people to use our product for the first time and have a big smile on their faces. We want repeat customers. Sail development will continue at its slow pace. We will focus on materials which hold up better in the sun and long term use. Our boom are currently one of the best in the market and will continue to make sure we are leading this product development. Masts are a big problem in the whole industry still, so we are focusing on making a product which is more durable but not loosing the performance. As you can imagine this isn’t easy, but we are confident because we live here in Maui and can sail everyday.
LOCALSAILING: MauiSails did not put sails on the market with a short clew version which we see now on the other sail brands. What is the Philosophy of MauiSails regarding this development?
Phil: We looked at it and tested it but didn’t find any real advantage, at least not yet. We want the sail to be held by the end of the clew where the boom attach’s, we want leech tension on the lower leech, so that is why we don’t have the cut out.
LOCALSAILING: You are mainly sailing on Carbon Art boards, can you tell us about tuning the slalom boards of Carbon Art, what fins you use for what conditions, etc?
Phil: I’ve worked with James for 4 years now and really happy with the boards. I can win races on them which is important to me. Also that people like the boards and appreciate the designs. They are simple yet very functional designs. Smooth rockers, vee from tail to nose. I use deboichet fins, SL2 and SL4, I love them. Here on Maui the conditions are choppy and windy so I want control with the board, sail and fins. Carbon Art does it all for me, acceleration, control and speed.
LOCALSAILING: Did you try the Carbon Art Formula board, if yes what is your impression?
Phil: I’m still working with the Formula design. Our goal is deliver a board that can win.
LOCALSAILING: We have seen a lot of monofilm material used in windsurf sails. The last years more sailmakers, including MauiSails, are using different material like Technora for their high end race sails. How was this material introduced in the surfsail industry?
Phil: Technora is a lighter material and I think we are still learning about the possibilities of this material. I’m not 100% convinced it’s here to stay or it will replace monofilm entirely. Monofilm is such a great material, so we are just playing around with technora and people do like it, it offers good performance, but is very expensive.
LOCALSAILING: Dimension Sailcloth is known from the sailing industry where there is much more variation in sailcloth material, will we see more yachting sails technology into surfsails or has this always been the case already?
Phil: I don’t think so, I think monofilm is doing the job at the moment, it’s low cost and it works well for mass production of windsurfing sails. Yacht sails are different and the Millionaires in the yachting industry have unlimited budgets.
LOCALSAILING: What are your goals for 2010?
Phil: So many things I would like to achieve in 2010, so business related and some personal. Continue to build our business and make a good profit. Supply good products to our customers and stay in close contact with them to listen to their feedback to help us improve the product each year.
I want to race again in the Maui Race series in slalom and Hawaii State championships. Go sailing everyday, slalom sailing, wave sailing and work closely with our team guys.
I’m into running and triathlon at the moment. I’ll compete in a half Ironman in June, full Ironman in Western Australia in December and compete in many small running events around Hawaii in 2010. I’d like to compete in the Ironman World Championship one year on the Big Island of Hawaii at Kona. I have my name in the lottery for the 2010 event which is in October, I would be very excited to have my name drawn for this event.
Stay happy and healthy and the same for my family and friends.
Thanks. Phil.
LOCALSAILING: Thanks for the very extensive interview we hope to hear a lot from you and MauiSails in the near future. And we are looking forward to see the new designs of Mauisails
Photo's from Mauisauls.