We have heard many people say that innovation in windsurfing is coming to a standstill, with tweaks being made to sails and boards for the sake of it. Well S2Maui is breaking that stereotype, we are most used to seeing 2 batten sails in the windsurfing schools around the country can but is 2 battens the future for hard core wave sailing?

S2Maui exists because we are passionate about innovative design and windsurfing, continuously searching for the next breakthrough to enhance the experience and reach new performance levels.

I first considered that a modern 2-batten wavesail (DUALIST) would be worthwhile about a year ago, after our new shaping techniques produced exceptional stability and wind range with our 3-batten design (CATALYST).  The application of our center-of-effort balanced, “focus point” profile shaping method together with the load-stabilizing “warp-path” panel layout in the design of the 3-batten “CATALYST” sail range yielded significant improvements in balance and high wind stability, that were beyond our expectations. The CATALYST was already the lightest, production, 3-batten wave sail at Ho’okipa this past year and with stability to spare, we thought it would be interesting to see what we could do with just 2-battens. Just imagining our exclusive, almost weightless feeling, “space-light” panels with only 2 battens was enough to get excited about the project and the first prototype was built that summer (’15). Super-light weight wasn’t the only goal as we also wanted to combine defined profile shaping for balance with instant luffing ability.

Not intended for everyone, but specialized for wave-riding purists, the sensation of the S2Maui, 2-batten “DUALIST” can only be described as insanely light and agile with tons of drive. These characteristics, combined with the quick response of a tighter leech and instant power/depower of the 2-batten skeleton, certainly gives you some new angles and opens your mind to the possibilities. It seems to provide an advantage for fitting into “unmakeable” sections of the wave and leaves you scratching your head, thinking “did I really pull that off?”. We are having lots of fun with these prototypes.

Aloha,

Artur Szpunar