Oxygen 4.6 Orange 2023

Windsurf Magazine UK : Loftsails transitioned to a multiple year lifecycle last year, this no-cam freerace Oxygen being noted as current for a total of three years in the brand’s literature, up to 2023. Available in green HD construction, using x-ply throughout its panels, it is tested here in its standard setup, with orange 4mil bi-ply body panels above its 5mil monofilm window, and 5mil biaxial x-ply luff, clew and foot panels. Build quality is second to none, as we have come to expect from the Loftsails brand, with its familiar double Dacron head panel, tubed battens, durable IYU250 luff tube material and fully opening moulded tack fairing. Rigged here on the brand’s recommended 75% Vision mast, it was tested on an SDM (whilst also compatible on an RDM) and set with easily the most luff curve of all the sails on test here, the significant downhaul tension directed by the ‘trim diamond’ in the upper panel. Setting flat at rest, particularly above the boom, with just the two lower battens retaining any rotation, there’s plenty of looseness along the length of the leech and some considerable skin tension through the leading edge. Available in a total of ten sizes, from 4.6m right up to 9.5m, it was tested last year in the HD 7.0m version, so we were interested to see how this larger sizing faired, transitioning from a six to seven batten layout.