Rock 5.7m, Boards Magazine, April 2007

The Rock has been around for several seasons now as the only wave sail in Tushingham’s range. They claim there’s no need for a range of wavesails to suit different conditions or sailor weights if one sail can do it all.

Style:
Tushingham sails haven’t changed much in style recently, so the high levels of rotation and very low levels of preset shape feel comfortably familiar. The leech goes progressively loose from the head down to the boom, and the sail has a lot of moderately soft spring.

Performance:
While not feeling a standout when used on its own, this sail came out as the favourite every time we tested them all head to head. Its low end power is good, being of the springy, easy to pump style and holding the leech fairly tight. It can be usefully bagged out in very light winds to provide a bit more power rather than change up a sail size. As the wind increases, the sail responds well with extra downhaul and outhaul - it’s all very progressive and the sail remains well mannered, stable and very forgettable throughout. The only criticism is a slight inclination to be a bit luffy in the gusts – a trait that sounds worse than it is, some testers actually appreciated this as it gives a bit of grunt to the back hand meaning you always seem to have a bit of power in reserve. With lots of downhaul it can be effectively tuned out anyway, giving the sail a very impressive top end. We think this is the best Rock we’ve used in several years (and they’ve never done badly in that time!) It’s a fast and smooth blasting sail and more than capable in the waves or in freestyle as well.

Popularity:
Everyone bar one who used all the sails back to back on their recommended masts picked the Rock as their top favourite (and that one person elevated it to favourite when rigged on the Tushingham RDM mast!) It also performs well with most other masts, proving itself to be very non mast critical. The graphics were the only aspect not universally liked; although Tushingham have revamped their range visually there’s little doubt that other brands still fare better in this department.

OVERALL
A very easy sail to recommend to anyone for whom performance counts more than looks, and who isn’t after a really full grunty sail. It’s very clearly in the forgettable camp rather than a powerhouse, but nonetheless suited to all sailor weights and styles and very highly recommended.

Mast Supplied: Tushingham standard diameter 75% Carbon