Wave MC 5.0 at £259 Under the Spotlight   
You could spend over £400 and get less performance...

“There is always a reserve of power there when you need to accelerate.”

How it feels on the water:
The Wave MC is one of the big guns in this group. You sail with a lot of back hand, which makes sailing in light or unreliable winds easier, but especially in onshore conditions to punch out through the break close to the wind and against the current. This is a sail clearly aimed at heavier sailors and is best suited for less than ideal wave sailing, meaning conditions where the wind or waves are light. In stronger winds, the Wave MC is a balanced sail, even though it demands more physical strength than the average. Heavier weights will appreciate the pull that it produces and overall good performance. In waves, it requires more strength and is less manoeuvrable than the average. The advantage is that there is always a reserve of power there when you need to accelerate.
A powerful and responsive wave sail, which planes early and enables you to extract the maximum from small waves and light winds. This is an exciting and well-balanced sail.

The design:
Designed for onshore conditions, the Wave MC falls into the category of sails with built-in shape in this group, built around a fairly long boom. The same design philosophy is evident as with the Hammer, especially in relation to reinforcements. The most obvious difference is the use of thick monofilm in the head. The mast panel is quite stiff through the use of a wide strip of tightly woven X-ply.

Tester’s opinion:
Le Gonz/1.80m/76kg
“A very powerful sail with a decent amount of back hand. On the heavy side, it’s a sail for light winds, onshore conditions or lumpy waves. It’s suited to heavier riders. I thought the Hammer was better.”

 

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Test report of Wind 2007

Wave MC 5.0 at £259 Under the Spotlight   
You could spend over £400 and get less performance...

Designed to be a powerful wave sail for onshore conditions and riders who like sails which provide positive feedback, the Gun Sails Wave MC has inherited a construction which is a touch lighter than its little brother, the Hammer. All of its panels are in X-ply, with the exception of the head where single monofilm is used. Nevertheless, this sail weighs in a little heavy for a smaller sail. As with the Hammer, the sail comes standard with all the most up-to-date features. The only small criticism would be that the elastic tack strap is a little short and difficult to use unless the sail is rolled very tightly. On the water, the sail has a soft feel. Rigged on an RDM mast, the sail only really fills out in the gusts and the luff pocket is wide. This makes the question of how much outhaul to put on more challenging. The sail offers plenty of power but remains always under control. It has a good amount of back hand, but not alarmingly so. This allows you to boost your speed a little on a wave if necessary, without restricting your moves. The sail’s responsiveness can be felt in its very good acceleration. The Wave MC also displayed surprisingly good handling. This sail really encourages you to play with it and attack radical waves. We also liked the easy sail rotation when tacking and gibing. However, in chop it’s not the sail which offered the best control so as to keep on sailing when overpowered.

+ Handling, easy sail rotation, power, responsiveness.
- Tack strap too short, stability in chop.

 

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