The Retro, now into its eleventh year is Sailworks’ most conservative, long-term sail development project.  As one of the most popular freeride sails ever sold in North America (with or without cams), why mess with a good thing?   “We continue to polish up its performance profile,” says designer Bruce Peterson.  “The geometric history of the Retro’s evolution has been a steady increase in the broadseam shaping that’s cut into the seam – and we’re continuing further down that path.”

For 2008-2009, the Retro is sporting a slightly lower center of effort, made possible by a smaller head, longer chord and deeper foot profile.  Mitigating the longer chord length is a clew cutout for the boom end on all the 7-batten Retro sizes (6.0 m² and up), which reduces the actual boom length, despite the lower aspect ratio.  The clew cutout has additional advantages in that it lowers the swing weight of the rig. 2008-2009 Retro owners can also use the same boom with quivers ranging from 4.5m to 7.5m or 6.0 to 9.0m!

In addition, the 2008-2009 Retro sails feature a series of small improvements in construction and finishing to improve durability, ease of use and handling.  Head and mast sleeve patching for example has been optimized to incorporate Kevlar load strips, reducing the actual and perceived weight aloft. That, combined with batten angle adjustment, and the Retro is easier to roll up snugly.

There are a few designs attributes of the Retro you can be sure we haven’t touched -the legendary power, stability and ease of use.  Our fanatical Retro loyalists demand nothing less than the best in sail control, wind range and handling, all in an easy to use camless rig package.  The Retro delivers as a true windsurfing classic.