SIMMER SCR 7.8M 2014 TEST REVIEW REPORT
SIMMER SCR 7.8M 2014 TEST REVIEW REPORT
OVERVIEW
The ‘Simmer Competition Race’ (SCR) is their top-of-the-line racing product that sits above the narrower-sleeved SCS freerace and 2XC twin-cam. (Simmer also has a no-cam freerace model, the V-Max, that we tested in the April 2014 issue.)
BRAND POSITIONING
‘The SCR is designed and manufactured specifically for high performance competitive racing, slalom and speed. For the 2014 SCR is developed by Tomas Persson together with top PWA sailors Sylvain and Benoit Moussilmani. For 2014 we have developed the back bone of the rig, the mast and the battens to give the sail a better top-end speed and faster acceleration. Precision batten tapering is a new concept which allows us to with greater precision control how the batten curve defines the sail profile. Each cambered batten is specifically customized using the this technique to create the most optimal support for the profile.’
PERFORMANCE
This 7.8 SCR was sadly late to party due to some unavoidable logistical issues. Arriving near the end of the trip meant not only limited water time, but also a narrower range of conditions, boards we could pair it with and therefore also a limited number of head-to-heads against its rivals. We only sailed this 7.8 in shorter chop and less rolling swell than we had earlier in the fortnight, but we did get to test the top-end of the wind band on a par with the rest. There’s a lot of technical materials involved and there’s clearly a lot of attention to detail in the product construction, although we were surprised to see so much ply on the luff sleeve near the leading edge. Elsewhere there’s loads of expensive Dacron and Kevlar-reinforced ply and the rigging process was straightforward and swift. At the top of that wind range the SCR was comfortable, with a slight element of softness and forgiveness, all helped by the nice and responsive mast. In terms of our ‘power spectrum’ the SCR is definitely at the more manoevrable end of scale with the outline being easy to flick around and manhandle through gybes and manoeuvres. The rotation and acceleration exiting gybes were both smooth – the low-end being ample to get you going but easy enough to control without too much energy expended. This 7.8 has a pretty medium depth profile and entry that favours being well powered, but still has enough shape to pin down a board well and enjoy good speed with the downwards, forward drive directing energy into the hull. We found there’s pretty much one downhaul setting to keep the leech working optimally and kept some good belly with negative outhaul keeping the sail against the boom almost up to the lines. In rougher water we liked to keep the outhaul that way to further add to the ‘pinning’ factor for added pace and control.
THE VERDICT
One of the friendliest of the all-out, dedicated racing sails to handle and extract top-level performance from. The Simmer SCR is soft and forgiving, easy to gybe and offers excellent top-end performance and speed in an easy-to-rig, well specified package.
READ THE OTHER REPORTS
GAASTRA VAPOR 7.9
NEILPRYDE RS: SLALOM 7.8
NORTH WARP 7.8
POINT-7 7.8 AC-1
RRD FIRE 7.8
SEVERNE REFLEX 7.8