POINT-7 AC-1 7.2M 2013 TEST REVIEW
POINT-7 AC-1 7.2M 2013 TEST REVIEW
The low-down
The AC-1 2K13 is Point-7’s full throttle race sail line. Featuring an aggressive design and styling it’s built for serious racers and it’s easy to see why the ‘Black Team’ brand calls it the Terminator. For 2013 the feature-packed AC-1 has been tuned for faster acceleration and increased control in high winds with extra attention also given to the cam rotation and ease of rigging.
At-a-glance
Extremely wide x-ply luff tube
High aspect solid foil shape
Eight battens with four cams and 5 micro battens
Yellow window film
Small zipped boom opening
Stepped leech at clew
Two outhaul cringles at the clew
Aggressive black styling
X-ply boom rubbing strip
Kevlar tack fairing with uphaul cut-out
Rigging
We tested the Terminator using with a 460 Point-7 100% carbon mast. As you’d expect from a sail of this nature, it isn’t the quickest to rig, but is fairly straightforward to set-up with a decent tuning range and a progressive foil with the centre of effort sitting slightly further back. We found that cranking the downhaul to maximum with a very loose leech and then tweaking the outhaul worked best, but it was quite critical of micro tweaking to allow the cambers to rotate freely.
Performance
The 2K13 is immediately powerful and very eager to get going although it does need a bit of initial power to really come alive, but when it does, the rate of acceleration is astonishing and just keeps on pulling, never running out of steam. It is one of the heavier sails in the group but once powered up this was by no means noticeable and otherwise it felt perfectly well balanced. Handling is great, particularly at the top end, where it’s extremely stable and the power is easily controlled with the backhand.
The Verdict
This Terminator always seemed to have unfinished business with an extra gear and a lust to go faster and faster. The AC-1 is a hard-core speed and slalom sail that’s tough to beat when it comes to straight-line, all-out performance. A powerful sail best suited to experienced, serious racers demanding uncompromising high-end speed.
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