Duke SLS

The comeback of the DUKE as a 5-batten Jump N’ Ride sail 2 years ago was a major success. It instantly became the most used and popular sail in the ION CLUB and DUOTONE PRO CENTERS worldwide.

Now with the DUKE SLS we take this concept to the extreme! But instead of just swapping the materials, we have developed this sail from scratch to utilize the full potential of the materials and to give this sail an additional character. Because depending on the board, the DUKE SLS behaves like a chameleon:

• On lower drag single-fin boards (e.g. Freewave or small Freeride boards) the DUKE SLS has a slight forward pull (similar to the Original DUKE). 
• On higher drag multi-fin wave boards, however, the pull is evenly distributed over both hands. On such boards, the new DUKE SLS has a very similar feel to the SUPER_HERO D/LAB making it really suitable even for proper wave sailing conditions.

But how was this made possible?

Well, it is a combination of an extremely sophisticated sail concept (3d-shaping, twist pattern and profile distribution) and the use of CARBON XPLY batten pockets. The DUKE SLS features a slightly forward draft position, but with a defined flexibility. We call this DEFINED DRAFT MOTION CONCEPT. Normally, this is a no-go for sails with “soft” epoxy battens, as any draft movement reduces the wind range. But this is where the CARBON XPLY batten pockets come into play: as Carbon has virtually no stretch, it locks the battens thus draft in its defined position - actually pretty similar to a Carbon batten.

Believe it or not, in this way we virtually merged the advantages of the Original DUKE with those of the SUPER HERO D/LAB creating the ultimate 5-batten Wave><Freewave sail.

Ok, so the DUKE SLS feels similar to the SUPER_HERO D/LAB - but what about the low end power? 5-batten wave sails offer great control, but usually suffer in the low-end as more battens make it harder for the wind to inflate the sail. That’s why we have incorporated the BATTEN FREE CENTER concept that we already use on the SUPER_HERO and the Original DUKE. Instead of the usual even batten distribution, the DUKE SLS features a bigger gap between the foot batten and the batten above the boom. This makes the boom area easier to inflate, resulting in a similar low-end power to a 4-batten sail. 

But it’s getting even better: due to the additional use of CARBON XPLY in the high load top and tack areas plus a STRIPPED TO THE MAX panel layout we were able to bring down the weight by a whopping 400-500g compared to the Original DUKE.

So what keeps you waiting - DUKE SLS the first sail morphing the advantages of a Freewave sail with a truly capable down the line wave sail.