​

NORTH SAILS IDOL LTD

• Sizes: 3.6 / 4.0 / 4.4 / 4.8 / 5.2 / 5.6
• Type: Freestyle
• Model: 2018

Light, lighter and as radical as possible! The IDOL LTD is the personal pro model of freestyle record world champion Gollito Estredo. For this freestyle genius Kai Hopf has fulfilled all his wishes and created the most sophisticated, extreme freestyle production sail that North has ever built. All IDOL LTD’s are unbelievably light sails because instead of conventional X.PLY the futuristic high-tech laminate “ODL” is being used in combination with 4mil ULTRA.FILM. These materials are 50% lighter than conventional sail cloth and push the weight to sensationally low. To clarify: The weight of IDOL LTD corresponds to a 1.5m smaller SUPER HERO / SUPER SESSION (e.g. 4.8 compares to 3.4)! 2018 all IDOL LTD generate even more performance plus and the smaller sizes are also significantly easier to control in overpowered conditions.

---

From the second you ride on the IDOL LTD you will have a smile on your face. It feels absolutely neutral, doesn’t show any unwanted life of its own and is a feather in your hands so that you nearly forget about the sail during moves and maneuvers. This is one of the most important aspects especially for freestyle! It spins incredibly fast through all tricks even during the most difficult ducking moves and feels as if you rotate without a sail.

The high clew and the short boom length excel at ducking so that no speed is lost. With the new IDOL LTD the success rate of difficult maneuvers and the fun increases straight away making you automatically go for even more radical moves!

Designer Kai Hopf has designed the IDOL LTD for maximum efficiency. Compared to the regular IDOL it features a tighter leech, a reduced weight and a higher clew. Not only will maneuvers become much easier but also get performed at higher speed.

This is due to the sophisticated profile distribution. All of these aspects are apparent over a wide wind range and you will be surprised how large the trimming capabilities are on the new IDOL LTD.

Features:

• HOLLOW.LOWER.LEECH (scooped leech outline) with additional MINI.BATTEN stabilizes the profile right above the boom and prevents leech flattering
• RADIAL.LOAD.STRIPES at the clew improve the stability and extend the wind range
• Size 5.6 to comply to reduced wind limit on PWA freestyle events
• Size 3.6 for high wind freestyle competitions
• Super high clew and short boom allow fastest possible ducking to avoid loosing any speed
• Thanks to the trend setting high-tech yachting materials (ODL laminate and 4 mil ULTRA.FILM) the IDOL LTD is North's lightest Freestyle sail of all time
• Super-stretchy DACRON+ODL.DOUBLE.LUFF.PANEL enables maximum lift for all the jumps against the sail
• 3 ultra-light TUBE.BATTENS
• PURE.PATCH.TECHNOLOGY at the clew, luff and the batten pocket ends make for 50% weight savings compared to regular patches
• iROCKET 2.0, NorthSails lightest batten tensioner of all time
• Exclusively designed for RDM masts

3D.TOP.CAP

On regular top caps and pin systems the webbing is connected in a “one-dimensional“ way with the sail body (either side to side or front to back).
For the first time North's new 3D.TOP.CAP allows a “3-dimensional“ transition of the downhaul forces into the sail body. This eliminates top flattering and guarantees a progressive loose leech extending the wind-range. The integrated abrasion ribs eliminate the need for heavy, bulky reinforcements at the top-end of the mast sleeve.

---

Hightech Laminate ODL

Yachting sail specialist POLYANT delivers one of the most desirable laminates available today. ODL is an extremely lightweight material that is unbelievably 50% lighter than regular X.PLY and makes every weight freak rave. Since the film thickness is reduced to an absolute minimum this laminate is exclusively used for the IDOL_LTD. Please note the reduced UV-stability!

---

ULTRA.FILM

To save as much weight as possible, North now uses ULTRA.FILM which is just 4mil thick for the super lightweight IDOL_LTD as well as the WARP. This extreme monoflim is used throughout the body panel and contributes significantly to the low overall weight thanks to its reduced thickness.

---

---

PURE.PATCH.TECHNOLOGY

With the newly developed high-tech PURE.PATCH.TECHNOLOGY one layer of PURE PE material replaces the traditional multi-layer reinforcements. This applies to the clew, luff and the batten pocket ends. The altered structure in combination with the highly abrasion-resistant and virtually indestructible PURE material saves 50% of the weight of the previous patches! Woven in two directions.

---

iROCKET 2.0

A new, unobtrusive detail with a huge effect. The completely redesigned iROCKET 2.0 is the lightest batten tensioner North has ever built. Its' unique design avoids the usual tendency of the sail becoming asymmetric.
The most important feature though is the PRE-CALIBRATED.BATTEN.TENSION. The perfect batten tension is decisive for maximum performance and optimum profile stability. But even World Cup pros have difficulties to set it up 100% correctly cause each and every batten requires a different tension: extremely high tension in the lower part of the sail but nearly no tension for the top battens. To solve the batten tension mystery and to prevent any miss-tension, every single batten gets pre-calibrated in the factory according to the specs of the designer. Not according to feeling, but through a torque wrench. In addition, the nut is fitted with a semi-tight screw-type glue, so that a change of tension is prevented. So the supplied batten-key is only necessary in case you want to individually fine-tune your sail or in the rare case of a break to replace the defective batten.

---

VTS - VISUAL.TRIM.SYSTEM

Even newcomers can immediately trim the sail 100% correctly. Simply downhaul the sail until the borderline of the loose leech reaches the “min dot“ or “max dot“ (depending on the wind speed). That’s it! The exclusive VTS acts like a turbocharger, ensuring maximum performance and an extended range of use. Trimming has never been faster and more accurate!

---

HTS HARNESS-LINE.TRIM.SYSTEM

Forget the time-consuming search for the ideal harness line position, the numb forearms, and the endless fiddling around! The patented print on the sail shows exactly where the centre of the harness line has to be. Just position the two ends symmetrically at the left and right of the print, that‘s all.

---

DURA.LUFF.PATCH

The area around the boom cutout is particularly exposed to wear and tear, because the luff panel always forms wrinkles when inserting the mast. Over time, this „accordion effect“ may cause cracks in the monofilm. The flexible DURA.LUFF.PATCH reinforces the area around the boom and creates a soft transition to the monofilm, while preventing cracks in the film.

---

DOUBLE.SEAM.TECHNOLOGY

NorthSails stands for unsurpassed quality that guarantees a longer life for North's sails. The triple zig-zag seams significantly contribute to this. And they don‘t come, as usual, in a single, but in a double version! They cover all exposed crash areas that would otherwise be damaged. The result is higher resistance to tear and a reduction of stretch by up to 50% as a result of the second seam, also benefiting profile stability and performance. Only the DOUBLE.SEAM.TECHNOLOGY by NorthSails can deliver this!

POLYESTER.WEBBING.ONLY

What has been proven in safety belts is just good enough for us windsurfers! As the only manufacturer, North use Polyester webbing at the (vario) top, the tack roller and the batten tensioner attachment-loops. The advantage over conventional Polypropylene is the almost non-existing stretch. Even brand new sails now keep the full downhaul tension and need not be re-tensioned. The same is true for the batten tensioner. A small detail with a great effect!

---

SET&GO.VARIO-TOP

From the first rigging now the length of the vario top is set correctly. Easy to read length indicators show the perfect setting in relation to the used mast length which eliminates any testing and readjustment!

---

DOUBLE.D.BUCKLE

Inspired by high mechanical load capacity climbing harnesses and racing helmets. The exclusive two-piece Double.D.BUCKLE replaces present standard solutions. This construction guarantees outstanding trimming options and completely eliminates webbing slippage.

---

TRIPLE.TACK.ROLLER

The integrated, nickel-plated brass triple roller minimizes the downhaul forces tremendously. The optimized side plate with integrated rope led prevents that the rope will be damaged or jumps from the roller.

---

TT.TOP

Kai Hopf relied on the WARP F2013 to design the TT.TOP. The concave shape is slightly reduced, which improves tension and allows for a more effective, three-dimensional top twist. This means the top twists not only horizontally, but also vertically under strong winds. By virtually neutralizing gusts, the rig’s kept steady in the rider‘s hands, and works in a much larger range of winds.

---

INDIVIDUAL.BOOM.LENGTH.INDICATOR

Since the boom is positioned at different points on the mast depending on the rider‘s height, the ideal boom length varies due to the different angles. To make it easier to find the right length fast, the individual recommendations are written directly on the luff panel at boom level.

---

XPLY.PLUS (100/150 micron)

XPly laminates consist of 2 layers of film and threads bonded together using clear or coloured glue. XPly has to fulfil the following 4 tasks in order of their importance:

• Puncture resistance
• UV-resistance
• Low stretch
• Rip-stop (comes into play only if any of the above fail)

Points 1 to 3 are exclusively depending on the thickness of the film being used.
The thicker the film
>> the higher the puncture-resistance (relation 1 to 1, means a film with twice the thickness simply has twice the puncture strength)
>> the higher the UV-resistance (relation 1 to 1,5, means a film with twice the thickness offers 3 times longer UV-resistance)
>> the lower the stretch (relation again 1 to 1, which even a higher thread-density cannot completely compensate cause within the gap between the threads the film will still expand)
Only point 4 is related to the amount of threads being used in-between the film layers.

That’s why North believes using XPly being thinner than monofilm (like some brands do) is complete nonsense.
These facts have been the base for the development of Norths exclusive XPLY.PLUS. North use a thick film sandwich (100 or 150 micron = 4 or 6 mil) to avoid a failure right from the beginning and combine it with a regular thread-density.
Compared to other brands XPLY.PLUS is up to 60% thicker adding approx. 200 g if used in the entire sail. For these “additional” 200 g though you get the highest durability/longevity level in the industry.
That is also one of the major reasons why NorthSails is the largest surf center supplier world-wide.
North is so confident in the outstanding quality of their sails that they are the only brand being able to offer a 2+3.YEAR.WARRANTY on all sails (except IDOL LTD and WARP).
NorthSails simply live up to their philosophy that light is right but only if it doesn’t go to costs of durability.

---

MINI.BATTEN

Short, highly effective miniature battens support the area between the long battens and prevent any annoying flutter.

---

MAST.SLEEVE.OPENER

A brilliant trick makes inserting the mast a breeze. The NorthSails logo above the boom cutout opens the mast pocket just a little, allowing the rider to insert the mast with just one hand, without having to move up the luff.