In light and comfortably powered conditions the XO was a very good performer. Not only did it perform well, but it also had a lot of character that made it really enjoyable to use. A couple of sails in this group are very ‘dead’ in the hands. Whilst this can be an asset for less experienced riders who want a very settled ride, more ambitious and advanced riders will enjoy the extra feel you get from the XO.

The XO strikes a nice balance between being light in the hands and providing enough pull to feel reassuring in lighter winds. The sail pumps well onto the plane and also has reasonable grunt for those who want the sail to do the work for them.

In comfortable planing conditions the XO has very good speed and can hold its own with almost anything in this group (despite the 5 batten layout). Where things start to come unstuck for the XO is when the wind increases.

For a 5 batten sail, it was admittedly more stable than our Clones were expecting (perhaps due to the SDL strips), but as the wind increased, so too did the power on the backhand. When overpowered, it was the only sail in this group that felt like it could really backwind on you. Our advanced Clones could keep the sail locked in and it was just about ok (albeit a bit of a fight), but less experienced riders who can't keep the sail locked in, are likely to struggle once the wind gets strong.

In manoeuvres, the 5-batten layout, lightweight feel and soft rotation made it the single, best performing sail of this group.