How to Rig in 90 Seconds (Cheater’s Edition)

How the Duotone Power XT 2.0 extension makes it easy.

Minimize rigging time. Maximize your sail’s range. It’s hard to understate the advantages of Duotone’s Power XT 2.0 windsurfing extension. Its integrated ratchet eliminates any need for downhaul tools, allows on-the-water tuning, and is backed by a 2-year warranty. Eddy shows just how easy this extension makes rigging, which mast bases it works with, and why it will get you on the water faster than ever.

Duotone Power XT 2.0 Extensions from $159 with free shipping

Video Transcript

I’m here in my backyard today. I know we’re all anxious to hit the water. I thought due to all that pent-up energy, what better product to talk about than the biggest time saver out there when it comes to getting on the water: The Duotone Power XT windsurfing extension.

Chances are you have a sense of what this does. Yes, you can downhaul your windsurfing sail without using a tool, without straining your back. You can also downhaul without sitting down – a big deal in wet and cold environments. You can also tune your sail on the water.

And chances are, if you’ve been around windsurfing for awhile, you have seen the Duotone Power XT windsurfing extensions before. They have been around for more than a decade. And a decade ago if you were to ask me if these worked I would have said … sort of.

Now, however, the Duotone Power XT extensions have been refined over the years. These latest versions — especially in the last three years – that we’ve been selling at Big Winds Hood River hand-over-fist are reliable. It’s easy to stand behind them.

Often customers who get one to try it out and see if it works come back for another and another, whether for their loved ones or just to complete their quiver.

Some of the finer points about the Duotone Power XT windsurfing extension is when you go to downhaul you’ll find that with a Duotone windsurfing sail threading the downhaul rope is a loop-and-go system, just like your outhaul might be. Extremely easy.

If you don’t have to Duotone sail the nice thing about the Power XT extensions is they actually do allow easy threading. You may not be able to do the loop-and-go, but you can thread your sail in a quick manner, use the ratchet – both to rig and downhaul the sail but also to tune your sail on the water. There’s no compromise from a compatibility standpoint. With windsurfing bases, they work with virtually all

Universal or Euro-pin bases. The Duotone Power XT extensions are designed to be used with the Duotone iBase.

But I’ve found they work great with the Chinook tendon base. The one little hiccup I’ve found is with the Chinook mechanical base. Its base is just big enough that it’s difficult to use the lever with the mechanical base.

But if you’re using a Chinook tendon windsurfing base or most tendon Euro-Pin bases you’re just fine. It’ll be in there locked and loaded and you’re ready to go. To be sure, this is not a product just for tiny wave sails. I have seen on YouTube recently some non Duotone riders rigging 7.0 meter windsurfing sails, race sails, high-tension sails with the Duotone Power XT windsurfing extensions.

Designers at Duotone have really revamped the Power XT from the inside out. It may look similar to the older incarnations of the Power XT, but from the inside the mechanisms that support this system are a lot more robust. The lever is bigger. It works! I rigged my sail in about a minute and a half, which isn’t super fast but for not having rigged in months with the Power XT it’s easy.

The Duotone Power XT windsurfing extension is available in SDM and RDM models. The RDMs come in both a carbon and aluminum, which is in my sail right now. Great product. Great gift. But a great way to get on the water quickly. Right now, I don’t think we could get on the water quick enough. Thanks a lot! Check them out of Big Winds and hope to see you on the water soon!

Eddy Patricelli is a co-owner of Big Winds. From 2001-2007 he was the editor of WindSurfing magazine. He has been windsurfing (and teaching windsurfing) for decades. See his best video tip for getting your kids onboard here.