Probably the most innovative concept in sailboard sail design occured in 1984-1985 when the RAF (Rotating Aero Foil) concept was introduced by Neil Pryde. But you can question the true origin story of this concept because Maui Sails had already been releasing sails like this in '84 and then as the official sail designers for Neil Pryde they were added to the Neil Pryde collection in 1985. Hence you will see Neil Pryde catalogs in the 1982 through 1985 range reference 'Maui Sails by Neil Pryde'.  You can view both the 1984 and 1985 versions of the RAF WAVE by watching the classic video On The Cutting Edge .

The idea of the RAF was to use battens in the sail (much like catamaran sails had in this era) to stabilize the shape and then using a combination of batten tapering and sail cut design; allow those battens to shape the sail to become an aerofoil shape that rotated either side of the mast. Other changes to sail designs in 1985 included purpose built WAVE sails featuring very high profiles (IE over 5metres of mast (or mast plus extension) and SHORT booms 1.4 metres for quite large sails. 

Additionally the GARDA line of sails was introduced and featured specs (shorter masts and longer booms) that were continued through the 80's. The Neil Pryde RAF in 1985 was actually designed and started production in 1984 (By Maui Sails) but wasnt really available until 1985 (by Neil Pryde) to the public (and featured in magazines / catalogs). In 1984 you could catch glimpses of the Maui Sails version and prototypes being used by some of the windsurfing stars of the era. Even today people who grew up with this sail still recall it with reverence and a few lucky ones like me have some in our collection ready to use on special days.

Because the 1984 Maui Sails version and the 1985 Neil Pryde/Maui Sails versions look very similar, one way to tell which year your sail came from is to look at the color combinations. The 1984 Maui Sails were a Green and Yellow combination compared to the 1985 Neil Pryde/Maui Sails which were available in two tone Pink/Purple combination  and the Orange/Purple/Green combination (both shown on this page).