I rarely use the paddle anymore for DW. Been paddling the 17’ SIC DW SUP’s for many years and some DW SUP boards that were the rage at 6’. In fact, I now use that same 6ft board for parawing as it is so much fun to turn in the bumps. Once the struggle of learning to paddle up, it became more about getting to the finish line first. That was fun for a time but I finally realized that my 67yr. old body didn’t enjoy the racing anymore than my bank account.
So now I mainly use the parawing to get me out to the “ Good Bumps “ and then stow it and go hands free. I only redeploy if I miss read the bumps and come off foil. I enjoy free surfing my way downwind at any pace I choose. Going slower has actually helped my bump reading as I’m not just focusing on getting to the finish as fast as possible. Channel crossings are a different animal all together where a paddle is a must. Fortunately I am in a place where the wind is blowing consistently and even if it died completely it’s only a mile or so to shore with not much of a tidal change. If I lived in a place where the wind was fickle I would sourly have a 2-3 piece paddle for added security on top of the the usual PPE.
64yo long time DW SUP paddler, raced heaps on 14’ers, UL’s and then sup foil.
Started downwind foiling on boards like my old 6’5 Kalama then progressed to 7’ ,8’ and now 8’6.
I now own a few para wings and am quite competent, have just been using my old 6’5 x 23 x 115ltr Kalama mainly because it’s what I had.
The crew I downwind with still like to paddle and so do I, think I am addicted to the workout.
However I do like the fact I can use a smaller board, smaller foil and aren’t afraid to push it and try harder turns, etc with the wing because it’s so easy to get back up.
I have recently bought a 5’10 board for para and am getting a custom crossover, light wind para, sup surf and good bumps paddle downwind board at 7’2 x 20 so am looking forward to seeing if I still favour paddle in a years time.
I somehow think I still will but love having the option if it’s a long way out to the bumps or it’s a bit onshore etc.
Great time to be alive and frothing over the options.