Board Riding Maui just announced their new Parawing.
What are y’all thinking about this? Save the kite jokes haha.
It can go upwind and harness compatible. Can be stowed away easily while on foil. Might be the perfect ticket for my favorite wing spot that has a mile run zone of perfect bumps. Too short to shuttle DW runs, but annoying to DW wing due to wing management.
That’s a lot of money for a sheet of ripstop and some dyneema. Auto zenith?
Expensive but several good uses:
(1) Good alternative to an Anchorman
(2) Can paddleout through shorebreak
(3) Emergency back up if your wing pops when you’re doing long runs
How does riding this thing compare to a wing? Could this be used instead of a wing (like in the shorebreak scenario)?
Is the sizing similar to wings (4m parawing is similar to a 4m inflatable hand wing)?
They say sizing is similar to a wing. Using the kite to tow out through shorebreak could work. So long as you can keep it lofted it seems better than towing a wing out since it seems to give some pull, and hangs above the waves. If it got caught in the waves it could be a real disaster though with all of those lines. Wonder what the relaunch is like when its wet. Does it get tangled easily?
I was thinking of putting it on my back (in a bag/pack – just noticed they have a belt for stowing when not in use) and launching it once outside the impact zone. Based on the video, looks like wet launch is possible.
+1 on the tangling question/concern.
Definitely looks interesting. Not sure it looks 2x as good as Sam’s pocket wing to justify the 2x price.
Going up wind seems like a bold claim, wonder if it’s even comparable to Gen 1 wings.
The novel part seems to be that it handles like a wing, the bar is oriented like a strut vs a kite bar. If that allows for power control and steering like a wing then that’s does sound really cool.
The bridles look more complicated than the pocket wing too. But if it’s high performance the tangle risk may be worth it.
Having dealt with FS Peak 4 bridles I am not that intimidated by them now, they are not as likely to tangle as you would think. And given how short these bridles are it’s even less of an issue. But I am sure the learning curve will involve some tangles which could result in some long swims if you’re not careful in the beginning. Of course I just sold my Peaks as wings have replaced them and I don’t use them anymore.
Stoked to hear they recommend the same size as you would wing with. This is promising as the pocket wing sounds like a high wind only tool. Hopefully we could do this here in Florida when it’s 15-20.
Time will tell, stoked to see a new discipline of foiling starting. Still looks easier than learning to sup foil dw, I ran out of swear words when I tried it before getting a foil drive…lol.
Pioneers can take the arrows on that one. Call me when the V3 comes out…
I wanna hear one single first-hand review first. This would be perfect for some of the bay runs we have here where getting out to and back from the swell in the channel takes twice as long as the run itself. And/Or riding upwind to avoid the shuttle. I have to wonder how well it really goes upwind though
This looks absolutely epic. Upwind changes the game. Love the innovation coming from Maui.
Price is high but I guess can settle around $600 once they get production going, near the Flysurfer Peak pricing? I am definitely interesting in replacing all my aging wings with this.
The development story is worth a look.
This was my main issue with using hand kites, and I don’t see how this entirely solves that, but I’m sure the techniques and gear will progress to solve it
First footage in the wild:
That is apparently Eric’s first try and he got going no problem. Keep in mind his foil/wing skill level is off the charts.
Maybe his first run on it but the kite looks so unstable in flight
Every clip I see that’s not edited promotional footage, the things are dancing all around trying to get to the edge of the wind window. Once you get moving it seems to settle down some.
I had the same thought watching that clip above, and definitely is the crux and what made the Nasa kite not feel like it was that viable.
Interested to see the average joe in crap gusty conditions making this work. Something about your arms stabiliding and the the rigidity of the wing stabilising it is pretty clearly a benefit of a wing.
Yeah but look at Greg cruising all stable in the same clip. Either he’s down one size or just has this muscle memory to fly it stable
I’ve got 3-4 sessions on the pocket wing and the takeoff looks a lot like that insta clip, twitchy and a lot of collapsing. It does feel like the more practice I get the less twitchy it feels, so there’s a learning curve and I’m not very far up it yet. I think one of the big things to understand is that you can’t pump it like a wing, you need enough wind to get a no-pump takeoff and so a higher volume board and larger foil are probably key to getting up in normal conditions.
The pocket wing feels more stable with both handles in one hand, so I like the idea of the BRM having a single handle and hopefully some power control.
Following the SeaBreeze thread as well. These are already shipping so we should start to see some user reports soon. On closer internet sleuthing it does look like an improvement over the pocket wing. Getting more excited about this new discipline.
fwiw Born kites said they will release a foil specific version which anticipate to be around the €300 mark which I guess is a good development and the guy seems pretty angry about the it in the BRM comments
I’ve gotta hear some non Maui/gorge reviews! At those spots you can foil with an umbrella and an air chair!
Also, I feel like that water repellent coating is going to need to be refreshed monthly! Anyone flying these things should get familiar with McLube!
Having flown the snot out of my Peak 4 5m I don’t agree that water repellent coating is an issue. I never did anything to my peaks and didn’t notice any difference to how it would behave on the surface. Single skin kites are so light that they just sit on the surface. With these short bridles the light wind launch that they describe in the tutorial video is just like the water launch of a peak and should be much easier.
I suspect just like the peaks the bridles will freak people out which will limit adoption. Having ridden a peak a ton before wings came to market I was initially intimidated by the bridles, but grew to prefer them to the hassles of LEI kites. An occasional tangle really is not a big deal once you learn to shake the bridles out.
If you want an easy button(literally) stick with FD. If you love the simplicity of wind powered sports this looks very promising for dw assist.
Steve Tobis is teasing a YouTube video soon, looking forward to it.
