I could see it being difficult to wrap up or launch on the water if you aren’t wearing a pfd.
Just going from experience kiting flysurfer peak. It’s easy to roll up around the bar and put into your impact vest, even in deep water. If you left it alone for a while, for sure it would sink and anchor you, and the only way to get it out was to pull one line only to break the shape, if you tried to pull it out by the bar you’d be fighting the current.
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Yeah if it’s lit up, even collapsing it in an organized fashion while sitting on the board is kinda difficult. I think it would be very hard if you were swimming.
Although maybe as poster above says, you just roll it and let it be a huge mess. I didn’t try that in my non-emergency situation.
Having swam my FS peaks in a few times it sounds like someone got in over their head and panicked. I have even had to roll up my 13m peak more than once and swim it in. That’s a giant single skin kite with tons of bridles. It can be done, you just have to remain calm and methodical.
Good to spend a bunch of time getting comfortable on land before jumping in at a spot like the gorge.
Given how short the bridles are in the parawing I would think you could relaunch and body drag without a board. Probably a good skill to practice.
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Day 1 for me was in 10-15kts for a short band, going into 8-12 kt harbor. Edit: 75kg rider.
Gear rigged:
- 70L wingfoil board
- 4.0M Parawing
- 1180/795/220/60 (dw setup)
My main reaction after the first day is that this is a lot harder than it looks! I was up and riding/foiling on reaches a few times, and was able to make a few gybes. But the feeling once up is that upwind is very difficult, the one-armed riding is also very difficult/strenuous (you have to stack your hands on the balance point, and gybing is nearly impossible). I wonder how long a harness line would have to be to make this comfortable? Experience with sinker boards, or no-hands to knees is helpful, because to get planing you are going to lose one hand, and the force is much lighter than winging.
Coming from kiting and winging, this feels like neither. If the bar is tilted too far back it backstalls. If it’s too far forward, it does a slow speed stall … and if it goes too far to either corner of the wind window it can’t be steer’d out of it. There is a sweet spot where you can coax is across the wind window for a gybe, but it’s going to take a while for me to get this (I had a 1-in-3 success rate yesterday).
Preliminary conclusions: I don’t think this will cannibalize winging, or winging to gain ground for a downwinder. I’m also not sure that it can be easily stowed or stuffed for sizes 4.0 and above - it’s just a lot of material, despite being such a feather in terms of overall design (impressive). I don’t think this will help kiters “skip” winging and go straight into this.
I plan to try it next with my long dw board. The whole setup is much more sensitive to rocker angles as you can’t pump the wing, but you can pump the board — but you need to be close to foiling to start to do this. Too aggressive of a rocker angle like seen on some race-board (and the board I used yesterday) makes this much harder as you can’t pull up to ollie onto foil. A flatter planing angle, a midlength, or a dw board is a better solution.
Lastly, I worry this could lead to experienced wingers getting in over there heads. I’ve heard a number of wingers express the desire for a cheat code that skips the paddle or large dw board. I’m an experienced winger, and an intermediate supfoiler and downwind paddler. I expected to be able to hold my ground yesterday but ultimately lost about 800-meters from my launch point. I could see experienced wingers potentially going out into the ocean or a channel on their first try, and losing ground on a small board with the parawing. Approaching it like you would a dw run (with a car shuttle to an upwind point) I think will make this much more doable, safe, and reduce frustration.
Good luck! For riders about to take the plunge, just keep your expectations adjusted and use a ML or DW board. The product is innovation, but not alchemy, and feels like a new category rather than another product in the quiver. This isn’t so much a review as much as an honest initial reaction - it feels like starting all over again, and that’s a good thing. 
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8-12 and you made this work with the 4m?!?
That’s my biggest take away from your review - err first impression. That’s impressive and probably not something we should all expect. I am guessing you’re in a lower weight class then me.
Great review. Not surprised it was challenging in the light wind conditions. Thinking this would be only for higher winds(15-20 minimum). So your review actually has me more optimistic in a I am gluten for punishment kinda way…lol
And good to hear some first hand impressions on the pack up of the 4m. Being in Florida the 5 or 6m would get more use but I think the largest I would go is the 4
I’ll add my first sessions notes here (previously posted on Seabreeze). I agree with Emiry’s notes about wingers getting in trouble. My session was in a pretty tame spot where I knew I could paddle back if needed. Definitely recommend a kiddie pool session or a beginner DW run for most.
I had a go on my 4M in winds 12-20mph. I’m 66kgs, went with my 85L Armstrong DW v1 board. First tried the ha1080 and couldn’t quite get on foil. Swapped out to the 1350apf and was able to get up on my strong stance pretty quick. Cruised upwind easy! Flying with one arm also felt very easy. The wind was really fluky so I had a lot of trouble nailing my gybes. Definitely would have been on a 5M standard wing, but would have been with a 4m wing with that same setup.
Some notes:
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the parawing gets heavy when water gets trapped in it. I could envision a scary wipeout in waves getting tangled up, so a vaikobi or impact vest is probably a good call taking the stress out of that situation.
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Nose of my board kept getting through the lines when pointing downwind and getting things sorted
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Felt like a bit of a beginner until I was on foil then I felt money, but back to beginner when I couldn’t get back on my weak side and had to paddle back the majority of the way.
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Standing makes things a lot easier so starting on a bigger board will be the call moving forward for me unless I’m really powered.
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Imagine getting on foil without pumping the wing…thats kinda how it felt, although you can give it some tugs to help.
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When things go wrong, you lose all support from the wing so I spilled off the upwind rail a lot (insert loud curses).
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I agree. It was easy for me to do a DW, but everything else about the wing is hard and different. I also totally agree that wiping out on a wave and getting tangled in it would be very very scary. This thing is a sea anchor, literally.
I have a 3.4 pocket wing that I’ve been slowly learning for the past month or so, it sounds very similar experience wise to the BRM, although the pocket wing won’t go upwind.
Totally agree with the comments that it’s not like kiting or winging, it is it’s own thing - there is a learning curve! However, if you have decent winging and foiling skills, you can learn quickly. I put in something like 1.5-2 hours across 4 short sessions before doing a proper downwinder. I actually wasn’t even planning to do the downwinder with the pocket wing, but got to the start of the run and realized I had left my paddle at home… Sent it with the pocket wing and it was a revelation, sooo much easier than paddling! For an intermediate DW’r like me in tricky open ocean conditions, all of a sudden I can do a 5 -10 mile run in a predictable amount of time rather than somewhere between 1 - 3 hours - yesterday did a 5 mile run in 30 minutes beach to beach. Skipped the 20 minutes of prone paddling out and then back to the beach that’s normally required for a SUP run and skipped all the waiting around for a good takeoff bump to come every time I came off foil…
For the pocket wing at least:
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Launch the wing rodeo style with the handle in one hand.
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If in big bumps and powered/overpowered, point the board close to straight down wind in rodeo and then to knees/feet on the back of a big bump, this will stop foiling before you get to your feet. My sketchiest wipeouts so far have been from foiling too soon into a breach/taco while trying to stand up.
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If underpowered, angle a broad reach with the bumps, get on a bump and pump the foil. Pumping the wing doesn’t seem to do much
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If badly tangled, trying to untangle with the wing downwind of you can make it worse if it’s really windy and the wing is flapping/spinning around. I only had to do this once, but I had good luck turning into the wind and sinking the wing so it deployed in the water like a sea anchor. then with it all calmed down and tension on the bridles I was able to deal with the tangle.
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Not sure about this yet, but it does seem like a DW board can be a little detrimental in some conditions. When the bumps were big, 3-5’ or so the dw board seemed fine. Yesterday, bumps were smaller, say 2-3’ or so and it felt like the board was pushing me around more as I was standing/starting. I’m looking forward to doing a run on my 5’10" wingboard, but it is nice to have the big DW board to paddle in if necessary.
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Collapse the wing by grabbing the front bridle and sliding your hand up, this collapses the wing nice and straight and seems to have the best chance of re-deploying. I was able to re-deploy a couple of times yesterday and successfully pulled myself out of a hole where I was about to fall off foil.
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I think the key feature of the BRM is that it is made by Greg who is both excellent at foiling and building, they have enough of an understanding of what is required.
Looking at the Born and DIY alternatives*, my warning is that I found ALL of the testing on land (across 3 kites) to be absolutely trivial, and was certain it would just work as easily on the water, but working on land is evidence of absolutely zero on the water.
I think a consideration and maybe advantages of the BRM is the short lines, and lower aspect ratio.
*As I’ve said before, hoping that the Flysurfer peak or variant is the answer, I have wanted one for summer, and if it ticks the box here I’ll buy one over the BRM
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Had a second session on the 4.0 Parawing in 15g20 kts conditions, launching at the bottom of a bay into good bumps. In general, holy smokes, a ton of power on tap - enough to get on foil, upwind, even enough to slightly unweight my heels on land at 170lbs.
It seems like my first session 9g14 kts was underpowered on a wing board, and this second session was far overpowered on a dw board. So while this range would likely be fine on a shuttled dw run, it felt too overpowered for upwind riding.
To try and hold the power, I had created a loop of dyneema for the bar, but should have girth hitched it to the balance point, because it was sliding and making this uncontrollable. Some moments that were uncomfortable were the sheer power when launching and reaching slightly upwind, the moments where the board is pointed at the canopy, and the feeling of falling off the board with the wing in one hand… unable to let go. For upwind riding, and offshore riding I think it makes sense to rig a leash and/or a harness loop.
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First trial report
Wind 12-15 knots… Onshore. Small Great Lakes waves. 4m Parawing, DW 107L 7’2, Gofoil GT1400.
No range.
Under 15 can’t go.
Over 15/gust it’s pulling hard.
Onshore, waves and gusty, very close to flying.
2 walk of shame later.
Art of not dropping it at all, otherwise very difficult to empty it of water. VERY heavy water pocket.
Friends are flying on 5m regular wings but needed to get away from shore to fly.
Later used my 5.5 wing for the same conditions.
Would need a harness with long use. When it pulls it pulls hard.
Just like a beginner winger. As you trying to get on the board, you’re going straight downwind. Then as you learn to keep the Parawing overhead, you can climb across the wind
Onshore conditions with wind lifting above the trees. It’s really tough when under powered.
When powered it’s just as easy as a wing to climb on the board then stand up and head up wind without flying.
I think ideally best on side shore steady fully powered.
Harness if you want to play the upwind downwind game for more than an hour (my sessions usually several hours straight).
I think once you mastered flying with dropping it in the water, it should be pretty sweet.
Not a wing replacement.
Very intuitive and easy on land.
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I saw somewhere (website mabye?) that they recommend attaching some sort of flotation if you think you might be dropping it a lot. Waiting for mine to deliver, but plan to try and duct tape some foam to it somewhere out of the way…
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I took my 5.1 out for the first time today. Wind was up and down. I kept trying to takeoff on a beam reach (like with a conventional wing). You need to be on more of a deep broad reach to takeoff.
Also when your wing gets waterlogged, i would hold a wing tip up and let the wind pull the wing off the surface and clear the water. The trailing edge has a slight scoop to it - and that is good at holding water.
The 5.1 fits in the parawing belt. It packed away nicely, and i could paddle the board (midlength wing board) without any issues.
I wish i had Maui strength winds (here on Oahu) - the smaller sized parawings look so much easier to fly. The 5.1 is doable - just saying it seems to me smaller is easier if you have strong enough winds.
Definitely get a parawing sized similar to a wing you would use in the conditions you have. After trying out the parawing, I swapped out to North Mode Pro 5.5 and was powered fine.
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Thought occurred, falling into the kite could lead to a scenario where knife would be handy
I just finished my first session on the 6.2 yesterday in 15-17 winds in NE, FL. I had similar experiences and have sorted some of them out. Full review in the works.
My big ah-ha moment yesterday was overcoming, “if it goes too far to either corner of the wind window, it can’t be steered out of it.” Power/de-power is a fine line, at least in light wind. When the wing stalled in the corner, I, too, found that just turning the bar in the opposite direction didn’t work. However, doing so with a sharp pointing or tugging of the bottom tip of the bar in the opposite direction did work and immediately corrected the stall. (185LBS, 140L Armstrong DW, Progression 200 & 14.5)
I hope this helps!
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Yesterday was a fun day at the local launch site here in the SF bay. There were two folks with 4m BRM wings and myself with my self converted Peak 4 foil kite all trying to make it happen. Wind was solid for winging - I probably would have been on my 4.5m. But we all had some trouble getting going and especially staying up wind.
We found it drastically easier to get on foil going one way versus the other since the swell comes in offset from wind direction. But everyone got on foil and had various degrees of success.
I came away thinking that one session at a winging launch (with a way to walk back upwind) would be enough to be ready to use it on a downwind run as long as that run has a reasonable safety profile in case of problems. And it seems like that would probably be all that’s needed to get proficient enough to be fun. If you’re proficient at winging and downwinding, the learning curve seems very fast.
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Has anyone chipped into a wave on a prone board and then deployed the Parawing?
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This could be a game changer… little chip then DW assist for a long-distance shore runner or getting out to the big bumps way offshore…
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So I got a 5m and have one session on it in 15-17mph winds and 2-3 NE swell/bumps. On the beach the power was there, felt like I might be overpowered. Easy to get out, love going through shore break with it vs. a wing. Wore a Vaikobi vest and glad I did, thanks to whoever posted that tip. Was on the Nimitz 7.7. It’s way harder to launch in the water than I was expecting. I’m sure the smaller sizes are easier, but the 5 got so damn heavy. Had the issue with the lines getting tangled in the nose of the board. I did a 2 mile drift and only got on foil for 1 to 1.5 seconds and tacoed right away when I was angling upwind to keep it going and it dropped out. Maybe it’s going to be fun, but I haven’t cussed that much since early wing days. Definitely broke by 3 f-bomb rule by a factor of 20, easy. Jokes aside, it’s harder than I thought it would be. I’d have been on foil right away on a sup, wing, drive. I know it’s new and there’s going to be a learning curve, but I didn’t anticipate how annoying it would be in the water. One fall I had the board went through the lines and got tangled and somehow my back leg was in the mess. The pfd made that easy to deal with, but in the surf or without float it would have been semi-sketchy. And it took a solid 10-15 mins to get the lines sorted and relaunched. The most fun I had was body dragging, it was also the most power I felt. Maybe in light winds mids might be a better board call. but the whole getting up to your feet while holding the kite is a huge pain. A wing lets you cheat and then gives balance while your up and building speed. I kept falling trying to get speed when my board would track on bumps and you can’t push on the kite. I’m going to give it a few more go’s, but its not the easy dw hack I was hoping it would be out of the box with limited kite experience… But that’s after one long frustrating session and I reserve the right to change my mind.
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