I understand what you guys are trying to do and i am not suggesting racing crossings with the PW. I think the adventure side of SUP DW is something that you can’t replace yet. What I am putting forward is the opposite. I am hypothesizing that PW will focus people away from the straight DW race focus mentality, back to the enjoyment of just surfing the bumps for the fun of it, You are definitely aware of the uneasiness felt amongst many of the original SUP dw foilers as to where the sport was going with the massive improvements in foils. This uneasiness is in my opinion a warning sign for SUP foil racing participation and now the PW might further significantly erode the SUP DW foil base.
The PW crew will be riding completely different boards, foils and with a different style totally. These guys might have very limited interest in the marketing that is SUP dw foil racing. After all, the brands will likely make a lot more money out of the PW equipment sales. I think they already are. If the hypothesis is even slightly true it will be hard for brands to justify the R&D of race foils let alone flying team riders to four different places in the world for competition. PW might just be the greatest thing to happen to foiling by focusing back on grass roots, away from any chance the sport could follow the same stupidity that surfing has become, the very thing that most people came to foiling to escape.
I am not saying there won’t be SUP dw foiling and racing I am just saying it might have already had its day in the sun.
I can totally see the world you’re describing — where parawing pulls people toward the pure fun of surfing bumps and away from the more structured race side. But I can also see a world where it just becomes more. The two can grow alongside each other.
There are plenty of people who love parawing who’d also be into SUP downwind racing, especially if we can find creative ways to include wings in certain formats. Personally, I love the idea of a parawing race that includes an upwind leg or a transition section — something that highlights skill and strategy, not just speed. I’m less excited about just holding the wing out and running downwind; to me, that’s closer to kiting. But ultimately, the racers will decide what feels right, and that’s healthy.
Long story short, I think there’s room for all of it. The passion behind both disciplines feeds the same spirit — ocean awareness, connection, and progression. I’ve said it before, but it’s like having your second kid: you don’t love your first one any less — you just have more to love
I’m honestly surprised by how much brands are investing in supporting competitive downwind racing. At events like M2M or M2O, it feels like nearly every non-rider is there in a support role for a dedicated athlete. There’s clearly a push to make the media coverage more engaging, hoping the audience will follow, but from a cost-benefit perspective, it’s hard to see how it really adds up.
Parawing, on the other hand, seems to offer some solves here. You can use stow requirements that force riders into free-ride sections, eliminating the need for shuttles. It brings the broader foiling community closer to the pro scene, while still allowing creative formats, e.g. teams sharing a parawing, freestyle heats, or speed challenges.
And the venues could be rad: right against the rocks in Hood River, on the waterfront at Treasure Island in San Francisco, or viewed from the cliffs above Ho‘okipa. It’s less of an “Unbound,” and more like a time trial/crit.
But also … a big RagBrai ride down the coast in Brazil would be a dream.
when I look around at the events that have thrived vs died, it seems to me that the more successful ones these days are for participants, not fans. So to grow the competitive side of the sport, you need to have venues and formats that are accessible geographically and most importantly fun for a broad range of participants from intermediate to pro.
Whatever the format, objective timing/racing is always preferred to subjective judging.
I would love to do an event that was a roving time trial where you have a homebase at an event site or a big campground with tents/beer/food and then you head out for the day based on forecast in a fleet of shuttle vans to do 2 or 3 runs with a gps tracker or a timing chip.
For downwind parawing, the rule should be no re-deploy on foil, you catch a bump, stow and then foil until you fall.
I think for low key local stuff it could even be a clock and a piece of paper. Write your time, run(or walk if you’re feeling chill) to the water and start. If some behind you catches you cheating let ridicule ensue. Event staff is just someone in a pickup doing laps
@TooMuchEpoxy yes! We do a ton of these in Hawaii. The grassroots races are always the most fun and prep athletes for the big races. I hope this only grows.
@shep I was close to hosting one here (Chs, SC) this fall but I just wasn’t confident enough in a forecast to invite people! If there was something like this here on the east coast, I’d 100% go. If there were more than 5/year I’d learn SUP and PW to do them(sup and PW aren’t game changers here so I’ve had no reason). Maybe in the spring here I’ll put something together focusing on people in easy east coast driving range with a degree of event flexibility for weather. Have a target weekend, make a call on the forecast 1 week before, run the best of 2 days of a Friday, Saturday, Sunday so people only have to pay for one night in a hotel with short notice. Run the following weekend if the forecast doesn’t work.
Man, having reliable conditions looks rad but honestly alot of practical considerations are really rad here!