I’m looking for some advice before I buy my first parawing.
I have zero wind sport experience. I’m in Southeast Florida and my typical wind is 15–20 mph. I’ve narrowed it down to the Ozone Pocket Rocket and the Flysurfer Pow.
For someone brand new to this, is one of these easier to learn on than the other? How do they compare in that 15–20 mph range — does one perform noticeably better? And any tips on sizing? I’m 165 lbs
Appreciate any input!
I would say pocket rocket.
The Pow is good, but it will be slightly more cumbersome to pack and stow.
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POW all day. way better in light wind. 4m will be great. though unless you are buying a used one, v2 is about to come out in May
Don’t buy a pocket rocket v1 unless heavily discounted, the v2 is right around the corner and will likely be amazing. The POW is good for freeriding, but the lines are long and will require a 2 stage pull in for stashing, which is not ideal for a beginner. I’d also recommend looking at a second hand F one Frigate or Quest, both are very good and easy to learn on (with the Quest being probably the most beginner friendly pw there is right now, but likely more expensive). Around 4m is a good first size, perhaps 4,5m if you go for the Quest.
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I could be reading your post wrong but did you mean you have zero wind sport experience & wanting to start foiling & with a PW? Or you already know how to foil?
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If zero windsports experience is true - then I’d get a reasonably efficient (but forgiving) board and foil setup and an inexpensive 5m wing and start learning that way. A year or two old wing is going to be cheap and will significantly shorten your learning curve vs jumping right into parawing. You can then use the same board and foil setup to learn to parawing in a few months or a year depending on how often you get onto the water and how quickly you pick it up. Jumping right into parawing with no experience will probably be discouraging…
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I sup foil and prone foil I’m intermediate level I just have never winged or kited that’s why I have no wind sport activity. Thank you to everyone for all the advice!
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The reason for choosing those two parawings pow is on sale for $650 and ozone is on sale for $850
+1 to this! Using a wing would isolate the variables a bit as you learn things like jibing, edging, water starts etc.
If you go with a parawing, esp in a warmer climate - or at your typical break without a wetsuit … there is a real safety risk with all those bridles … in an emergency you could kick away to free yourself, but it’s a really expensive way to break in a brand new parawing.
I’m going to have to steer you towards something like the F-One Quest for a beginner.
I used to tangle the Pocket Rocket if I looked at it the wrong way, the quest has given me more time foiling and less time sorting out the lines.
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I was so nervous to learn PW based on reviews. When I finally did I found it so easy. Easier than winging. I have only been on a wing 10-15 times. I would just skip the wing and go straight to PW. I spent probably 2-3 hours watching how to videos on the PW first. Spent a hour on a skateboard and fly the PW in a parking lot. Once I hit the water I was up, turning and going up wind in under 60 mins. YouTube really shortens the curve
PS - I live in central FL. I’m 6’3” 200lbs and ride a 4m Kanaha and 5m Maliko. I use my 4m about 80% of time. I have a downwind board and neutral volume mid length. Riding a big foil is key to learning. Axis 1150 made easy work of learning. Uni Evo205 is my daily driver now.
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I have a BRM Ka’a 4.2 I would let go for $450.
The PRv1 and POW are both decent choices to learn on and both have their drawbacks. Both require the 2 stage collapse but it’s really not that hard to do.
I would say get the POW if you value maximum wind range and the PRv1 if you want things to be a bit easier. The worst thing about the PRv1 is the redeploy is severely hampered by the line material. The worst thing about the POW is the curved bar and uni-coloured lines.
I would not bother winging, people telling you how easy it is to learn to parawing if you know how to wing are discounting the time it takes you to learn the wing part and overall I think you’ll get there quicker just focusing on parawing.
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For a first parawing, I suggest going with a parawing that is easy to stow. Let’s be real, the thing that probably got you into parawinging, as opposed to winging, is the fact that you can stow the thing and surf.
In your early stage, upwind angle, speed and performance do not matter because all those upwind gain will be lost when you fail to stow or redeploy.
The Ka’a that Foily McLipshitz sell his great for that. Short line and the best in business for compactness when stowing. If I we’re you, I’ll buy that parawing as a first one. Learn the rope and get consistent with your stashing and line management. By then you will have plenty of option in the new and used market.
YEWWWW!
The PocketRocket is a great parawing but required line managment skills in the bigger size (4,3 m and up). I don’t think the POW is good. I haven’t tried it but a friend of mine bought a POW 4m and decided that parawing was not his thing because it was too much line management. He is an advance kiter and foiler.
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For some context here - theres a guy who I know who is the best surfer and prone rider in my area. Very skilled on the wave. He has no windsports experience and really wants to learn parawing. He spent a LOT of sessions last year struggling with tangles and getting blown downwind and I’m not even sure whether he ever got onto foil with it. Some of it had to do with equipment, but I think a lot was just learning the wind window, angles, etc… Maybe he’s just wave smart and wind stupid - but it seems like a relevant anectdote here.
If you are dead set on parawing and want to stay in a budget, my suggestion is to go with a gen1 BRM parawing with the line modification. They have good grunt to get you onto foil and its going to be the cheapest bang for the buck entry into the sport. You can probably find one for $200 or so - much cheaper than the prices you are seeing on a pocket rocket or POW (those prices also seem high to me, they are going to come down as both of those products are getting gen2’s soon). That BRM is still a very relevant product in my opinion (and I’ve ridden the pocket rocket pretty extensively).
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Does the BRM KA,A go upwind?
Absolutely don’t get a BRM Ka’a, that’s a terrible choice for learning compared to the competition today. Bad low end, bad high end and poor upwind angles - the only good thing is the stashing, but it won’t help you get to the point where you want to stash.
All depends on what you want to do. and how much money you want to spend. whether you want to keep that one wing for long term vs. use it to learn PW. not everyone is doing repeated deploys and stashing, so that stash optmization may not be the only factor either. I started on a PW that had no upwind and no range. f that was stupid.
Poor OP, every single opinion on this thread has an opposing opinion stating the exact opposite. LOL
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