Anyone parawinging in sub 15 knots? If so, what wings do you use? (And what have you tried that you did not like)
6.2 Maliko V1. Can start to make real upwind progress at around 14/15 but below that it’s still great for DW
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4m pow works great in less than 14 knots. w/dw board though.
anyone here put time in on 4.7 Frigate in 10-12 knots on 20”-ish neutral-ish buoyancy board ?
4.3m or 5m Pocket Rocket.
85kg naked, 60L board and 850 foil.
I did some 10-15 knots on a 4.3 ozone and the dynamic is very interesting when compared to downwind SUP paddling.
My thoughts (as they relate to downwind parawing)
Board speed is everything, if you can get the board moving you can get on foil, waterline length is the key for that.
Takeoff on the side that gives you the best bumps. If you can get the board moving and you hit the bumps right, you can takeoff in nothing. So similar to SUP. Board moving, legs working, wait for exact moment with a downhill (and if you go against the energy, it’s hopeless)
Pumping foil is critical, pump the board off the water. This means taking off on the side that you are stronger at pumping.
Flapping the parawing in the right way is critical, “scoop from back and low” is how I’d describe it
I personally do not believe this would be that viable without some pretty firm proof (other than on massive pump foils)
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I think I’m leaning towards 5m pocket rocket or 4.7m frigate so a comparison of low end would be most welcome if anyone’s tried both
How efficient are you pumping with a wing or paddling up? A lot of it is reading power in the water and pumping your legs efficiently. I came from winging and while I’m still a novice on the parawing I consider myself pretty efficient getting up and feel like the skill translated pretty well from winging. I can use a 4.3 PR in sub 15 knots at 80kg and am not personally interested in a larger parawing.
Maybe its because I’m falling more as I learn parawing (and having to get up more often vs winging), but my legs are smoked after a two hour light wind session. A lot of legs in the pump up.
I would love to find the magic in the 10-15 knot range. My biggest PW is the 4.0 Kanaha. I am interested in getting a bigger PW in a model that has a wider range. Good low end that can handle being overpowered comfortably.
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5m pr is a handful, lots of canopy, lots of battens
Being a Florida based parawinger I am following this thread with great interest. I think there is definitely opportunity to develop a better low wind pw.
My experience based on the BRM 5.1 Maliko, I need 10-15ish for starts to be automatic on my -10l mid length and a evo205. 10-13 is doable if the bumps are aligned right otherwise it’s not worth the effort and I will just wing. In theory I could gain some margin with my dw board but I just don’t see the point. It’s way more fun for me to ride the mid length.
I am curious to try a 6m, preferably a BRM Maliko as it still sounds like the gruntiest pw from BRM. And the light weight canopy is critical for low wind usability. My friend had the Gong 5m and it definitely has more low end power than my Maliko but it was so heavy that it would fall in every transition where the Maliko was easily drifting. Not to mention packdown size.
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What do you consider massive? I’m out in LW on my Atlas 1340 all the time. I can pump up in flat water in 9 knots and with wave assist in 7-8 knots. This is using either my 4.2m D-Wing or my 4.7m Frigate. I can pump my Atlas 960 up in about 1 more knot of wind but usually when it’s that light the bumps are better on the 1340.
I’m 75 kg and ride a 5’8” x 19” x 85L board.
You have to treat getting on foil like a SUP paddle up to unlock the low end. It’s a work out. Focus on pumping the PW to enable to pull yourself directly forwards at the top of your board pump when you are weightless to engage the foil.
Even though I can pump up in 9 knots, I need 10 knots in order to make a good enough upwind angle to have fun.
Interestingly enough so far it seems that the low end of the 4.2m D-Wing is as good or better than the low end of the 4.7m Frigate just because it pumps better and behaves better deeper in the window. The Frigate is much easier to fly and more well behaved though, the D-Wing needs precise piloting.
I’ve also found the upwind angles to be quite similar on the two parawings:
7-8 knots: pumping the foil to stop from losing ground
9 knots: 12° upwind
10-12 knots: 15-18° upwind
14-18 knots: 18-26° upwind
18-23 knots: 22-36° upwind
25+ knots: 24° upwind
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Yes for me that is massive, I draw the line at around 900 ideally, but yes around 1300 I found that if you can stand up and get the board moving you could pump it onto foil. I have roughly the same weight and have generally similar experience.
I gues your angles tell the other part of my comment which is that until you have 15 knots you can’t meaningfully go upwind which means you can’t go downwind.
My intro to downwind was SUP so that distorts things as if it’s <12 knots and I’m doing only downwind and I must ride a 1300 then I’ll paddle
Yes this I would agree with, at the low end you’re using the parawing in exactly the same way as a paddle, by pulling yourself towards it
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Our best light wind Parawingers are those who have mastered the downwind paddle ups. They know how to pump the board and foil to get up so the parawing isn’t actually doing much work, just getting the initial movement happening. They all ride downwind boards and some wide span pump foils. If there is enough wind to fly the parawing they can generally get foiling.
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I use the kanaha 5.5m from 10 to 15 knt, works great, there is plenty of pull to use a 800 foil from 12 knt.
It goes upwind ok, but not as good as the kanaha 4m, this parawing is magic.
I have the 4.0 and 4.7 kanaha. A parawing cannot match a wing for one simple reason, the wind needs to support the material with a para wing and a regular wing has support and only needs to catch wind. So I believe a very constant 12 mph does support my 4.7 but just barely. I do not believe it will support bigger. We often get caught up in size = power but when you go down in wind speed you must consider the total weight needed to fly. A 4.7 BrM is 1 lb of weight. Granted it is spread out over 4.7 meters but that’s a lot of weight to fly at sub 10 mph and it better be constant. Things to think about. Also keep in mind at 10 mph you must also get yourself and board up and stay up. Finally take your 4 our in very light wind and think about the weight question as it flutters and falls. Size will not help because weight is added.
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Out yesterday on my 4mtr Maliko, DW board and Fireball 1250. 5mtr wings were struggling to get going, no issue for me in the 10 knots of wind.
Oh, Foildrive Slim fitted to mast made getting up to foiling speed super simple.
Did you end up getting a PT Skin?
Nope. 4m POW works quite well with big front foil.