We have had a crap spring here but it was epic last weekend 25 - 35 knots and 8-12 foot windswell. the A-team were doing Waddell to SC runs (~20 miles). It can be really good, but tricky with big bumps and sections of big reverb off the cliffs
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Here’s a recent run I did upwind/downwind on a parawing (70 min each way, 30 miles round trip). No falls on the way up, got 9.5 miles upwind in ~70 minutes.
I’ve been getting a lot of questions about whether or not parawings can go upwind… if you can gybe them … what their range is. I expected a track like this to be persuasive (bagging a 10 mile downwinder in approx 2 hrs, getting up on an unremarkable soap-bar shaped board in 12 kts on an 880 size foil), but many remain skeptical.
Pretty cool to look at these polars, thanks Matt and Wren!
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Wow, you’ve got some really nice angles there! Tell me the tide was helping or I’ve got some serious work yet to do 
Was a Chrissy regular for a while also 
Never made it East of Alcatraz though, except for the delta…
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Yes I think so, and possibly makes it hard to usefully compare.
I was thinking the algo should probably be updated as more of an empirical “best 1km split” type thing (to be clear, I don’t know exactly how it works!!)
Maybe something like:
Take your best upwind continuous 1km segment that has 50% (distance? time?) on either tack.
Completely unscientific, maybe illogical diagram of roughly what I was thinking, where 12min for the middle 1km is your best VMG (the port starboard tacks should be equal for each block…)
All Wren, I just shared it !! I thought it was rad. I tried to do something similar for downwind, couldnt’ get it to make much sense
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Ah thanks for clarifying - when I saw you were asking for feedback I thought you guys might have been collaborating. 
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My ride was roughly 2:30 - 4:00pm that day - so slack tide going into a 1.5 kt flood. 12-16 kts while I was out, and picked up later in the day. So a bit tricky!! 
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Been dragging my feet on getting one…as I wouln’t want to be out where JL is. But your Bay run is insane! What PW (brand and size) are you using, please?
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Thanks! Those conditions i was on a 4.2 Flow D Wing, though I am planning to test it back to back soon with an ozone 4.3 on order. My ozone 3.0M was awesome for maui conditions.
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Interested on your opinion of sizing for the SF Bay. Would 1 be enough and if so what size? Was thinking around 3.5-4m for someone around 165 geared up on a DW board. Seemingly Ozone or D-wing style are getting the good reviews for upwind downwind versatility.
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Launching at Berkeley and up to Crissy would typically require 2 sizes. Probably a magic day, very skilled rider, and the Flow D must have a pretty good range. Nice that with pw, you could easily pack a second kite for some really long outings.
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I think for your size you could go with a 3.5 friend! Coyote corridor has better and more consistent wind than my launch, so for that zone and on a dw board, you might even make a 3.0 - 3.3 work.
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Yup, i abandoned one attempt when i launched in 15, but was getting too obliterated at TI when it reached 20+. Would have been more doable on a 3.0, but would have then required a bigger board to start.
Launching in 12, then having mid teens made it just barely feasible. Fun to ride it on a 4-10 x 22” 70L!
I’m thinking to also use it for getting in at redwood City to avoid a long paddle where there are no bumps, it can get fairly light there so a bit bigger may not be terrible.