FWIW the F-1 Quest and Ozone Power Pack probably both fit into your description of what you are looking for. Easy to get up, easy to jibe, just overall easy handling and quite intuitive. Neither are amazing upwind but both do reasonably well and you can certainly get upwind with them. I don’t think either of them will take more than a session or two to get comfortable with.
With regards to the current VMG wars, you have to understand that only two years ago we didn’t really have any wings that were great upwind, so this focus on VMG is because riders are excited about the possibility of riding upwind at a reasonable clip while still having a wing that functions well in other aspects like turning and start up. It’s where the development is happening because it’s what’s needed to really unlock the whole range of sailing and surfing. Frankly I am really satisfied with where things are right now with my PRv2, so if we continue to iterate and make small gains in both VMG and functions like stow/packability and ease of handling I’m pretty excited to go along for the ride.
So, what I’m saying is, just because there is a current focus on VMG doesn’t mean that there aren’t very friendly wings that fit your goals, and this progress will trickle down to all wings in the future so we will have even better all arounders.
Thanks Hdip! Haha, while Omen isn’t really sponsoring any riders we do get quite a few elite folks on our boards and foils as they want something really high performance that they can push with confidence into demanding conditions. No doubt though that the majority of foilers (myself included) can’t get out every day and these same attributes scale to make the average session that much more emjoyable.
In my mind, the ideal piece of gear is always a balance between performance and usability regardless of skill level. Even at the most elite levels of sport, folks want their equipment to be intuitive and world class operators will often be adding, removing, adjusting, and tweaking.
Where the line is drawn for that trade-off certainly changes for folks with less experience and consistency of practice as usability becomes more of the focus but certainly they will benefit from performance gains just as much (if not more) than elite riders.
In our boards for example, I’d consider the Flux the “optimal” balance between performance and usability for most folks. With the Emissary on the other hand, ease of use is compromised disproportionately for performance. I still of course made every effort possible to increase ease of use, but there are places where a trade-off was inevitable and for riders who get a decent amount of water time this is a very worthy trade off.
The Afterburner is also a great example of this, the ease of use is actually what shocked me the most after Ken was generous enough to let me try his prototype this summer at the hatch. The performance was of course outstanding as well, but just looking at the wing that seems obvious and didn’t really surprise me. I think the biggest accomplishment is actually making that high of a performance PW so intuitive to fly and stow. Still, for many it will be too technical (not to mention too expensive!) but I would bet the Ozone team will figure out a way to instill the same attributes into say the PRV3 the average rider will have a really spectacular wing with an incredible balance of performance and accessibility.
Not to say the PRV2 isn’t already a great wing, I haven’t spent enough time on it to say, I suppose my point is that the development work going into making such a high performance wing like the AB so highly usable will no doubt benefit the average joe as those tweaks trickle down into a more deliberately “balanced” product.
I agree with @foilstate and my pw world is the same as his. Big Vmg and enjoy the difficulty.
I only see three major subcategories of pw.
Those that are learning to use the parawing with the ambition to ride bumps in some way. @Wouzel smiles from progression.
Those that stay on foil and ride upwind chasing Vmg for the pleasure of riding bumps without shuttles.@Wouzel smiles from their bump riding exploits
Those that shuttle for bumps and just use the pw to get into position on foil.
The difference in Vmg is not just from 6 knots to 8 knots and more like 3 to 10. Wing and technique are just as important. Many pw foilers won’t get anywhere near 6 and there will be some chasing more than 10. It’s about Vmg with comfort for most and this is where some of the best wings shine as pointed out by @Greg_F.
Funny thing is that Horst Sergio was getting 40° upwind angles at good speed back in 2024 with his Peak to Parawing conversions before the Maliko was released. So the very first parawings actually had excellent VMG.
I started asking questions to Lachie White. He is averaging 8 to 12kts of vmg (peaks at 15!) on an orbit 3.5, uni evo 155, across a variety of wind direction/strength in Port Phillip Bay which is has weak tides.
For comparison I do between 7 and 9kts also on the orbit 3.5, enduro 800. So it goes to show how much rider skills affect vmg!
Can you give an idea how much you weigh and what wind range you are choosing the 3.5 orbit and are there circumstances where you choose something else in that wind range. I notice you were riding hybrids before?
Any help appreciated as I have ordered a 2.7 at 65kg.
measuring VMG right now is about as accurate as measuring wave height I would say, there are so many very crude assumptions you need to make in those apps. The only way to compare is racing to the same mark otherwise it’s “6ft Hawaiian” type conversation
Different question: is the body mechanics of VMG parawing going to follow winging? I would guess so, but I thought interesting to see how bent over the kiters are, and given the strings on a pw, maybe follows?
I have an hybrid 5.7 and 4.3, really happy with them, plug and play performance. Found an orbit 3.5 second hand as I was keen to try. I would say 20 to 30+ knots is were most of the upwind performance is happening. Under 20kts it’s hard to get up on foil and upwind is not very impressive, for my gear and skill level, at 80kg. That orbit felt technical and twitchy at first and slowly became so so good as I tuned into it. It slices through the wind with no resistance and the adjustable trim line to adjust the camber/grunt of the wing is awesome, especially once flying and going upwind. It made me gain 0.5-1kts of vmg over the hybrids maybe, but mostly an amazing feeling and comfort. It feels like it opens up a massive window for improvement on my skill side to unlock its full potential. That is all I want to ride. So I found a 4.5m also second hand (lucky strike!). To be continued..
Good points. It is not just about making upwind fast, but making it fun and something you enjoy. Got the Hybrids as well, and just pulled the trigger on a 3.5 Orbit. How much I like the hybrids, made me want to try the Orbit.
Just discovered the foil.run website, so now I can enjoy nerding out on data as well. What a fantastic website.
I have tried an app or two that gave me unrealistic vmg numbers but foilrun matches my manually calculated numbers.
I think the upright, high hook stance that wing racers developed is necessary to keep the wingtips out of the water and the wing as vertical as possible.
A PW sits several feet away and so you can use the more powerful low hook and power through the hips like a kiter or windsurfer and still keep the wing in a good position.
I don’t know for sure why the kite racer poo stance is so extreme but maybe for aerodynamics? Going upwind at 20-30 knots apparent wind is in the 40 knot range. At that speed air drag is probably the largest part of total drag and some sort of tuck would make sense.
yes foil.run is the only plausible one, but still requires some assumptions that are region specific? Ie the wind readings in SF bay would surely be better than a random lake
On stance, yes aerodynamics was my guess for the kiter tuck.
the wind readings are a bit useless, you need to check and adjust wind direction manually most of the time to be accurate. And yes, if you are somewhere with large shifts you might see magically great vmg or bad vmg..
I don’t trust wind direction, either from meter or user estimate, reason is that the wind direction changes all the time when you are on the water.
The only thing I trust is the line perpendicular to the tack angle bisect but it’s not perfect either as people often have a better side when riding upwind (especially if they don’t foot switch!).
Slappy already touched on it, but the only assumptions foil.run is really making is that your riding is roughly symmetrical in angles regular vs switch.
And I believe it calculates that “estimated wind direction” for each upwind - so if the wind changes direction throughout the session it will calculate each upwind journey different to the last.
I can’t switch feet with nice foils, yet I can do upwind angles like that. No current. How much would the upwind angles improve if I would miraculously learn how to switch feet now?
Switching feet offers the best angles with the best speed across the biggest wind range for a given wing no question. With the limited shot you have provided you can already see your angles changing within the one tack maybe due to you not handling gusts or wind direction changes. It also looks like your location had the wind changing angles heaps distorting your two tack shot.
Edit Looks like your speed is really slow also looking at the colours.
If you think riding toe side is the best you can do then stick to it.
