I’m having some trouble getting up toeside on my downwind board with the parawing in the bumps. I’ve only flown it 3 times. It was pretty intuitive getting up heelside but toeside is hard. The board is really tracky and tippy feeling (unlike winging)
How should I try and get this dialed in my next few sessions?
Thanks for the advise!!
I found toe side easier and quicker onto foil once I got the technique dialed. The benefit I find with toe side is you have clear view of the oncoming bumps. I angle the board at about 45 degrees between crosswind and downwind (this will vary depending on wind speed and bump size). I just make sure I have adequate speed to pump myself up onto foil before I stand. I try to time when I stand up just as the bump is about to pick me up and I start heading downhill, similar to paddling into a wave on a surfboard. As soon as I feel the energy of the wave I can usually pump myself up onto foil and don’t have to rely fully on the power of the wing. Hope this helps.
Interesting….I also find it much easier to get up toe side with the parawing. I think there is a bit more control of the board, edge-to-edge on toe side. I need to put more work into heel side, as far as getting up on foil, and switching feet before I’ll really be able to make upwind distance
Thanks for the replies! So should I have some good speed going before I go from kneeling to standing? Maybe that’s where I’m going wrong. I am currently launching the parawing and then standing, waiting for the gust, and then start pumping.
When you guys get up toe side to you hold the bar w both hands or just the toe side hand? I find I’m pretty inefficient getting up toe side too and often just get up heel side and chicken gybe out which is bad practice.
I only use my front hand, I don’t use two hands getting up toside.
Speed definitely helps. I’m 95-100kg and parawinging on a 80L board so I need a little speed, but I don’t see any reason why the same wouldn’t apply to a DW board.
Local conditions can play a part, I find it’s much easier to get up on the inbound (toward shore) tack if you are in a spot where the bumps bend in. For me at home, sometimes this is pronounced enough that I will taxi out to sea and then gybe and pop up heading in since the inbound tack is lined up more with the bumps and it’s also my strong side. Toeside outbound even on a broad reach I am pretty much parallel with the bumps so you lose both the ability to pump the parawing as well and the ability to turn down a bump without stalling the wing out. I was recently in La Ventana where the bumps bend the opposite direction and found it was almost as easy to get up toeside inbound vs heelside outbound since I was able to turn down the bumps much easier than at home.
For me the score at home is like this:
Heelside regular foot +1 for pumping the board/foil, +1.5 for parawing pumping, +1 going with the bumps.
Toeside regular foot +1 for pumping board/foil, -1 for parawing pumping, -1 going against/parallel to the bumps.
Heelside goofy foot, -1 board/foil pumping, +1.5 parawing pumping, -1 against/parallel to the bumps
More downwind and with the bumps angle. A lot of the time when I take off toe side the parawing is almost falling out of the sky. It’s basically taking off on the bump, then turning into the wind. I have the same issue on my dw board, but not on smaller wing board
This is a good discussion. I’m presently going through a hate cycle with the PW as we aren’t getting enough wind to easily launch. The sea breezes are only around 13knots. I find my longer boards end up riding on the crest of the bumps at the same speed as the wind so don’t have anything to pump against. My conditions are pretty much like J_Ls above.
Interestingly I’ve talked to a few people recently that, like me, just leave the PW in the car as the conditions just don’t suit. I think that’s why it hasn’t taken off locally because all the other wingers see us struggling for little reward.
just the downwind hand, for me
agree this is a huge part of it, I can get up easier on the “easier” side whichever side that might be, especially if underpowered
Learn to ride switch! Everyone likes symmetrical ass.
Honestly I think this is underrated advice.
I think it’s almost dangerous to be shitty on your toeside, I had that recently where I was struggling to make an angle riding on my toeside as the wind was dying and getting a decent angle on your toeside is hard. I was going to miss an exit and have a long slog to anywhere safe. I was also struggling to get onto foil on my toeside due to the wind angle, and had to do the heelside and gybe start which loses ground. (you’ll be glad to know the wind picked up and I made it)
Learn to ride switch, better upwind angles, more versatile skill, all round win (telling myself this)
This is where those coming from windsurf really excel, there is no riding toeside on a windsurfer. I kind of feel sorry for the guys who don’t switch their feet, you overtake them as they struggle upwind at a totally crappy angle often with their arm stretched way out finding it hard to use the harness.
Learn to foot switch, makes para so much more efficient and enjoyable.
With PW it goes beyond just learning to ride though, as you will always have a better pumping side and pumping is a key factor in getting on to foil.
I come from kiting so riding switch is no issue, but when it comes to pumping up on to foil I can definitely start in 1-2 knots less wind on my good side than my bad side.
Thanks for the advise on riding switch! I am comfortable riding and starting switch with the wing and totally see where you’re coming from. Which leads me to my next question. Where do you fly the parawing when preparing to switch your feet? When winging, it seems like a little upwind angle almost unweights you and is a convenient time to switch your feet. Is it the same with the parawing?
Thanks again fellas, you’re likely speeding up my burning curve significantly and I appreciate it!
Same as winging, riding upwind do a foot pump on a bit of chop, switch when unweighted. Doing it while going upwind keeps plenty of power in the para to support you. Use a reasonably sized stab to avoid the nose dropping too fast.
hold the parawing with only your front hand, and practice during conditions when you are slightly overpowered so you can point the board a little more downwind … the parawing being attached to your harness will also help