I need to try the s3 first. I would’ve liked more upwind for less work. But yeah. If I owned this I wouldn’t pump up my strike ever again.
I sold my only remaining wing a few months back. A 5.7. Thinking I would buy a new one when this years model was available.
But with the L1, I am not buying a new wing. Still, I am sure I can get up earlier with a wing, but it is good enough.
Just being able to have the 6.5 in my backpack for safety on “maybe 5.3 days” is a huge improvement.
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I also spent a week in hood river in July only on parawing. A wing is better in wild gusty conditions. And it’s technically easier. But being able to self tow into a wave. Pack it away before you get to the surfers. Ride the wave to the sand. Step off and walk straight to your car is amazing.
Paddling out through white water with it stashed is great too. There are too many pluses and they’re closing the gaps on wings where to me it’s worth it now
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My brain questions resale before the purchase of new gear now. I think we are already seeing how no matter what parawing you buy, it’s only worth $500 or so next year. This happened with winging too. Prices soared with Aluula and none of the wings ever held even 50% of their value? I don’t see why the afterburner would hold any additional resale value by next season when the next wave of new gear hits.
I’m incredibly happy with what I’ve got and am glad I’m not chasing the new new right now.
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For a new learner, are these newest generation of parawings meaningfully easier to use? Or still best to grab a used ozone PR v1 (or something along those lines) for cheap to learn with? Are the gains most beneficial for the experienced, or relevant for a new user too?
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Gains are individualistic IMO. Everyone wants something different. A buddy who was never liked winging and never got very good at it picked up 3 used quests for $450 each. He was up on foil, gybing, and retracting on day one. They seem to work great for him.
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The Quest is the top parawing for learning right now with quite a big gap to the next one.
You can still lean fine on a PRv1 but it will be more challenging. The PRv2 is only a very slight upgrade to learn on vs the PRv1.
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I started on pocket rocket v1 and the large sizes were kind of brutal to learn on. If you are in a spot where you can ride 3m and smaller they are awesome (and I really loved the 3m) but I spent way too much time dealing with tangles on the larger sizes. Went to the quest from there and everything clicked. Tangles are still part of the learning process but with the quest lines and the 2 point bar system they are so much easier to deal with. While I am not getting the absolute best upwind angles, they go upwind quite well and I never feel like I’ve outgrown the capability of the quest. Particularly for stashing and redeploying it just makes my life a lot easier and allows me to focus on riding the swell which is what I’m out there for to begin with. Very happy with these parawings and the small upwind tradeoff is very worth it for me. It works great for beginners but it is a very capable option for most people I see on the water. Paid full price and would do it again.
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I have had PR V1’s , i rented an Fone Frigate a couple days and i think it was way easier.
If you can grab one second hand they are very friendly and good perfo.A bit bulky due to materials but that makes them a good second hand buy, they are tough
I would avoid double surfaces like the plague .
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Currently learning on a 5m PR v1 in light winds 13-18 knots. Was able to get up on my first session and jibe on my second. On my fourth session I figured out how to collapse and stash it poorly. Have now had 6 sessions on it and feel like I made a good choice. The lines are a bit of a bear when you end up wearing it and tangle way too easy but you figure out how to untangle them pretty quick. Got a 5m and 3.6m on sale for 40% off so feel like the price out weighed the trade offs compared to the v2s.
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It really depends on what you mean by learn. If you just wish to get on foil, sail upwind and be reliably able to jibe then the pocket rocket V1 is pretty hard to beat. They still sail better than anything on the market full stop. Lovely light bar pressure and easy accessible upwind without a harness. The V2 might not tangle as easy but it can still happen but the V1’s are so much easier to jibe and control.
If learning includes collapsing and redeploying then yes V2’s are easier for that but with technique the V1’s can work very reliably anyway just don’t leave them flapping around without the training edge bundled up.
The quest might be easier to pack up but the upwind is pretty poor. A few session in and when you are getting on foil and you realize other PW’s are ripping upwind you will be buying something else.
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This is interesting. How many sessions and what sizes did you use? I was about to ‘invest’ in a 5m
I follow a mate with a 4.5m who just got a 3.6 PR V2 and is surprised by the difference.
Is it cheap and short term for learning?
No, I’ll have to sell another organ. Struggling to get into it with 3.5 Frigate in gusty wind.
I like upwind perfo (PRv2’s) but being realistic it is not such a big deal.
I met this supercool guy in Fuerteventura who only rides PW, 65 years old i think.
He was super efficient doing upwind laps with the Ozone Powerpack, notorious in forums for not so good upwind perfo.
He rode 10 AR biggish foil (1100?) and a narrow midlenght 7 x 19 or so.
Riding upwind is 70% rider finesse, and you probably can see that with inflatable wings.
If you screw up just a gybe, mess the redeploy or take 1 minute more to undo the mess then 5 or even 10 degrees more of upwind perfo become moot.
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This is ordinary advice because different PW’s have their own upwind limitations no matter who is riding them. PP and quest are wasting life if you can even ride half decent and upwind to bumps is your dream. If you start on something that is limited by a good 15 degrees then you will out grow it in a few sessions and if your not yet making jibes then its even more important to get upwind while on foil.
I have a friend on a PP that was happy till he upwinded with me on PRV2. We can’t even ride together as the difference is a joke. Today was his first day on a PRV2 and he was right behind me like he should be with his skill level.
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I wasn’t getting .gpx files when I was using PowerPacks, but they felt like they unwinded fine (in terms of angle ability), but they certainly weren’t comfortable upwinds. You really had to be on your game to keep them on the window edge through gusts & fluctuations.
But if it was a shorter session, they were surprisingly great for up-winding.
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2 years in and we are seeing the discipline evolve and gear is starting to target different priorities. For pw designs I think there are two competing goals, VMG and ease of use. To maximize VMG you need a pw design that excels at flying at the edge of the window. That comes at the trade off of low end grunt and easy flying which requires a pw to be comfortable deeper in the wind window.
Edge flying pw’s like the S3 and Afterburner will have the top VMG, but they will have a high learning curve and may not be to everyone’s taste. I think the higher performance Hybrids and Double Skins will fall in this category as well.
Mid and Lower aspect Parawings go up wind fine with the right technique but they will get lapped by the higher aspect designs. I was perfectly content riding in place with my v1 Maliko until I tried the S3. It’s a rocket ship on the upwind and the bar pressure is extremely light.
The lower aspect pw designs sit further back in the wind window which creates a higher amount of bar pressure which never goes away.
I missed the playful forgiving nature of the Maliko sometimes in the early sessions of the S3 but it’s all just a memory now that I have my transitions dialed. It will never be as forgiving but that’s a trade off I am more than willing to make.
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I personally think the Quest is the best for learning on. It is WAY easier to use than the V1 and V2. And Kanaha.
Edited to add: I go upwind just fine on my Quests. I have the 4.0 and 5.0.
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