I met up with GorgeSailor for a little Gear Library demo swap. He snatched up the AFS Enduro 700/900 and 85cm skinny UHM from me and I grabbed his 3.5m x2. I tested it at the Hatch in the Columbia River Gorge for a few days using the Silk 1050, 850, 650 and here's my thoughts:
Robust build.
Excellent handling.
Great low end.
Smooth power delivery, never grunty.
Tacks nicely, cut's through the wind great.
Exceptional upwind. Recently I have felt like the best parawingers were matching my upwind ability. On this though, they were all left far behind on upwind runs.
The boom is perfect, just right for my hands.
Great valves that are similar to F-One for accurate PSI management.
Slippery wingtips on water strikes. This is awesome because the wing doesn't tend to roll the leading edge down and dump you. It quickly releases.
Room for improvement:
Weight loss. It's a light wing by most standards at 1950g with the boom but theres some obvious weight loss opportunities (dual valves and one pump tube? Why?) I'd like to see this drop 400g to strive for perfection. This weight loss is most critical for dedicated swell riders who are using a wing for transport.
The published spans don't make sense. The published span is 2.96m but when I measure it comes out to 2.69m (off by 10" or .27m). For me, this is a big deal. I won't order wings with spans over 2.9m. Their 4m is published as having 3.16m span but if it actually measures, inflated, to 2.89m (-.27m like the 3.5m) then it would be the perfect 4m wing for me.
In the end, I'd say this is one of the best wings for winging I have ever used. I can't imagine wanting something much different if you're a winger who intends to interact and play with the wing a lot.
If you have more questions you can hit up the team at Chinook Sailing in Cascade Locks to learn more:
chinooksailing.com/collections/vayu
I wish they did a better job of naming and distinguishing between all the versions of Aura wings they offer
Select to expand quotekook123 said..
I wish they did a better job of naming and distinguishing between all the versions of Aura wings they offer
Vayu just released the Aura X3. Looks fairly similar, but thinner LE profile and now offers clickboom compatibility (as I predicted). It also looks like they may have simplified the weirdly (unnecessarily) kinked strut which simplifies the design and might lighten it up. Some slight refinement in canopy shape, but Looks pretty similar to the x2 otherwise.
The Vayu Aura series is pretty simple. The Aura is their standard wing and the Aura X is their full Aluula wing. The number just refers to the generation. The only weird thing is how they stagger the launches (Aura 3 has been out for 6 mos or so, while the X 3 just came out this week) and it seems like they do iterate the design between these launches a bit. Willing to bet the Aura 4 will be out early spring and will also get rid of the strut kinks.
Still loving my vayu Aura 3 and Aura x v2 quiver. Wish my Aura X2 was clickboom compatible like the v3 though. Travelling with a single boom is handy when you are packing 3 wings and every lb counts.
Select to expand quoteVelocicraptor said..kook123 said..
I wish they did a better job of naming and distinguishing between all the versions of Aura wings they offer
Vayu just released the Aura X3. Looks fairly similar, but thinner LE profile and now offers clickboom compatibility (as I predicted). It also looks like they may have simplified the weirdly (unnecessarily) kinked strut which simplifies the design and might lighten it up. Some slight refinement in canopy shape, but Looks pretty similar to the x2 otherwise.
The Vayu Aura series is pretty simple. The Aura is their standard wing and the Aura X is their full Aluula wing. The number just refers to the generation. The only weird thing is how they stagger the launches (Aura 3 has been out for 6 mos or so, while the X 3 just came out this week) and it seems like they do iterate the design between these launches a bit. Willing to bet the Aura 4 will be out early spring and will also get rid of the strut kinks.
Still loving my vayu Aura 3 and Aura x v2 quiver. Wish my Aura X2 was clickboom compatible like the v3 though. Travelling with a single boom is handy when you are packing 3 wings and every lb counts.
...seems simple enough, but between the staggering of the updates, the version numbers, and the use of some Allula in the standard version, I kept getting confused in terms of what was the latest and greatest
In any case, I'm very interested...I rode one during a lesson a while back and it was such a light feeling, easy, playful wing, I was pretty captivated.
Do they demo out of Chinook Sailng at all?
Not sure, but the guys at Chinook are very helpful. I know they ride the wings and even if they dont have demos, they might let you use one of theirs. Give them a shout.
I actually just saw a photo of the Aura 4, so it looks like thats coming sooner than I thought. Simplified strut (strut is black, so maaaaybe Aeris X?), very slight differences in the canopy pattern. otherwise looks similar to the v3, but it looks nice and its a finished product.
So I retract my statement on their model naming protocol. Having an Aura x3 and and Aura v4 at the same time is definitely weird.
Vayu Aura V4 listed in Germany - looks nice!
www.surfpirates.de/VAYU-AURA-IV_1
Plus on youtube
