Do I have enough skills to justify a parawing?

I love the idea of the parawing and enjoy trying cooI gear but not sure my skill set it yet up to snuff

I can start easily, jibe and foot swap well. I can't tack and my swell riding needs work.
Would it be worthwhile to buy a parawing or should I continue progress with normal wing gear?

if so, I'll probably start with my 105L x 20" wide board with an Armstrong HA2 1180 or 980. I weigh 83kg and will mainly be riding at the Columbia Gorge. What size parawing would you recommend?

What do you wanna gain with it if you need work on your swell riding/why not first work on riding swell with a wing? A wing is way easier to start and to get up power+ have a bigger range.


I have 2 on order with as excuse that i,m pretty okay in riding swell, but a bit big (97kg) for paddle ups in DW in our very slow weak often only knee to thigh high LAKE bumps with my current foils. The options were for me:Getting again a 130cm+ widepumpfoil that I could easily paddle up, but that was boring once on a foil, a foildrive (hate the noise!), or these teabags2.0 as least worse option.

I did a few DW with wing, but once on a foil don,t need them much, so that is why I like the stow away idea of a Parawing.

I don't parawing but I'd recommend focusing on your swell riding first. Way easier with a wing. Let the parawings get to v3 or so while you work on staying flagged out for 10+ minutes at a time and then make the transition when you've got the skills and the tech has caught up.

My full runs in the gorge are about 15 minute sections and then I need to go back upwind to reset. At the moment I can downwind for 15 minutes and then upwind for 14 minutes to reset. Once the parawing can get close to that I'll buy in.

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MProject04 said..
But then wouldn't the parawing help develop the skills that are needed for swell riding, like:
- carving on/between small bumps and
- pumping & connecting bumps ?

Everything helps, but is that help the optimal place in the learning progression? It's kind of a common theme in winging, people sizing down boards and foils too fast and consequently hindering their progression. I saw it with downwind paddling. People blowing their whole season learning how to paddle up but having no ability to read and ride swell. There's SO MUCH that can be learned with the wing, why rush it?

One of the things I love about the wing is that I'm commonly riding a medium aspect 650 foil. I'm having an insanely good time and linking swell for even just a few minutes is a real challenge. But... that's teaching me a ton of subtle nuances about riding swell and all that training will lend itself well to a parawing and a 900cm^2 high aspect foil when the time comes.

I'm just saying don't rush the progression, the grass isn't always greener.

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Stumbleweed said..
I can start easily, jibe and foot swap well.

I think too you'll be good. These are the skills you want to have. No need to be able to tack. A good size to start would be between 3 and 4, but you will need more than one size.

My hunch is that a parawing will be a big frustration . i come from an advanced winging background, and can already downwind paddle and ride -50% sinkers. Parawing was hard for a few sessions then clicked, and now i am pulling upwind angles and speeds on par with winging.

but i am finding i am drawing on a lot of past skills- cowboy sinker starts, kitefoil, and dw bump reading.

the crux of it to me is .. Parawing and DW paddle do not inherently teach riders how to ride swell. They just punish you for doing it badly. 99% of the wingers, including me, don't/didn't have the discipline to try and ride swell until they fall/come off foil, but would just pull back in on the wing. Paddling and parawing adds a stick- a motivating unpleasantness- to force yourself to get better at swell riding. And so will be effective- but you, gotta embrace the suck there.

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Stumbleweed said..
I love the idea of the parawing and enjoy trying cooI gear but not sure my skill set it yet up to snuff

I can start easily, jibe and foot swap well. I can't tack and my swell riding needs work.
Would it be worthwhile to buy a parawing or should I continue progress with normal wing gear?

if so, I'll probably start with my 105L x 20" wide board with an Armstrong HA2 1180 or 980. I weigh 83kg and will mainly be riding at the Columbia Gorge. What size parawing would you recommend?

Go for it! I think you definitely have the basic skills and progression is super fun. It is much easier to ride swell and link bumps without the drag of a big inflatable wing in the way. I would check in with the local paracrew on sizing but imagine you'll want to use something in the 2.5-3.5m size with the gear you listed.

You can get 5% off if you're new to BRM using my referral code: 82e3d9-a0.myshopify.com?bon_loyalty_ref=O8W6nmyB7MKJIe1ZcRzYMv8Y%2BJ3RbG0YiwvUvG0rdcjD1%2BR1q5HR3nAAVgcP8qaDcee5%2F9gJ%2FKhP%2BE5Hq5ux3lMRQOQSouZjfrGwMfGmBaexbuGRjAGvyFkDyESfVu1oBHfLkq0x8rTM%2BPSDrHPiRudHy4ifVIl7yR2Rxvp7jpk%3D&from_shop_domain=true&referrer_name=4d61726c6f6e1942

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BWalnut said..

Youngbreezy said..

BWalnut said..
I don't parawing but I'd recommend focusing on your swell riding first. Way easier with a wing. Let the parawings get to v3 or so while you work on staying flagged out for 10+ minutes at a time and then make the transition when you've got the skills and the tech has caught up.

My full runs in the gorge are about 15 minute sections and then I need to go back upwind to reset. At the moment I can downwind for 15 minutes and then upwind for 14 minutes to reset. Once the parawing can get close to that I'll buy in.

I wouldn't let the upwind ability of the parawing put you off. It's really pretty good, I am finding it hard to notice the difference from a normal wing. I have been doing upwind downwind on the wing for quite a while now and the parawing has really taken it to another level.

That's great to hear. Are you on the BRM parawing or something different? It's all changing so fast!

I am on the flow D-wing. From what I understand the BRM's go upwind fairly well in there appropriate wind range but they don't have the depower of the latest wimgs. When overpowered the leading edge collapses and makes upwind impossible. The Flow D wings depower really well and push further upwind as you depower them. This allows you to ride tight and high when powered up and gives some really good upwind angles. I think the latest parawings from ozone, naish and duotone all have this feature, so probably a good time to get into the parawing.

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foilthegreats said..

Youngbreezy said..

BWalnut said..

Youngbreezy said..

BWalnut said..
I don't parawing but I'd recommend focusing on your swell riding first. Way easier with a wing. Let the parawings get to v3 or so while you work on staying flagged out for 10+ minutes at a time and then make the transition when you've got the skills and the tech has caught up.

My full runs in the gorge are about 15 minute sections and then I need to go back upwind to reset. At the moment I can downwind for 15 minutes and then upwind for 14 minutes to reset. Once the parawing can get close to that I'll buy in.

I wouldn't let the upwind ability of the parawing put you off. It's really pretty good, I am finding it hard to notice the difference from a normal wing. I have been doing upwind downwind on the wing for quite a while now and the parawing has really taken it to another level.

That's great to hear. Are you on the BRM parawing or something different? It's all changing so fast!

I am on the flow D-wing. From what I understand the BRM's go upwind fairly well in there appropriate wind range but they don't have the depower of the latest wimgs. When overpowered the leading edge collapses and makes upwind impossible. The Flow D wings depower really well and push further upwind as you depower them. This allows you to ride tight and high when powered up and gives some really good upwind angles. I think the latest parawings from ozone, naish and duotone all have this feature, so probably a good time to get into the parawing.

I got to say as I'm highly experienced on the BRM Maliko that the feedback you're referring to is not correct. Maybe a new rider who has not figured it out. The Flow will be more user friendly and easier to use. The BRM goes upwind even better when it's at the top of its range. You need to wear a harness and point higher into the wind that is how you release power. Yes, you can't fly it off the front lines like the flow. You can most definitely ride overpowered and go upwind even better and faster when overpowered you just need to learn the proper technique.

While I agree you can make a BRM go upwind, just like you could make the old Wipika 2 line kites go upwind. But its natural tendency is to pull downwind.

I got to try a Gong 5m Plus Low Kite yesterday and I was surprised how easy it was to go upwind with. Prior to this I had concluded that PW just was not great for upwind riding, doable, but not fun in my opinion. I don't like using a harness and that's part of it for sure. But the Gong just wanted to go upwind even when just dragging around waiting for a gust it was pulling upwind.

The BRM just sits further back in the wind window. This makes it more stable(despite some of the claims out there its a very stable PW in its intended wind range). But it makes going upwind harder. The Gong in contrast sat at the edge of the window, so much so that you had to hold the bar in the middle to avoid it overflying and the LE collapsing. The Gong is made of very heavy material though, and it was very difficult to manage in turns in light wind. For DW and ease of use I strongly prefer my BRM. But if my goal was riding in place or upwind dw runs I would pick the Gong even with its challenges if I had to pick between the two.

My new Ozone Pocket Rocket 3m felt like it was flying further toward the edge of the wind window too but hard to tell for sure until I fly it in more wind, but I am optimistic.

Hope to get a chance to try the Flow one day too. I canceled my order and switched to the Ozone when the shipment was delayed even further after waiting more then a month already. I guess Flow is having trouble keeping up with demand.

Curious to hear how the new BRMs perform, from what I saw their canopy designs don't look all that different, more changes in the bridle design. I could be wrong though....

Thanks for the great advice, all. I think I'll work on downwinding and tacking this season (I should have much more TOW compared to previous seasons), and think about a parawing next year.

Yes lots of salt. Also maybe give the Parawing you're trying a few sessions before you declare it does not do this or that. Parawing techniques are all about micro adjustments and finesse. I've seen way to many people right them off after a few sessions. You need to put the time in, no way around that. Is it harder and more physical than winging most definitely yes. Is the bump/surf experience better yes 100%. I've only used a wing 1 since getting the BRM at launch and it was to go look for my lost at sea Parawing lol. Using a wing feels like such a downgrade to me it's crazy. Winging is absolutely dead to me.

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foilthegreats said..
Yes lots of salt. Also maybe give the Parawing you're trying a few sessions before you declare it does not do this or that. Parawing techniques are all about micro adjustments and finesse. I've seen way to many people right them off after a few sessions. You need to put the time in, no way around that. Is it harder and more physical than winging most definitely yes. Is the bump/surf experience better yes 100%. I've only used a wing 1 since getting the BRM at launch and it was to go look for my lost at sea Parawing lol. Using a wing feels like such a downgrade to me it's crazy. Winging is absolutely dead to me.

Are you using similar size of boards and foils compared to wingfoiling in comparable conditions?

Yea go for it! The gorge is made for the PW!!!

I second FTGs comments.
When going from arm power to harness power, the load quadruples straight to your quads. It's insane how much power you can hold down and just rocket upwind. The key is precise harness placement on the Maliko v1. Super comfy and a great workout. Just need to commit upwind and not go on a broad reach by mistake. Either upwind or DW in really powered conditions.
So many don't want a harness, but it definitely should be given a few sessions to tame the beast. Otherwise, you are asking for tennis elbow or whatever.