What's the best technique getting on a board with a parawing? The stinkbug was the gold standard for winging. Is there something similar as this sport is growing? Or a modify stinkbug holding the parawing with the downwind hand. Been waiting for wind to start my parawing journey. At 85 kg, I'm going to try on my current wing board 75L midlength for the first time. Been told I should go with bigger board.
i've been having success using a "tripod" technique with -10-15 ml boards. Fly the pwing in my left hand, drop it into the powerzone to generate some forward momentum, then push on the board with my right hand to get my left foot (front foot) up and stand up.
Select to expand quoteIngenuity said..
What's the best technique getting on a board with a parawing? The stinkbug was the gold standard for winging. Is there something similar as this sport is growing? Or a modify stinkbug holding the parawing with the downwind hand. Been waiting for wind to start my parawing journey. At 85 kg, I'm going to try on my current wing board 75L midlength for the first time. Been told I should go with bigger board.
There's a few video clips out there of getting to your feet. I straddled the board with parawing at 12 in one hand, leaned forward and used other hand on the front of the board to get up. Pretty natural TBH.
One thing for sure: strip everything off your body those first few sessions. Harness hook, etc. I put more scratches on my board in 3 days of parawinging than I've done in years of regular winging 
As far as board size vs weight. I'm 86kg and learned on a 77l midlength. Very easy for me in the strong winds with a 2.3m Ka'a. I focused on syncing my water start to the swell push and found it to be very doable. I think the big board thing is likely for folks using large parawings in light wind.
Select to expand quoteilboarder12 said..
i've been having success using a "tripod" technique with -10-15 ml boards. Fly the pwing in my left hand, drop it into the powerzone to generate some forward momentum, then push on the board with my right hand to get my left foot (front foot) up and stand up.
Thats me Select to expand quoteBWalnut said.. I think the big board thing is likely for folks using large parawings in light wind.
Above 20 knots a smaller board is good. Below that a bigger board is a huge help especially in gusty conditions or learning. The bigger board gives me peace of mind in dwers or when I think the wind is going to drop. We don't all live at the Gorge or in Maui. And honestly I don't think a light narrow dw board is holding back my turning
One good thing about a semi sinker is the ability to come off foil and go to a seated position in one motion. As you stall the foil, a free hand grabs the nose as the tail goes down towards the water and you go from standing to sitting on the board.
I have found mounting the board and getting to my feet to be fairly easy. Different to winging but not more difficult. In very light winds the balance when you first get up can be tricky but with enough power quite easy. You don't have nearly as much to lean on as you would with a normal wing but you can sail with power using only one hand which I think is a big advantage. This means you can get sailing forward on your belly and have a free hand to help get up. This I think really balances out the difficulty level when compared to normal winging.
My get up technique is very straightforward and doesn't require any extra tricks like a stinkbug start. It is the same whether on my 8ftx128Lx20 smik dw board or my 5'10"x20x85L sunova carver mid length. I am 105kgs + wetsuit harness and sometimes life jacket.
Start on belly and get sailing along, either at 90 degrees or slightly upwind. Use free hand on the deck to help push up to knees. Once on knees get front foot up. Going from drop knee to standing I will sometimes send the parawing up in an upwards power stroke to help me up to my feet. I will usually keep the board sailing along throughout the process to help maintain stability and increase power in the parawing. I use the same technique to get up healside or toeside though sometimes mounting the board toeside balance can be difficult when I first get to standing position.
My smaller board, being-20L takes a bit of power to get up. It's actually not too difficult to get going but it does require power to get the board above the water surface. If I'm underpowered I will just sink too much and can't get the board out of the water. With a normal wing I could pump the wing to get the board up out of the water but not with parawing. The issue then with the smaller board is that you then have a much narrower wind range.
-10L to equal volume seems to be what everyone is recommending. You could definitely start learning on a -10 board but you would want to make sure you're adequately powered.
Select to expand quoteYoungbreezy said..
I have found mounting the board and getting to my feet to be fairly easy. Different to winging but not more difficult. In very light winds the balance when you first get up can be tricky but with enough power quite easy. You don't have nearly as much to lean on as you would with a normal wing but you can sail with power using only one hand which I think is a big advantage. This means you can get sailing forward on your belly and have a free hand to help get up. This I think really balances out the difficulty level when compared to normal winging.
My get up technique is very straightforward and doesn't require any extra tricks like a stinkbug start. It is the same whether on my 8ftx128Lx20 smik dw board or my 5'10"x20x85L sunova carver mid length. I am 105kgs + wetsuit harness and sometimes life jacket.
Start on belly and get sailing along, either at 90 degrees or slightly upwind. Use free hand on the deck to help push up to knees. Once on knees get front foot up. Going from drop knee to standing I will sometimes send the parawing up in an upwards power stroke to help me up to my feet. I will usually keep the board sailing along throughout the process to help maintain stability and increase power in the parawing. I use the same technique to get up healside or toeside though sometimes mounting the board toeside balance can be difficult when I first get to standing position.
My smaller board, being-20L takes a bit of power to get up. It's actually not too difficult to get going but it does require power to get the board above the water surface. If I'm underpowered I will just sink too much and can't get the board out of the water. With a normal wing I could pump the wing to get the board up out of the water but not with parawing. The issue then with the smaller board is that you then have a much narrower wind range.
-10L to equal volume seems to be what everyone is recommending. You could definitely start learning on a -10 board but you would want to make sure you're adequately powered.
I'm 5 sessions in, using my 6'x20 midlength wing board which is -25L (95kg/80L). I go from a straddle w/ PW overhead, one hand on windward rail, swing both legs back behind and under to a kneel, get some forward momentum front leg up, then to standing. In pretty good size bump it's sometimes a little tricky, but even just starting out, was surprised how completely doable, and def funner than a big board once up. But- the issue that has me considering a higher volume board closer to my body weight is that at this point in my progression, being not yet super-efficient, the PW required to get the board to the surface, up and going is pretty lit once flying and makes it difficult to go upwind. I'm already on my biggest foil (KT Atlas 1130) I do have a 120L DW board I used first 2 days that is easy in flat water, but kinda sucks in big water. I'm debating whether I should gut it out on the small board or if larger/= to bodyweight will help use a smaller PW, make life easier with my progression. I suppose a harness might help too.
