Hi all,
From what I see, most riders and youtube test reviews are always using the 3-4 m? range. I rarely come across anyone talking about larger parawings, which makes me wonder:
- Are bigger sizes not yet bought and as market evolves, riders will expand their quiver to 5-6 m2 ??
- Are large parawings of second generation still facing stability / issues, or just diminishing returns?
So the real question: Is it worth going for a bigger parawing (5.5 or 6 m?) to make light wind sessions fun?
...or is PW simply not the right tool once the wind drops below a certain threshold ?
For context, I'm a solid winger, 94 kg , enjoying wing in 16+ knots ... and I'm looking for PW in 12-18 Knt. That's what got me interested in parawing for low wind days....Would love to hear from anyone with real experience on larger sizes-especially heavier riders.
Thanks!
93kg 777 PT Skin 5.4 works well in 10 to 12 knots. Not so good if you get 15 plus gusts.
I am in the market for a 6m. Thinking Ka'a but am waiting to see if BRM will launch a new offer soon.
Currently using Ka'a 4.2m with Dragonfly 7' 19" 100L and AFS E1300 as my light wind rig in 10-15 kts. I currently clock in at 85kg in my birthday suit.
My biggest concern is all the material a 6m has and management on the stow.
Select to expand quotefoilthegreats said..
I am in the market for a 6m. Thinking Ka'a but am waiting to see if BRM will launch a new offer soon.
Currently using Ka'a 4.2m with Dragonfly 7' 19" 100L and AFS E1300 as my light wind rig in 10-15 kts. I currently clock in at 85kg in my birthday suit.
My biggest concern is all the material a 6m has and management on the stow.
I think the smaller Ka'a might be far better than the big ones; I found the 5,4m Ka'a to be a piece of trash, would really not recommend it. The 777 P.T Skin 5.4m is just insanely much better. Better low end, better high end, far better angles, the canopy packs almost as small though the bar is a lot bigger (which actually makes the parawing steerable).
5m Pocket Rocket is fun if you don't want to collapse it - just sail around.
5m PowerPack has a little less low-end by is fun if you want to collapse and pack away.
Haven't tried any others sorry.
I've asked this question on a few facebook pages & even here I think. I got few if any replies from those that have actually bought them & use them & more from those that have smaller sizes & speculate. I'm in the same boat & would like to replace my 6m wing with a PW. Main reasons are not having the huge wing in my face & the increasingly ridiculously expensive prices to replace them.
You'll get the usual suspects that say can get up in 6knots of wind with a 3m PW blah blah blah but the only amateur footage I've seen in real world conditions showed the big PW to be quite cumbersome and not very reactive as can be expected.
Most manufacturers would be really happy to break into the lucrative big PW market however the scarcity of bigger PWs indicates that even they don't see them as a viable option yet.
I'm going to wait out this windless winter & see what happens next spring.
