Select to expand quoteBBQdSunfish said..
Sorry - 4.3 is a one pull. 5.7 is the 2 pull (1.5).
Another data point - the hybrid wing tips doesn't seem to have the same water retention character that the PT Skin has.
That's very interesting as a few people have commented that getting water in the PT Skin wing tips is a bit of a pain in the ass. Would you say the PT Hybrid's low end power is similar to the PT Skin of similar size? I'm looking at purchasing a light wind PW and considering the PT Skin 7.3, PT Hybrid 7.2m and the Quest 6m. For reference I am 100kg, intermediate PW on a Frigate 4.7m and 4.0m.
I have not tried the triple seven parawings, but i believe the designer said on a podcast that they sized the different models to have same power, he also said the hybrid has a bit less low end so it seems likely that 5.7 hybrid is sized to roughly match the 5.4 skin (and same for the other sizes)
I have two buddies that bought the PT Skin 7.3 when I bought the PT Skin 5.4. One on them then wanted a smaller PW for when the wind picked up, so I sold him the 5.4 - and I turned around and bought the Hybrid 5.7
They have similar low end - but the Hybrid has about 40% more on the high end (for me).
The Skin flies similar to most of the single skin PWs out there - no surprises, well behaved and easy to relaunch.
If the hybrid does take on water (after I wipeout), I usually just gently pull in on the front lines, gather up the leading edge, hold it up out of the water and the slots at the trailing edge of the double skin section drains the water quickly. Then I hold the PW open facing the wind and it is back up in the air. It is "different" to get back in the air than a single skin - but I wouldn't say it is worse. You don't want to rush this process - as you may damage the double skin opening (I'm guessing on this). When the PW get fully submerged and the double skin portion is full of water, it does get "heavy". But if you don't fight it, it really isn't a big deal to purge and get back to flying.
I still have (and fly) my bar modified BRM Maliko V1s (5.1, 4.0, 2.9) - and as far as single skins go these have persisted in my quiver because they do what they are supposed to (and even if I tried to sell them, I wouldn't get nearly what they are worth - darn secondary market on any PW sucks). I still think Greg Drexler got it right out the gate (and rumor has it he'll be releasing a hybrid in a couple of months - I'm interested in that). I've used Flow Dwing (v1), BRM Ka'a, Flysurfer POW, Ozone PR, and the 777 PT Skin - they all had their individual characteristics - but I just kept going back to the Malikos which was brilliant at the basics. I am adding the Hybrids to the line up because they fly different - the power up different, have a wide range, turn better (once you figure out how to turn them) and are different than everything else.
I will say that I have learned to use the 4.3 through it's range already. The low end of the 5.7 sometimes gets tricky to jibe or tack - but I know that is more me and less the PW (I went through this with the Flysurfer POW 5.0 and 4.0 - the 4.0 was easier, the 5.0 took a bit longer to get to tack and jibe on the low end).
If you want a pure light wind PW, you may want to look at the 777 Skin 7.3 - my buddies are heavier than I am and that PW gets them powered when I'm still trying to get the Hybrid 5.7 to stay aloft. It's big, but you just have to learn to manage it. When the wind get that light, I'd rather move to Foil Drive or go surf.
4.7 Frigate prob my most used parawing. If get comfortable in the harness can hold down heaps of power meaning can drop down foil and board size (even to prone board). 4.0 is indeed a very comfortable size though but I know if I go the 4.7 I’ll get even further upwind quicker and therefore get a longer dw run and more of them. A local rider has been riding 5.5 Frigate quite a bit and recent session was riding ridiculous angles upwind at over 20knots on a small front wing allowing super long dw circuits. If have good tidy packdown technique the benefits seem very convincing. Some of our local driving shuttle runs I can pretty much beat the car upwind w my Frigate 4.7 rendering shuttles pretty much a thing of the past.
