Parawing Session - 5/14/2026

I forgot my watch at home, so no tangible data today.

When I got to the parking lot, there was wind.  I dropped off my board/foil and headed down to PVs so I could catch a ride back up and do the downwinder.  Stu and Norm were going to DW also.

Prayot was at the beach holding his Power Pack 4.3 - I told him he wasn't going to be able to get up on foil with that PW today.  I loaned him the BRM S3 5.3 - 

And I packed the Triple Seven PT Hybrid 5.7

When I was dropping the truck off at PVs, I did put up the Hybrid 5.7 to ground handle it - it had plenty of power with the wind present.

The rest of the setup was the same as yesterday - AFS Enduro 1100/Mako Carve Pro Medium/Short fuselage/UHM 80cm mast all on No.34

As soon as I hit the water - as usual the wind died.  But I figured the clouds overhead would blow through and the wind would return.  At least that's what I hoped would happen.

I drifted for quite some time before I picked up a gust strong enough to get me up onto foil.  I was able to get up in front of the last few cabins and make it out to outside Campgrounds.  I was WAY outside (bluewater).

The wind started glassing out - so I began paddling back in.

The wind did eventually filled in and I got up on foil making a direct beeline in.

I got in without issue - and to make sure I can in good conscience call this a session I jibed and headed back out.  I really didn't want to get stuck outside so I jibed again and made it in.

I bet I could have done this faster with a big PW like Norm's Triple Seven PT Skin 7.3

The forecasts are all over the map again - I think I'll avoid the skunk and break out the Foil Drive -

PF:8/W:2/PW:43/FD:36/S:16

Parawing Session - 5/13/2026

When I got home, there were some big rain clouds as far as the eye could see.  And they were choking the wind off.  I felt like they would pass, so I loaded up the truck and headed over to WP.

The sky was clearing by the time I parked.  And there was wind, but I didn't trust it.

So I setup the insurance policy - AFS Enduro 1100/Mako Carve Pro Medium and the BRM S3 5.3

I wanted to bolt on the Cabrinha Prestige 905/160 - but I also wanted to see if moving the rear stabilizer into the back position would get rid of the pitch instability (it did)

The wind was up and down - but with the S3 it manifested as being perfectly powered or overpowered.  Probably 60-40.

I did retract the PW once but was not able to redeploy it.  The waves weren't all that good for riding without the parawing.

I think I could have gotten away with using the Triple Seven PT Hybrid 4.3 and the Cabrinha Prestige 905 - but better to have the insurance (Prayot and Paul Cooper were probably 40-60 on the up on foil/down and schlogging ratio)

I did not attempt any tacks today - but I did get a few down loop jibes in.

I'm sure there is a correlation in this somewhere....

I think I'll start rotating the Evolution Cedrus Wind mast into the rotation to get more height 

Over all it was a weird wind day.  Rechecking the forecast, it looks like Saturday and Sunday may be better for FD or regular surfing.

PF:8/W:2/PW:42/FD:36/S:16

Parawing Session - 5/12/2026

Strong wind is here for at least 7 days (if not longer).

It looked less gusty today compared to yesterday - still gusty, just not knock you off the board gusty.

Nice full tide and some big waves breaking outside.

Norm, Robby, Stu and Paul started at WP (Paul probably further up).

I did a repeat of yesterday's Upwind-Downwind.

With the conditions present, I opted for the AFS Enduro 1100 and the Triple Seven PT Hybrid 4.3

I was a little hesitant - but the wind was strong enough.  Realistically I didn't even have to hook in (but I did just to make sure I wouldn't get fatigued).

I let Norm use the BRM Maliko V1 5.1m (and it worked great for him!!!).

Today's session was pretty darn great!

I made it all the way to Fenceline before I turned back down.

Outside the Shack I caught a monster wave - 3' overhead (and I was up high on foil) and I was in the pit just in front of the whitewater for a really long time.

I had two more bigger ones - more towards the back half of the session outside Campgrounds.

Strong east component today.

At one point Stu lost his board, but Robby was able to recover it.  Stu also got in a couple of jibes (in open ocean - this is a milestone for him).  Norm was up on foil a lot more than he has been with the PW.  He got in solid jibes and even did a retract (but the redeploy didn't work because of a snagged line).

Comparing yesterday's equipment to today's choice -

The AFS Enduro 1100 as setup needs more pitch maintenance (maybe moving the rear stabilizer back can reduce this, but do I even need to do that???).  It gets up slightly earlier than the Cabrinha Prestige 905 (and that was with a smaller parawing - so the extra surface area does contribute to this performance characteristic).  The Enduro seems to be a notch faster.  The Enduro felt "serious" - all business no joking around.  The Prestige was just plain "fun".

The BRM S3 felt more direct.  And it had the inclination when moving in the underpowered direction to sit towards the back of the wind window.  It moves where you want it to go (D Handle).  Pulling on the rear of the handle allows you to pump the PW almost like an inflated wing.  Almost.

The 777 Hybrid is more stable.  And it delivers power in the smoothest presentation I've ever felt from a parawing.  When conventionally jibing the Hybrid without banking it, the PW will drop deep into the wind window and accelerate coming out of the turn.  Banking (when you have sufficient wind) produces super smooth turns with no surge of power.  I though I wanted to sell the Hybrids to fund the Cab Prestige purchase - but I think I'm going to have to keep these (because they are really fun to use).

The two graphs are again strongly correlated.  I think it is really cool when this happens.

PF:8/W:2/PW:41/FD:36/S:16

Parawing Session - 5/11/2026

White Plains was closed - there are repairs on a sewer line going on.

PVs was open!!!

It hard to see in this picture, but there are good whitecaps all around the course.

Decent high tide.

Norm came to wing - 5.6 Blue Planet with his Code foil.

I setup the Cab 9 and the BRM S3 5.3 - first test in unprotected waters.

And as anticipated - this setup worked really well!

Lots of north in the wind - which made doing an upwind-downwind run pretty darn easy.

I was initially having some issues jibing the S3.  When I started turning it like the big Hybrid, everything started going way smoother.

I also made a tack - used a wave to roll over - and I got the PW to go over, but I kinda stalled at the top.  But the thing about the Prestige... it helps you recover from sloppy execution and I was able to pump through the tack and got on the wave!  First tack with the S3 and with the Prestige 905!!!

Norm was able to get up past Fenceline from my vantage point.  The wind was more turbulent at the Cabins - I was able to get to the shack - but then the wind felt like it was weakening (and there was a big rainstorm headed our way).  We headed back to make sure we didn't get stuck upwind.

The two charts line up nicely - and reveals the minimum required wind for takeoff for the S3 (equipped with the Prestige 905)

We both made it back without drama.

After we had broken down our gear - Roland showed up.

The wind was still cranking, but he didn't want to do a solo session - instead he broke out the parawing Derek let him borrow to figure out how to fly it.

With the forecast calling for strong winds for the foreseeable future, tomorrow I may put up the Triple Seven PT Hybrid 4.3

PF:8/W:2/PW:40/FD:36/S:16

Parawing Session 2 - 5/10/2026

As I was leaving Kailua, I checked the wind report and it said Hickam was blowing 17mph from the east.

I made a beeline there wanted to test the Cabrinha Prestige setup.

There was good texture on the water!!!

That is until Arvin and I went out - then it dropped off considerably.

The balancing trick worked perfectly for this foil on No.34

Despite the wind dropping, I felt that conditions would improve so I schlogged up towards the last buoy.  Then I had to paddle up to towards the last buoy.

Finally a gust came through and BAM - the Cab lifted without much drama (maybe even less drama  than the AFS Enduro 1300...)

Between the BRM S3 5.3 (second session) and the Cabrinha Prestige 905/160/Apex 78 mast - there was some special sauce coming from somewhere.

And even though the wind was absolute shit, I did manage to get up multiple times.

Now I'm really going to have to buy this foil...

PF:8/W:2/PW:39/FD:36/S:16

Parawing Session - 5/10/2026

Took the BRM S3 5.3m parawing out for its inaugural run this morning over at Kailua.

The wind was good first thing.

No whitecaps, but steady texture on the surface.  This is the first day the tradewinds were supposed to be making a comeback.

Despite having the Cabrinha Prestige 905/160 setup, I really wanted to test the BRM S3 5.3 - so I bolted on the AFS Enduro 1100/Make Carve Pro Medium/80 cm UHM mast.

The S3 is really well behaved.  Felt a lot like the 777 Hybrids in stability.  But it is super light in comparison so it stays in the air in less wind (which is foreshadowing...)

I was able to get up in relatively light wind.

The S3 jibes a lot like the Flysurfer POW.  Plus this is a big parawing so when there is wind again, I'll try to bank it during turns (more like how the Hybrids turn).

I got lots of runs in, and regular jibes both ways with little drama.  I got in a down loop jibe on the inside.  I didn't attempt any tacks - because....

The wind started dropping.

I rode some of the larger swell that was coming in and the S3 drifts really well (about the same as the POW).

On the red track furthest to the left (above), the wind had gotten so light that I went ahead and retracted the S3.  Super easy as was the redeploy.  

Then the wind died...

And I drifted trying to pick up a gust to get back up on foil.

When I was out in front of Castles I decided to go ahead and paddle back up to the launch.

I eventually shlogged back in (at least I didn't do the walk of shame). 

When the wind was up - so was I

I think I'm going to sell the Triple Seven PT Hybrids....

PF:8/W:2/PW:38/FD:36/S:16

Afternoon Surf Session - 5/9/2026

Late post.

Stu's girlfriend Brie was having a graduation party at WP.  I went and enjoyed some conversation, and then hit the surf!

The swell size and direction made for some epic closeouts.

But if you waited, there were some good rides to be had.

Inspired by the J Splee board demo last week, I brought the Boogie Fish out to ride.

This wasn't absolute easy paddling - but it was not bad.  It'd be better if I dropped 10 pounds, but that's a different topic.

The first wave I caught was open going right.  I had three full blast turns on the board - the bottom contour on this board lets you way over extend your turns - super fun!!!

Unfortunately the first wave was the best.  I caught 6 more but I didn't have the same open face to carve up.

Surfing small boards forces you to change your mindset - just focus what is in front of you and don't worry how long the wave is going to be.  It's good to mix surfing and prone foiling into the rotation - these disciplines are very good at helping one stay in shape - more so than winging, parawinging and Foil Drive.

PF:8/W:2/PW:37/FD:36/S:16

Comparing Foils

This is the AFS Enduro 900 on the standard fuselage with a Mako Carve 130 rear stabilizer.

This is the foil I use the most for Foil Drive-ing.

This is Cabrinha Prestige 905 with the 160 rear stabilizer.

This is the foil I have been testing/demo-ing.

I can't believe that I can prone foil this...

It also works great on Foil Drive, but once the waves get bigger than chest, I think there are better foils to use that handle the additional energy present (AFS Silk 850 and 650, and the Cab crew says the Whippit 850)

These foils are similar but you can see the obvious differences.

And even profile wise - similar but different.

The big litmus test for whether this foil will be added to the hangar is under parawing power.  If I can get up on foil in the same conditions where I normally use the AFS Enduro 1100, I have to sell a bunch of stuff and pick this up.

Having a smaller foil to ride waves - with a parawing deployed or retracted would be awesome.  But it needs to be able to get up quickly.

We shall see very soon... 

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 5/9/2026

Beautiful conditions this morning!  Not totally glassy, but the wind had enough North in it to keep the surface clean and groomed.

The tide was low, but the swell was really good!

Well overhead on the sets!!!

Prayot was using the Cab Prestige - so I bolted on the foil that I have used as the standard to measure all other front foils by while Foil Drive-ing - the AFS Enduro 900

I kept No.40 in the rotation to get a comparison to yesterday.

But I did swap out the blue props for the black props.

Long paddle out this morning to get to deeper water.

Less discombobulation on the inside (compared to yesterday)

The swell on the outside was behaving perfectly!

I caught one monster wave - taking off late and immediately got lined up on the pit!!!  Well overhead, throwing lip and I got to ride just ahead of the chaos.  Stu bore witness to the spectacle!!!!

Lots of big carves using the whole face.

With the black props I was not taking off too early (ahead of the wave picking me up).  So that tells me I should use the blue props on smaller days, and the black ones when the energy is there.

I only had a short window this morning - I was going to grab the Cab Prestige back from Prayot (in preps for the wind that should arrive tomorrow - and testing that foil for parawinging).  And I needed to get home to run some errands.

Eleven rides - most were really long... I really love being able to ride this spot consistently!!!!

The Can Prestige is shaping up to be a great Jack of All Trades, where the Enduro and Silk are specialists.

Tomorrow on parawing will be the test -

PF:8/W:2/PW:37/FD:36/S:15

Foil Drive Session - 5/8/2026

Got out for a quick Foil Drive session this afternoon - had to get back home so I could help La pack for a trip, and then off to the airport.

The waves were more consistent today - almost even too stacked (especially on the inside).  Outside there was action!!!

Paddling out - low tide made for a longer time with the foil directed upwards.

First time getting the Cabrinha Prestige 905/160 out on Foil Drive -

Got some really long rides today - 

The Prestige 905 probably wasn't the correct foil to use in these conditions - I think the Cabrinha Whippit 850 would have been - but this is a test of the Prestige and it's range.

Head to overhead waves.  With the blue props I was actually up on foil before I could pop up.  If I popped up earlier, I would not have been able to catch the wave (this is a style issue specific to me and how I use the Foil Drive).

I know the Silk can carve harder than the Prestige (but the Prestige and the Enduro seem similar turning wise).

And the Prestige felt easier to keep on foil without having to work for it.  I got long gliding runs without having to pump at all.

I think the Enduro 900 is faster???  The chart below says I got this setup to 20.1mph - I'll have to look back and see how fast I usually go on the Enduro 900.

15 rides in less than an hour!!!

Stu had his Foil Cedrus Integrated Aluminum mast out.  He definitely likes it!

Definitely looks like a slippery hydrodynamic piece of gear!!!

PF:8/W:2/PW:37/FD:35/S:15