This afternoon the conditions were really good for trying out the parawing.
Small waves, strong, relatively steady winds, decent tide.
I thought with all the wind blowing, I should not have to take out the Dragonfly, and instead opted for No.34
To negate excuses for why I didn't get up on foil, I bolted on the Enduro 1300 (with the rear stabilizer moved back into the rear mounting position for a little more stability).
And this was the inaugural outing of the new (to me) Flow D Wing 4.2m parawing. I actually waited to take it out because I had ordered a NSI parawing waist pouch.
I was determined to get up on foil today. And I was able to three times!!!
Twice I got up headed out (port tack) and even got around on jibes (but lost my balance and dropped off).
And a third time going back in (starboard tack)
Outbound I actually felt like I was able to go upwind. Heading back in I was hesitant in heading downwind to get up on foil.
I stopped the watch when I figured it was time to stop and start paddling back.
With the gust coming through, I felt like I would have used the North Mode Pro 4.8m wing again today (but not the Nova Pro 4.2) - so in winds where I would have used a 4.5 essentially is when I can use the D Wing. I'm sure once you get the hang of it, the lower end of the wind range will drop a little.
The take aways for me today are -
The parawing can be used one handed and your free hand can help you stand up.
The parawing isn't something you pump - the board/foil is what you manipulate to get up on foil.
When there is wind, you can point just a hair downwind and let the parawing pull you up on foil (I'm sure you'll have to pump the foil in lighter winds).
I think I can get up using a smaller foil (I'm going to go again tomorrow since the conditions will be similar to today) and I think I'm going to use the F One Eagle 1090.
This would be easiest to learn if you could let go of having to land were you launched, and just worked out the logistics to do a downwinder.
And this stuff packs down to nothing!
I'll call today a success!!! You definitely need wind and small waves to be able to get this down. So begins the journey -
W:37/FD:67/PW:2/S:4
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