Parawing Session - 8/21/2025

Today has really good wind.  Not nuking, but solid and more (than less) consistent.

I want to test the upwind ability of the BRM Ka'a 4.8 - and I was originally going to go to WP to keep the location parameter the same as yesterday.  But Norm said he was going to wing PV so I figured I'd take the breaking waves out of the equation and join him.

I brought the same board-foil combo out, but like I said earlier - packed the Ka'a 4.8

With the super high tide and stronger winds, launching was easy.

I had paddled over towards CG a bit more to launch - wanted to give myself a head start and not start with a deficit and have to paddle in against the wind.

The Ka'a did go upwind.  But where I usually pick up the wind if I go down and drift at CG, I could break through that section.  PWs have a smaller range and once you go below that you drop off foil (if you aren't willing to pump around).

That happened a few times - and I'd have to drift a bit (once way out to blue water) to pick up the wind line.

You can see from the track I progressively went upwind - and I really didn't give up any ground.  So that tell me as long as you have sufficient wind, even lower aspect ratio, short lined PWs can go upwind.  It would be nice to get my hands on a Kanaha and do a back to back with the Ka'a to see how different they perform. 

This graph was the wind at Hickam - it was a notch less than this at PV, but this relation is shown better on this graph as opposed to the Kalaeloa graph.

So for me at my current skill level and body weight, with the board-foil combo - I need about 20 mph to takeoff with the Ka'a 4.8 (and I think it tops out at the comfortable level at 27+ mph which it was gusting to today). 

I happy that I was able to get upwind with the Ka'a!

W:56/FD:104/PW:26/S:6

Parawing Session - 8/20/2025

Decent wind this afternoon.  Super high tide.  Energetic waves.

Decided to parawing today.

No.34 with the 85cm AFS UHM mast, AFS Enduro 1300 and HA43 rear stabilizer.

The wind strength was good when it was good, but when it was down I had to sit and wait.  I took out the Maliko 5.1 to maximize the up on foil time.

This setup is so good!!!

It was a full house today.  Roland and eventually Prayot were out on wing.  Zach was on his windsurfing rig.  Koa was out prone.  And Robby was out on Foil Drive.   

I think this is my record for distance traveled on parawing.

And I was able to hold my line - I didn't have to paddle back once.

I am leaning towards the reason being the Maliko v1 parawings.  But it might be the wind speed - and if I take the Ka'a out its probably actually not strong enough for me to pull back up wind.

I'm going to pay closer attention to this.

When Greg Drexler discusses the V2 parawing range, he says the difference in the Kanaha and the Ka'a are pretty small.  Both being able to haul upwind and both being able to collapse down to very small packages.

I also focused on jibing while still hooked in.  Almost all of those attempts were successful (but I ate it a few times).

But perhaps the most significant thing today was my first tack!!!

Heelside and on to an incoming wave (is there any other way???).  I'm going to emphasize practicing this. 

I could hold the 5.1 down today - but there were several periods where I could have been using a smaller parawing (but then I'd have more issue getting up on foil - damned if you do, damned if you don't)

This on foil time chart is looking more and more like my winging sessions -

Super fun session today!!!

W:56/FD:104/PW:25/S:6

Foil Drive - Parawing Augmented Session - 8/19/2025

Following Norm's lead, today I brought out the Foil Drive, and brought along a parawing.

Wind was way up and down.  When it was up - it was easily parawingable.  When it was down it was almost glassy.

Super high tide made for easy launch and recovery.

No.40 with the standard Foil Drive setup.

And in the stash pouch is the BRM Ka'a 3.6 (first outing)

I had intended to take out the Ka'a 4.8 but I grabbed the wrong bag

In the end it didn't really matter.  My first wave I caught I reached in and deployed the parawing and it opened.  I was going along for a little bit and then lost power in the wing and came off foil.

That's when I noticed I was on a smaller parawing.

I did the same thing multiple times after, but they all got progressively worse

I did ride some waves without messing with the PW, and those were really fun.

16 rides - can't complain about that.

Koa was out also - and there was another Foil Drive-r guy who we haven't met before.

Good introduction session for the FD-PW combo.

W:56/FD:104/PW:24/S:6

Parawing Session - 8/19/2025

Nice high tide today - with some doable wind.  There were waves and they were at the not intimidating level.

I setup the same board-foil combo.  This time I brought the Maliko 5.1

Norm brought his FD setup and his Pocket Rocket 5.0 - the first to try this combo at WP.

Once I got up, I had a great time!

It did take a bit longer than I would have preferred to get up onto foil.  There seemed to be slightly more wind and it was more consistent.  I was able to complete all my jibes without too much drama.  I really didn't try exceptionally hard, but I think if it did I could have held my line.

Had three periods where the wind lulled out below my foiling threshold.  But those periods are good for practicing takeoffs.

These readings from the Kalaeloa Airport wind meter are consistently off by 5mph.

A little more than half the session on foil with the PW!

If the wind is up again tomorrow, I think I may bring the FD setup and also the Ka'a 3.6

W:56/FD:103/PW:24/S:6

Parawing Session - 8/18/2025

Norm and I did a WP-PV run this afternoon.  While I was dropping off the board/foil at WP, I saw this guy chilling at the beach.  When we launched (I go to PV to pick up Norm and whoever else wants to go, and we leave Norm's truck at PV for the recovery) - there was as second seal also chillaxing.

The wind was whitecapping when I dropped off the board.  When I launched, it was one of those days where the wind line looked like it kept drifting further offshore.

When you wing/parawing in shitty-shifty winds, you got no choice but to learn how to make lemonade.

This was the view at the start -

Norm was trying out the Enduro 1100 on FD.

I setup the same gear I've been primarily running for PW.

I want to downsize the foil set - but whenever I do I regret it.  I need to just accept that the Enduro 1300 is fine.

And this is the PW I should have taken out - Maliko 5.1.  Instead I used the Ka'a 4.8 - not wanting to have to wrestle a PW.  But I was being optimistic with the wind strength.

And this is what the finish looks like.

While I was out, the wind was getting worse and worse.  I knew I brought the wrong PW almost immediately.

I did get up early - and I actually went a considerable distance, but when I tried to jibe the PW didn't have the wind to stay up and thus started the long drift across the Campgrounds area.  The wind across this stretch is usually weak - you either plow straight through to get across, or you drift and try not to get hammered by rogue sets. 

After CG, the wind does fill back in and I was able to get up twice.  The first post CG run was long with multiple jibes and lots of waves ridden.

I had one wave that had plenty of push so I retracted the PW and just surfed the wave.  And I even redeployed the PW successfully!!!!

Definitely made the session worth it!

I was perfectly powered at this point.  But I still think I should stop over-estimating the wind strength and go bigger.

Norm gelled with the Enduro 1100 right away.  He looked like he was going faster, turning harder and still running with plenty of glide.  He said he likes it!

W:56/FD:103/PW:23/S:6

Garage Works - 8/17/2025

In between the morning skunk and the afternoon session, I did some work on two projects in the garage.

First up was Marlon's prone foil board repair.

The tracks were leaking from the around the back of the boxes.

This board has a substantial wood stringer, so there was a lot of routing in lifts to not over stress the router.

The block fits nicely, but the port side has some overage (nothing that brown gorilla glue can't handle).

And I planed off the excess gorilla glue on the blank for No.42.

And I traced the template that I made to pull characteristics from the latest downwind boards - notably the tail of the board.

This is probably going to be one of my biggest experiments -

Wing Foiling Session - 8/17/2025

I actually went to Kailua this morning to try and get a repeat parawing session - but I got totally skunked.

I went home and got some forward progress on the garage projects (next post) - but I did keep an eye on the wind.  Around 3pm the wind filled in nicely and I decided to head over to WPB.

There were whitecaps outside and fun sized waves.

North Nova Pro 5.0, No.40, AFS Enduro 900/HA40/85 UHM mast.

Having been parawinging a lot recently, winging when powered and with waves does remain one of my favorite activities - primarily cranking turns.

I kinda forgot how fun winging in good conditions can be.

With the wind being as good as it was, I got to go everywhere - 

I think I did more tacks than jibes

The blacks spots are me tripping over my foil - I needed to get the muscle memory developed again.

Roland came out.  So did Duke (but he was only out for a little bit).

Fun session!!!

W:56/FD:103/PW:22/S:6

Parawing Session - 8/16/2025

I grabbed Mark's Enduro 1100 from Prayot and got a second session in at Hickam.

The wind was up and down - way up and down.

I used the HA40 on the Standard fuselage to mount the 1100.

And splitting the distance between the E900 and the E1300, I mounted the E1100 just forward of the E900 on FD setting.

This turned out to be perfect! 

I also wanted to test out harness line I made out of an old surfboard leash and the T9 harness.  The only real issue here is how to carry the stash belt (I ended up slinging it cross-shoulder).

There was a sailboat parked right where I normally do my top turn - that sucked.  And with the up-down wind, I figured I got what I wanted out of this session.

The Enduro 1100 does takeoff nicely.  Almost as easy as the Enduro 1300 - but I didn't get to test them back to back in the same session.

I tried multiple jibes, but the Maliko 5.1 had a hard time rolling over from one tack to the other.  I did get a few executed, but it was a crap shoot with the wind. 

The harness-harness line worked well - definitely easier to get in than the Stringy hook.  But the long loop seemed a tad long (and it also would stretch under load).  I'll shorten it up.

I had also wanted to test out the Wingman Chest Harness - but honestly I was tired and thirsty (DECA run).

Same speed as the Enduro 1300... hmmmm.

I'll try and test this foil out again tomorrow morning at Kailua.  From the forecast it looks like a BRM 4.8m Ka'a kinda day.

W:55/FD:103/PW:22/S:6