Parawing Session - 10/17/2025

The trades were blowing solid today!  Still had to keep an eye out for lulls and gusts - but this was the most fun I've had on PW!

Good full tide and waves big enough to get some help jibing.

I wanted to take out the BRM Maliko 5.1 again - having flown the Flysurfer POW 5.0 for a bit now, I figured with the strength of the wind today, would be a good opportunity to get the differences nailed down.

On the board-foil side, I moved the mast position again - it's been bugging me that I can't pop up on foil quickly.  I moved it up another centimeter forward.

The foil position was better than it's been - I was able to get up faster.  It is also just shy of being overpowered/overfoiled - I could feel that it is neutral fore and aft pressure wise.

It actually took a few minutes to get used to the Maliko again - it flies differently.  Jibing with this wing is so easy - it goes where you direct it without any drama or hesitancy.

There were times where I thought I was losing ground, but I just pulled the wing to the front of the window, hiked over on the windward rail and got back to the top of the field.

There were some ridable set waves that would come through periodically.

The texture on the water was just below fully lit whitecaps - it was like the wind was hovering a few feet above the surface.  It was still pretty strong.  I think the Flysurfer POW 5.0 would have been a handful.

And this graph is pretty much a winging speed chart - mostly blue means up on foil most of the session.

It's been a while since the wind has been up and strong like today - this felt really great to be parawinging in conditions like this!

W:57/FD:127/PW:51/S:8

Parawing Session - 10/16/2025

There was wind but it was weird.  It actually was a low pressure system moving over Oahu.

It was onshore, with hints of trades periodically.

Nice full tide.

I brought out the same gear I've been using.

Prayot got a new to him board - nice S. Ordonez Lift.

I paddled out pretty far to get into the wind line - and it was blowing side on.  I got up and riding without too much drama.  Had to hold the E-W line to use the wind.

Then the wind shifted and everything turned for the worse.  I didn't have to paddle in too far - and it was pretty easy on No.42

Prayot did get up on foil once, then stashed the PW and didn't get back up with the PW for the rest of the session.  He did pick up three waves prone foiling the board.

The low end on the Flysurfer POW is pretty darn incredible - but it can't pull in nothing winds.  Which is pretty much what we got after 2:30pm

At least I got up on foil (three times as a matter of fact), rode some waves and got in some solid jibes (save the first one where I couldn't get the PW to roll over).

Forecasts are calling for much stronger winds over the next few days.  I'm hoping they are correct and I can bring out the smaller PWs.

W:57/FD:127/PW:50/S:8

Garage Works - 10/15/2025

I did spend a little time dry fitting the M6 helicoils to the holes I cleared on Felipe's mast repair.

Turns out the holes that I had to dig out the sheared bolts were already big enough to accept the helicoil.

I had to clean up the open (third) hole a little bit.

Now it's time to mix up some JB Weld...

Parawing Session - 10/15/2025

Winds were a bit deceptive today.  There was texture on the water and the trees were moving, but the actual tangible wind felt weak.

Surf was small and the tide was medium depth.

DW crew today - Stu and Norm - both on wing.

I used the same gear as yesterday, but moved the mast up to the position where I had previously mounted the Enduro 900.

It felt like I could get up onto foil a little faster than yesterday - but it is hard to determine if that was the mast position or the wind (which did fill in)

Getting started was the hard part today.  The first two turns I botched - but the wind was shifty and light.

After that, I felt like I was up and riding for most of the session.

Even though it didn't feel like it, the conditions were better today.  Norm was up and riding all over the place - so that definitely means the wind was better today.

Tight correlation between speed achieved and wind speed again.

I'll likely just PW WPB tomorrow.

W:57/FD:127/PW:49/S:8

Parawing Session - 10/14/2025

The trades started to fill back in this afternoon.  Norm, Robby and I setup for a WP-PV DW run.  There were genuine white caps at the top of the run (WP)...

And whitecaps at the bottom of the run.

I bolted on the AFS Enduro 1300/HA43 setup on to No.42 through the UHM 80cm mast.

This was the second time I've had the board out - and the first time on parawing.  I used the Flysurfer POW 5.0

Despite the whitecaps - of course the wind backed off as I was paddling out.  I still managed to get up on foil multiple times (because the wind would shift and drop off a lot).

My first two runs early on stopped because of botched jibes (from spinning winds).  Then the wind just flattened out.  Then it would gust, carry and drop, then repeat.

I got more takeoffs goofy footed than regular.  And by the end of the session I was nailing my jibes again.

I think I need to push the mast forward a couple of notches next time I go out.  There were some runs where I was pumping enough that I should have been up on foil.  Perhaps that would have reduced my down on the water time.

Also of note, I believe the bottom shape on this board makes standing and doing whatever it takes to get up on foil way easier than doing this same thing on the KT Dragonfly - it was way less stable in the roll axis.

At least I didn't get skunked!

You can see a strong correlation between these two graphs.

This was a great first run with No.42 on wing.

W:57/FD:127/PW:48/S:8

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 10/13/2025

Dawn patrolled this morning with the Foil Drive.

Conditions were much cleaner than yesterday.  Initially the tide was lower so not much backwash and the waves were breaking nicer.  But eventually the tide did fill in.

I gave Norm my gen 1 motor - he drove his into the ground (and with my HO motor, I'll never use that piece of equipment again).  With a smooth motor, he actually stayed out as long as I did (which means I was less efficient...)

I used the same gear that I've been using recently.  If the waves would stand up a bit more, I'd sacrifice glide and connecting sections for outright carving carnage - but it is moving into winter in the Northern Hemisphere.  Enduro 900 for the win.

I have a really fun session - lots of opportunities to bank hard off some bowl sections.  

21 rides in 1.3 hours... another ridiculous wave count!

I'll either rest or surf (after lawn work) tomorrow in preparation for the arriving wind event lining up.  Wednesday the carnage begins!!!

W:57/FD:127/PW:47/S:8

The Anointment of No.42 - 10/12/2025

It was blowing hard when I got to Hickam - whitecaps everywhere from the SE.

I wanted to dial in some foil positions on No.42 - and it is easier to do that on a new board with a wing.  With the whitecaps I figured I'd start out with the Enduro 900/HA40 and the North Nova Pro 5.0

It's been a minute since I inflated a wing -

I had laid out No.34 beside No.42 and transferred the foil positions for the Enduro 900 and 1300.

I started the Enduro 900 where I had marked the plotted point.

As soon as I had everything ready to go, the wind shut down.

If it wasn't for a little gust, I would have gotten skunked (and that can't happen on an anointment).

I was able to pump the board and the wing on that little puff in the middle of the red box - which was the design goal of this board - light wind pump ups.  What made it even more impressive was I was able to get up on the Enduro 900 - 

I pumped through some lulls but otherwise was able to use what wind was around (while it was around).  I got jibes in both ways and tacks both ways.  Then the wind totally dropped off.

In my further attempts to get back onto foil, I was able to stand on the board and feel how the volume reacted to pressure in the wing.  If there was no wind, I would sink while standing to above my calves.  With a little pressure I would be back at the surface without much drama.

The width was not that hard to work from - but today was relatively flat water.  Will need to assess this in waves (DW WP-PV run).

The deck pad placement seems to be really good.

And at this point the rocker and foil mounting area all seem to be working in unison.  I was holding my breath on this - and I still have to do more riding/testing. 

I stuck around in the middle of the harbor hoping another gust would come along - it never did.

I'm wondering if it would have been different if I had bolted on the Enduro 1300 to start (would I have stayed up on foil longer and gotten up faster?)

Even though this session was not long - it actually did the one thing I needed from it. 

There are a couple more days to get through before the trades come back with a vengeance.  It'll be smaller boards and smaller parawings then... if there are flat spells while the wind is up, I'll try using No.42 again with smaller parawings.  Now that I have a reference point for where the Enduro 900 balances out, I can get super close to where the Enduro 1300 should be.  

W:57/FD:126/PW:47/S:8

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 10/12/2025

A little choppier today early on - then it smoothed out a bit, but not as good as yesterday.

Waves seemed to work better earlier.  Tide still really high.

Same gear as yesterday.

With the choppier conditions, I burned through the battery a little faster today.

Eddy was out early.  Dennis came out after me.  There was another guy learning to FD.  And Roland parked next to me as I was packing up.

I tried to stay above the pack of surfers (so they could ride something if they could paddle onto one).  The better parts of the waves were further out anyways. 

18 rides in an hour and a quarter.

W:56/FD:126/PW:47/S:8

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 10/11/2025

Dawn patrol - super high tide.  When I got to the beach there was overtopping (and it was still overtopping when I left 2 hours later).

There were waves, but they weren't breaking because of the full tide.  And a lot of the energy was reflecting back out to sea.

I rigged the same gear as yesterday to glide across the flat spots - the Enduro 900 is the sweet spot for me weight - performance wise.

I also brought out No.39 - conceptually moving faster across the water will result in efficiency of battery usage and engaging the foil faster.

Efficiency wise, I came in after two hours and I still had 40% battery.

Dennis was out.  So was the Lift eFoiler.  Mark and Andrew were out and over at 5-O's.  Noel was catching on his SUP foil.  And Roland eventually came out (just got back from a trip).

I stayed out in front of Cabins predominantly.  And I would wait for the peaks to show at the outside breaks.

Almost all the rides were on running bumps.  I only had one wave with whitewater (and that one was a blast!).

20 rides - half of them were super long from the outside all the way in (deep water - no issues with bottom strikes).

Thermals kicked in nicely today - but I abstained.  La's parents are here and she had to work - I didn't want them to have to stay at home the whole day so I ran errands with them.

I'll likely Foil Drive again tomorrow morning - the swell is supposed to pick up a notch.  We'll see if the thermals pop again.

W:56/FD:125/PW:47/S:8