The wind picked up from the SW around 11am. Likely the leading edge of the front that is headed our way.
Norm texted and said he was planning on going to PVs to test out the new inflatable Duotone he just picked up (so he has a travel setup).
I headed to PVs after dropping off the Bizee's at the airport to check how the conditions were shaping up.
And I also tried out the Triple 7 Para Tow Skin 5.4
This parawing is more powerful than the others I have - but it also flies differently.
Around 2:30pm Norm and I were setting up. I got him his Triple 7 PT Skin 7.3 - but he didn't want to try two new things in the same day.
I paddled out quite a bit to make sure I had plenty of runway to takeoff without hitting the high spots.
The wind was fluctuating a bit at the beginning of the session and I started the dreaded drift...
And I could hear Norm cussing up a storm trying to get familiarized with the new board.
The wind did strengthen enough to get up on foil and pull upwind.
I limited how far upwind I was going - No Man's Land is pretty shallow and it goes out quite a bit (all the way to Tails) - so I played it safe and turned after getting even with the last Pavilion.
The first jibe attempts I was having difficulty getting the PW to roll over onto the new tack. But after I exaggerated the braking, the turns got smoother and more fluid.
In testing the "drifting" capability, this wing does not like being flown off the front lines. When I tried that, the leading edge collapsed. It likes to be flown from further back on the bar and the most powerful position is where the back of the bar is about a third of the way back.
I'm definitely going to have to use this PW a lot more to see how it demands to be flown.
I never felt overpowered in the wind conditions present.
The wind was also coming through in lanes - but from over the ocean (so no obstructions) - weird...
When I was in the lully lanes, I had to turn down wind to keep the PW up.
On a couple of jibes where the PW was not moving fast enough across the window, one of the lines would get caught around the front of the bar.
Towards the end of the session, I was turning the PW much easier and there were less issues with the PW.
On final approach, I kept the PW up in the air all the way to the beach.
After packing the gear, I brought out the other 5 meter parawings for a comparison and contrast.
And Norm brought out his PT Skin 7.3
That is a powerful PW that seems to be more stable than the 5.4
Overall I'd say this was a high performance PW that demands more control inputs that the other PWs I have.
It felt good to PW again!!!
PW:6/FD:12/S:7
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