Parawing Session - 7/18/2026

Norm, Stu and I did the WP to -

PV run yesterday.

The wind looked really good, but that was at the ends.

There were some good sets coming through also.

I took out the same setup as the past couple of days.  I also brought both the BRM S3 5.3 and the Flysurfer POW V2 4.0

Norm brought his Ozone PR 5.0 and the 777 PT Skin 7.2

Hard to trust the wind this summer.... (foreshadowing) 

The wind was switching directions and up-down the whole way.  I paddled out and put up the Flysurfer.  Launching took a while because the wind was slightly less than what I needed to get up, but once up I immediately caught a head high wave, retracted the PW and scored a really good ride.  The Silk 1050 is pretty darn good in this application (but I'm wondering if I could still optimize the position).

At this point I was at the Cabins and the edge of the dead zone.

The wind would actually go dead and the parawing would fall out of the sky.  What was really frustrating here was the direction shifts.

You can see I would get up onto foil, then suddenly stop - that was the wind shifting while I was trying to jibe (and then getting field stripped off the board). 

At Campgrounds the wind filled in better and I was able to get up and stay up (and turn without the PW twisting on me).

Needless to say this was pretty frustrating.

I did line up with a macker wave at PVs - well overhead and a deep pocket that I just sat in - so awesome!!!  Again - the Silk 1050 V1 for the win!!!!

PF:9/W:3/PW:79/FD:53/S:20

Parawing Session - 7/17/2026

The wind was better this afternoon - still and down and swirly, but stronger.

Norm and I did the WP-PV run.

I took out the same board-foil as yesterday and the BRM S3 5.3 for power.

And with better wind, there was better foiling.

The wind was shifting east to north.  But it seemed as if whenever the waves were present the wind was north (the hardest direction for me to retract the parawings).

This is Hickam's chart - it was probably 5mph less at WP-PV

I made two adjusts on the mast to get rid of the backfoot pressure.  It still feels a little suboptimized - might need to do a Hickam session to get it dialed in.

The back half of the session was much better - a lot of it was the wind, but perhaps the foil adjustment helped.

Will push tomorrow's session to 2pm to get the wind when it is stronger again.

PF:9/W:3/PW:78/FD:53/S:20

Parawing Session - 6/5/2026

Did a downwind run from WP -

down to PVs

Norm and Stu used wings (Norm used a 4.0m - Stu on a 5.0)

I used No.34 with the AFS Enduro 1100/Mako Carve Pro

Power provided by the BRM S3 5.3

Initially I thought the 5.3 would be too much PW for the wind that was blowing through.  It actually was just a bit above perfect for most of the session.

And the surf hadn't quite settled as much as the forecast said it would - still some head high sets running through the course.

The wind angle was more into the wave trains - that makes retracting the parawing tough.  I mainly rode swell while drifting the parawing.

I wondered if the 4.2 would have worked in the wind present.  This graph is the wind over at Hickam - it would be 3 to 5 mph less over at WP.

Honestly I was still a little iffy from the Tuesday session out at PVs.  I stuck to simple jibes to make sure I didn't come off foil (not wanting to experience the current drag again).

Kalani also set out to do the DW run, but 1/3 the way down his rear lines pigtail connector broke.  He turned back and made it back to WP.

Norm had a hard time starting - but once he got up on foil he was able to stay up.

It was a good run, but I need to shake this ghost...

PF:8/W:3/PW:57/FD:41/S:18

Parawing Session - 5/27/2026

Our internet service was spotty yesterday evening, so this is a catchup post.

Did the WP to PV run yesterday afternoon.  Was pretty challenging with the up-down, shifty winds.

It looked lighter than it was -

BRM S3 5.3 - slightly to definitely overpowered on the run.  Then at times I couldn't get up.

I had the Cabrinha setup on No.34

When I was up on foil, it was fun despite having to deal with the extra power.  And what made it worse was the fact that the BRM S3 4.2 I just ordered (after selling a bunch of other gear I wasn't using) was at Walgreen's waiting to be picked up... that parawing would have been perfect.

Lots of north in the wind.

I had to make some adjustments - switching to the S3 from the Maliko V1 was not an instantaneous transition.  But eventually I got the muscle memory back.

Norm had the Triple Seven PT Skin 7.3 up, and he was fighting his gear...

Stu had his North Nova 4.2 up and was up and down with the wind.

Despite the challenging conditions, parawinging is still the way I prefer to spend my time in the water (as long as the wind is up).

PF:8/W:2/PW:54/FD:37/S:17

Parawing Session - 5/19/2026

Almost a repeat of yesterday.

Wind was good, but not as steady or strong as yesterday - and it was a bit swirly, especially on the back half of the course.

Nice high tide again.

And the waves had similar energy to yesterday.

Launch point -

Robby was on Foil Drive (testing out a tiny race stabilizer).

Norm had the same setup as yesterday.  And Kalani came out today - and tried the Code 985X (or whatever it was)

I bumped up the foil to the AFS Enduro 1100 - insurance with the slightly iffy winds.

And the landing -

The waves were really good up above Fenceline - got a few stashed parawing rides that reeled for quite some time.

I was pretty much holding my line while riding - then I looked for Norm and Robby and they were both almost at Campgrounds.  I started heading downwind at this point.

You can see at Campgrounds the wind was coming in from different directions.

The waves over here weren't as good for retracting the parawing, so I just had it in drift position.  I really love flying the BRM S3!

This is Hickam's wind chart - I think our run was a notch below this (pressure reduction from up there to PV is enough to make a difference).

Pretty much the same as yesterday on top speed.  I definitely pushed the Enduro 1100 -

Another fun session!!!

Wind should be stronger tomorrow - I'll likely setup the Cab P905 and the Maliko 4.0

PF:8/W:2/PW:46/FD:37/S:17

Afternoon Parawing Session - 5/18/2026

Did a parawing downwind run with Norm this afternoon.

Wind was nice and strong.  Waves were filling in.  Tide was nice and high!

This was White Plains at launch.

BRM S3 5.3, No.34 with the Cabrinha Prestige (160 rear stabilizer and the 78cm Apex mast)

And this was Pavilions at recovery.

This was the inaugural BRM S3 5.3 and Cabrinha Prestige 905 session in waves and strong wind.  And the setup did not disappoint one iota -

Jibing was a breeze - including a down loop.  I even messed up a couple of times, but the glide from the Prestige 905 gave me time to correct the parawing handling and keep going.

I caught three waves from outside Cabins and 5-O's where I'd line up, retract the parawing and just carve up and down a 3' overhead wave that just reeled - this was pure magic!!!!  

The weird twists in the track were the rides.

I had several more rides, but didn't retract because the wave didn't seem like they'd give the same push as the big three.

Norm was up and riding on the Triple Seven PT Skin 7.3 - no problems getting up (actually he said he was overpowered about 50% of the session).  ANd on the back half of the session he was getting up, making the run, jibing, making it through and on to the opposite tack - then repeat.  He made the cycle a few times at least.

This chart was from the Kalaeloa Airport (which on east or NE winds, is usually off by about 5mph).

I hit 20mph on the Prestige - bombing down one of the big waves!!!!

The Prestige was really fun to parawing with - just easy!

Today was definitely one of the top 5 parawing sessions I've ever had!!!  And it is just the beginning of this wind event!

PF:8/W:2/PW:45/FD:37/S:17

Parawing Session - 3/24/2026

Stu wanted to do a downwind run to get more jibing practice in.  That was good for me because I wanted to test out my new Triple Seven PT Hybrid 4.3 parawing.

Nice strong wind - whitecapping but not blown apart.  Also smaller waves (so I could get this parawing figured out without having to worry about getting smashed).

No.34 with the AFS Enduro 1100/HA40/Short fuselage on the AFS UHM 80 cm mast.

And considering the wind strength, I packed the BRM Maliko 5.1 for anti-paddle in insurance with the intent to primarily fly the Triple Seven PT Hybrid 4.3

This parawing pulls nicely, handles gusts like no other parawing I've taken on the water (perhaps the BRM Paia might handle better???), and is super stable.

It drains really quickly when water logged.  And with as many lines as it has, tangling was not really an issue.

To turn this PW, I was banking it instead of dropping it back in the window then twisting.  That actually made this parawing feel more dynamic to fly.

I spent the first 30 minutes seeing how tight to the wind I could ride.  The answer is really close - the highest upwind I've ridden with a parawing.  And it wasn't hard to do so.  And I was going fast while doing it - even if getting hit by a gust.

After the first 30 minutes passed, I saw Stu heading down towards Campgrounds so I started to make my way down the coast.

There were some light spots working my way down - and I never did drop off foil because the parawing didn't have enough power - probably something to do with the double skin section.

The three sections where I was down were trip ups with the foil.

Mentioning the foil - the Enduro 1100 with the rest of this setup was super easy to use... so easy it had me thinking maybe I should have bolted on the Enduro 900.

Really good performance from the Hybrid 4.3

This session felt really good!  Foil dialed in and the parawing perfectly sized for the wind conditions.

Stu got his first open ocean jibe.

Robby was out at PVs getting really the only waves breaking in the area.

Paul Cooper was parawinging (downwinder) when we were packing up.

PF:4/W:2/PW:23/FD:23/S:9

And Roland was winging at WPB while these two were chillaxing.

So much fun today!!!