Parawing Session - 8/15/2025

I had been keeping an eye on the wind all day - and it was looking like the afternoon session would be pretty good.

Even driving up the trees were moving...

But when Norm and I showed up, the wind just started faltering and the waves picked up.  

I thought I actually prepared for the worst - E1300 and the Dragonfly - but I hesitated and packed the Ka'a 4.8 instead of the Maliko 5.1

And I paid for that decision by spending the vast majority of the session trying to get up on foil.  There just wasn't enough wind for the majority of the session.

I did get up twice - so that counts as a bona fide session.  But the rest of the time I was sitting on my butt trying to keep the parawing up and out of the waves.

I think if I had put up the Maliko 5.1 I may have been up a bit more - but probably not the whole session.

You can more easily see the up on foil periods when you look at the distance-speed chart.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to catch the dawn patrol at Kailua.  I will likely go on parawing again - but I am going to bring a wing also just in case.

W:55/FD:103/PW:20/S:6

Evening Parawing Session - 6/28/2025

And having paid close attention to the forecast, I seemed like the afternoon would have been pretty good for parawinging - full tide, smaller waves and decent wind.

Everything was at the beach, except for the decent wind.

But this was Prayot's first crack at his parawing, so off we went.

As soon as we hit the water, the wind started to falter and it just kept dying over the whole session.

Prayot thought that he might have placed his keys in my truck - so he was going to turn around and drive my truck back to PV.  He wasn't really able to get going on the PW - so definitely a wise choice.

I kept going and had even gotten up on foil twice, before resigning myself to paddling in.  This paddle from outside Campgrounds to Pavilions was over a mile.

At least I didn't get skunked...

And the wind is supposed to back off after yesterday (I am writing this on Sunday morning).

You win some, you lose some.  Getting back to the beach without injury or gear issues... that's a win.

W:48/FD:89/PW:13/S:4

Wing Foiling Session - 6/21/2025

Kailua was the only spot that was projected to have wingable wind in the morning.

I wanted to get the AFS Enduro 900/HA40 dialed in on the KT Dragonfly - so I could use this setup for parawinging in better conditions (as the 1300 can be a handful when the waves are up).

I ended up staying out until the wind got questionable.  But that was enough time to get the foil position dialed in and I got several really fun waves to boot!

Lots of carving turns on the inside of Jump City.

I had a couple of drama-free switch starts.  I'm trying to develop better muscle memory for doing this on narrower boards without issue.  Just need to keep forcing myself to takeoff goofy...

There weren't a lot of people out first thing.  One guy on a Dragonfly was learning, a kitefoiler took off before me, and a couple of others after I took off.  The wind was on the lighter side, but it was consistent.

I ended up changing the foil position three times - the last was just passed the optimum point.

And on my last run, I did a tack-jibe-jibe-tack.  I don't know why these are easier to do here at Kailua Beach Park... must be something to do with the wind direction.

Super fun session!!!

W:48/FD:86/PW:11/S:4

Father's Day Parawinging Session

Happy Father's Day all you Fathers!

I spent a portion of my day parawinging - and I was able to have Marlon tail me with the drone.

I swapped out the AFS UHM 80cm mast for the Evolution Cedrus Surf 77.5cm mast - otherwise I used the same gear.

There were waves, but nothing critical.  The tide was rising, but I still had to paddle out to deeper water.  And the wind was blowing stronger than it has been and more consistent - perfect parawinging conditions!

After an initial series of unbalanced starting attempts, I finally got up.  And then it just kept getting better.

I was able to stay up for long runs and I easily pulled up wind.  I used the Stringfellow harness hook and it made a huge difference when the gusts came through.

Easily my best day on parawing.

In fact - this chart looks like I was winging.

Nothing but jibes today.  I'm just trying to develop muscle memory for staying up, pumping and jibing - I can wait for tacking.

And there is a switch start in there somewhere.

Pretty strong winds - I'm pretty sure I would not have been able to hold on to the Ka'a 4.8.  And I'm pretty sure I should have been on a smaller parawing (but I don't have a smaller one - yet).

This chart also looks like I was winging!

Prayot and Roland were out winging.

They both buzzed passed me at one point, but were mostly down in front of the cabins.  I was on the other side of Fenceline.

This is the second time I managed to stay upwind - and it was the second time I did it with the Maliko 4.0 (post bar modification).  I think there's something going on with the V1...

Great session!!!

W:45/FD:84/PW:10/S:4

Parawing Session - 6/11/2025

Wind was not as strong as yesterday - recipe for disaster...

But the waves were not large and the tide was high - I went ahead and setup to parawing.

I am forcing myself to do things I prefer not to - using the Dragonfly (7'/100L) and starting switch are at the top of the list.

Rounding out the equipment for today - the BRM Ka'a 4.8 (with the BRM rigid harness line), the AFS Enduro 1300 and the HA43 rear stabilizer.

I paddled out anyways because any experience is good experience.

The wind was actually ok when I was paddling out, but then it started to lull out a bit.  And it was blowing either E or even a touch SE, so that meant fully committing was heading out to PV.  I didn't have a ride back from PV, so I focused on not drifting too far down.

After a lot of waiting, I did get up on foil on a gust - but it was short lived

Fast forwarding, I did get up 3 other times.  And one of them was going switch (as I said something I do not look forward to doing, but I know I need to get better at this - get up on foil can get easier if you learn to incorporate the push from the incoming waves)

Really shitty wind - so getting up and going was definitely a series of victories.  I'll take them all - many small victories lead to large wins.

W:43/FD:84/PW:9/S:4

Evening Parawing Session - 6/3/2025

Nearly perfect conditions for parawinging (with the modified Maliko 4.0) today at da' Plains!

And I stopped being a chicken with regards to using the Dragonfly with the parawing.  The AFS Enduro 1300/HA43, Project Cedrus 78cm mast rounded out the gear selection for today.

Zach was already out on his windsurfer.  Duke pulled up in the parking lot while I was getting the mast bolted on.  And Roland came out closer to when I headed in.

The wind was good - I probably would have been on a 4.8 wing

The parawing was actually really good - wider range, more responsive, stayed in the air way more easily, and a wide sweet spot.  That mod was a game changer.

This was the first time I parawinged and didn't have to do a massive paddle back to shore!!!

Takeoffs were easier.

I jibed and rarely messed up.

I was able to switch over after jibes, and switch back on the inside to jibe back out.

The only thing that would have made this session better was using a harness - when the gusts blew through, my grip was definitely tested (and my forearms are still sore as I am writing this).

The takeoffs were less tractor pull and more positioning (which was probably the case all the time - I'm just realizing it now).

This was the best parawing session I've had to date!!!  The chart actually looks almost like a winging session (which means I was up on foil more than I was down).

W:42/FD:80/PW:8/S:4

Evening Parawing Session - 5/20/2025

There was a lighter wind this afternoon when I got to the beach.  Norm was out on a bigger wing and Roland was launching with his 4.0

The waves were not too big - so the conditions were good for parawinging.

I wanted to try the Dragonfly and see what a difference positive volume makes.  Also kept with the training wheels (AFS Enduro 1300/HA43 on a shorter mast).

Each time I go out now, I feel like things are getting a little easier.  This is totally an effort to develop muscle memory and understand how the parawings power up.

To me at this point, these feel a lot closer to kitesurfing than it does winging. 

I made some good runs on regular stance and even made almost all my jibes.  But I did have a hard time keeping the parawing filled and pressurized going toeside.  And hard as I tried, I could not get up on foil on my goofy stance 

On my last run, the wind came up to the point where the Ka'a 4.8 was getting overpowered.  It would have been ok if I could turn downwind and bleed off the pressure - but I did not have a ride over at PV.  I went ahead and packed away the PW and paddled in (yes - from way outside).  At least through this whole learning curve I am staying in surfing shape. 

Looks like I was up on foil 8 times during this session

Same count using the distance metric.

It really is invigorating to go through a difficult learning curve again!

W:41/FD:71/PW:5/S:4

Wing Foiling Session - 2/23/2025

And as forecasted, the trades did make a minor showing this afternoon.  Not a solid comeback - but definitely workable.

Rick showed up for some lessons learned.  Then Matt arrived so at least I wouldn't pulling a solo session.

Brought the big stuff today to guarantee getting up on foil.

KT Dragonfly 100l, AFS Enduro 1300/HA43/Short Fuselage/AFS UHM 85cm mast 

I did not bring my watch so no stats.  I did stay out for about 2 hours.  I mainly wanted to get the rust off and make sure I could connect the dots during transitions.

Matt went in first and Harris could be seen getting his stuff ready.  Harris launched but his equipment was way too small for today's conditions.

Then Prayot came, launched, and proceeded to get up on foil and use Harris as a rounding buoy.

Prayot made it out to Seconds - but came back early as he saw a 10' tiger.

Everyone got back safely.  Hopefully we'll get the strong trades back soon.

W:10/FD:33/PW:1/S:3