Parawing Session - 2/1/2026

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

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

Wing Foiling Session - 1/27/2025

The wind was blowing hard while I was driving home.  Norm texted that he was planning on winging over at Paviliions.

I had not planned on winging today - so when I got to the beach, I was scrambling to get everything set up - the wind was strong, but winds more often than not tend to break down the closer you get to dusk so time was limited.

I opted for a higher wind foil and board, and a larger wing - to make sure I could get up on foil in the case of lighter winds.

And I brought out the GoPro 12 mounted on the strut to see what the wide angle lens could capture.

Having the AFS Silk 850 out, I did not want to ground at all - so it took me a while to get past the shallow spots.  After that, with the North winds - the runs were nearly parallel to the beach. 

On the first run, I made it out past Fenceline.  I had to stay further outside to keep in the cleaner wind.

I rode some waves and headed back over to Pavilions - just to make sure I wouldn't have to swim back... the wind was strong, but not without holes.

It's hard to rig for days like this.  The North Nova Pro handled it, but I wonder of the Mode Pro 4.8 would have been better...

The Silks aren't known for their speed, and the waves today were getting blown nearly flat - I think I would have been better off with the SK8750???

I could sense the wind weakening so I headed in.  Any session where you don't have to paddle in is a great one!

W:8/FD:17/PW:1