Parawing Session - 3/27/2026

After work session - I was expecting light, but parawingable conditions.

I brought the big stuff -

But the wind turned on big time

I thought I'd be overpowered on the Triple Seven PT Hybrid 5.7 - but surprisingly I was able to manage the gusts by pointing higher into the wind.

That offshoot to the SW was me bearing off to say hi to Norm (just got back).

Paul Cooper zoomed through on a North Ranger.  Norm and Stu were on wings.  Derek was going off on his parawing.  And Ben and Roland were out on Foil Drives. 

Gusts into the high 20's

I really used this session to try to better jibe this big PW.  Banking is key (no brake and twist - you have to push and twist simultaneously).

Running back in and jibing to go back out, I was finding it easier to downturn the PW to complete the jibe.  I'll be practicing jibes for a bit to make sure I'm ready for the summer swells.

If I knew the wind was going to be as strong as it was, I would have bolted on the Enduro 1100/HA40 and put up the Hybrid 4.3

Derek was up and hauling upwind like an expert - not to mention already jumping!!!!

The wind is going to be with us for the foreseeable future!!!

PF:4/W:2/PW:25/FD:23/S:9

Parawing Session - 2/23/2026

Wind sport level winds were forecasted to be blowing this afternoon.

There were white caps (sporadic) when I pulled into the parking lot.  But there were periods where lulls set in.

Pretty low tide again - just had to paddle out a little further to get to deep enough water to flip the board.  

Big stuff all around today

Did I mention the wind was side OFF shore???

Even though there were lulls, there was still enough wind blowing to stay up on foil.

I had some really long runs, and almost always enough wind to jibe.

On one inside jibe, I felt the parawing moving slowly - so I exaggerated the downloop turn and got it all the way around - and this was with the Flysurfer POW 5.0 

This was pretty close to what was blowing at the beach.  The Kalaeloa meter doesn't read correctly on easterly reaches - but it looks like north winds read correctly.

Any session mostly up on foil and not involving paddling back to the launch point from Capmpgrounds is a great session!

Winds are forecasted to be better over the next few days!

PF:2/W:2/PW:16/FD:17/S:8

Wing Foiling Session - 6/14/2025

I originally was going to wing over at Kailua Beach Park, but there was a canoe race and I didn't want to deal with the crowd.

I eventually made it out to Hickam for an afternoon session.

There was wind, but it was tough to zero in on where it was coming from.  Tide is never really an issue here.  And the waves were far and few between.

Knowing the conditions, I setup the same exact gear as yesterday - I figure the Ultra 750 would eat up any excess power from the North Nova Pro 5.0

This is a mean setup!

I did get a late start, so I kept an eye out for the wind faltering.  When I got to the parking lot, Zach and Naomi were packing up, Matt was out on the water and Ken was setting up.

It's been a while since I really put the Ultra 750 through its paces.  I started out running through both tacks and both jibes, and eventually headed out to Firsts.

I nabbed a few waves and checked out Seconds.  I got a couple of decent waves, but it really wasn't breaking.  I headed back in to make some speed runs.

For its size, the Ultra 750 gets up pretty easily, and it stays up as long as the wing has power.  There were a few times when the wing didn't have power and I had to wait for gusts to get back up.

I think the span of this foil limits its top end - 23mph is pretty good, but at 750 square centimeters, you'd think this one would go much faster.

I called it early to avoid having to paddle back (and I'm glad I did - the wind continued to drop).

Fun session!

W:45/FD:84/PW:9/S:4

Wing Foiling Session - 6/13/2025

After work winging session.

Norm was already pumping up his wing when I got to the parking lot.

The wind was blowing hard north - it was actually pretty good for Foil Drive-ing...

I pumped up the North Nova Pro 5.0

No.40 with the AFS Ultra HA 750/HA38 - I didn't give myself options, just brought this foil (I was being optimistic).  Knowing the waves would be small and the wind not conducive for parawinging, I still wanted to do something different - I figured using this foil would be challenging.

Norm was on the AFS Enduro 1300 - so he was up on foil more than I was.

When the wind was blowing, this foil was fun - fast, still turns well (not carving like the Silk 850, but still turns).

Doesn't get more north than this.

This session was an exercise in getting up on foil in lighter winds, staying up on foil once up, and finding the lower limits of this foil.

I was able to tack this foil - as long as I had enough speed.

Definitely lighter than I thought it was going to be

Again - fun when there was a gust to get me up on foil.  No surprise that the Ultra 750 has tons of glide.  I'm going to have to use this foil a lot more to see what the upper limits are.

Another thing I noticed is this foil did not take a toll on my right knee.  Probably foil placement...

Once last note, on one jibe going in back to out, I was not able to switch back to regular foot - and I ended up riding switch back out.  I've only done this a handful of times and it feels awkward as heck - but probably something I should continue to do (in addition to getting up on foil from switch).

W:44/FD:84/PW:9/S:4

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

Wing Foiing Session - 11/8/2023

Hit WPB again after work.  Norm was already finishing up.  He said it was really North...

I ended up setting up the same exact gear as yesterday (since the conditions were pretty much the same).

I'm really getting to like this board!  I don't think I would want a longer one - but at 7' this is about as long as I would prefer to use.

The wind was pretty much a carbon copy of yesterday - but it did seem to lighten up before normal weather patterns

Longer runs today.

I was out on the Nova Pro 5.0 - a little small for the really light winds - but good to know I could use it to get up on foil.  Beyond that, it was big enough to keep me going (just not as efficiently as the Mode Pros or even the Ezzy's I've been testing).

Despite the light offshore winds - today was actually fun!

Hoping to get some more wind tomorrow.

W:137/PW:2/FD:80/F:5/S:19

Wing Foiling Session - 11/7/2024

The winds were forecasted to come back today.  They were actually back at WPB yesterday - but today was the forecasted arrival.

I think everywhere else was cloudy and rainy.  At work the wind really wasn't blowing and there were no moving trees along my route home.

But once I got into Ewa, the signs changed.  Blowing trees and clearing skies -

I had planned to test this KT Dragonfly and get the foil settings dialed in.  Using the wing first is faster to do that, but ultimately the goal with this board is the parawing.

Kane's method actually worked perfectly on this board to balance out the foil. As this is generally a lighter wind board, I'll likely use larger foils - this is the F One Eagle 1090/DW210

With the low tide (it's that time of year where the afternoons will tend to be low tides) - I also opted to use the shorter Project Cedrus masts - this being the 78cm.

The winds were not what they were forecasted to be.  In fact, it was coming hard out of the north (NNE).  That made for unusual conditions - perfect for testing out light wind setups!

Normally I would have needed the North Mode Pro 6.8 to get along efficiently in the wind conditions present today - but with the 100 liter Dragonfly, the energy from the wing went straight into developing forward speed (and not having to get a sinker up and out of the water).  So I pumped up a smaller wing to test the postulate (and spoiler - it worked).

Today's focus was getting used to the Dragonfly - which didn't take too long.

If this doesn't say north winds, nothing will.  It isn't that often that I get to do runs out to Shark Country and back to WPB without a single transition.

With the wind being offshore, I'm not sure the magnitude is correct (this is the Kalaeloa tower) - regardless, it was challenging to ride today.

The Dragonfly definitely floated me, with extra capacity.  It was a joy to ride!  If the forecast calls for questionable winds - this will definitely be on the shortlist of boards to use.

And there were times I was waiting around for a gust to come along.

Kalani was out with his 8'2" Dragonfly.  Duke and Roland were out on wing also.  Zach got there later and opted to prone foil.

Good first session with the KT Dragonfly!

W:136/PW:2/FD:80/F:5/S:19

Wing Foiling Session - 12/14/2023

Another day of north winds - but today they were stronger.

Stronger to the point where I brought out different gear - No.32, the Spitfire 840, 350P, and the SW2 4.7

Shorter session, but some good mileage!

Even more north in the wind than yesterday - but it made for some really fun upwind-downwind runs.  The waves were running east-west, so the downwind runs were really fun.

This chart (from Hickam) was not quite what was present at WPB - it was a hair stronger.

And this should show that today was pretty good!!!

With Koa, Prayot, Roland, Norm and I all out, the wingers pretty much had the place to ourselves!!!

The wind will have more north in it again tomorrow - and the wind speed is supposed to be up again.  Most likely a repeat of today (more fun to be had!!!)

W:120/F:107/S:58