Harness placement on the bar is so important. Highly recommend a single loop style option, as you can slide the attachment point to perfectly set up the trim. Just a 5MM change in position can have a huge change in performance. You can set it up so it's biased for more power or for less and trim from there with minor wrist movements, or just set it up to where it is perfectly balanced (if the wind is really good) and let the PW fly itself. Really fun to play with on the water while working upwind.
Hi all, it seems mid-length style boards work well so long as there's at least 18 knots or so? I'm only interested in 18-30 knot range. What volume are you using relative to weight? I've gotten on foil (Armstrong HA1125, converted 4m Peak) on a mates 110 litre board but now looking to purchase my own.
At 84kg, considering a Smik Breeze, either a 70l 5'10" or 6'0" 85l. I don't mind a steep initial learning curve. I do want to be able to get going on a parawing size that will be comfortable for long upwind missions. Plan to be riding DWP755 and 685. Advanced kite foiler. Never winged. Any board thoughts appreciated.
With narrow mid lengths there is not much downside to going with more volume. I am all for pushing limits of volume and only wing negative vol boards, but for parawing I think a board that is equal vol in kg would give you more usable wind range if you go negative you will only be able to parawing when fully powered. If your board floats you would stand a chance of getting going in a gust. If you go negative your basically signing up for a two board quiver because your going to want a bigger board on light wind days.
Select to expand quoteCFL Foiler said..
With narrow mid lengths there is not much downside to going with more volume. I am all for pushing limits of volume and only wing negative vol boards, but for parawing I think a board that is equal vol in kg would give you more usable wind range if you go negative you will only be able to parawing when fully powered. If your board floats you would stand a chance of getting going in a gust. If you go negative your basically signing up for a two board quiver because your going to want a bigger board on light wind days.
Absolutely agree, little to no downside to going bigger with the modern shapes. Boxes further forward pretty much eliminates the length argument. For travel this winter I wanted to take only one board bag and I chose the bigger board. Haven't missed the little board much, maybe only on a couple of days so far.
Select to expand quotedjdojo said..
Hi all, it seems mid-length style boards work well so long as there's at least 18 knots or so? I'm only interested in 18-30 knot range. What volume are you using relative to weight? I've gotten on foil (Armstrong HA1125, converted 4m Peak) on a mates 110 litre board but now looking to purchase my own.
At 84kg, considering a Smik Breeze, either a 70l 5'10" or 6'0" 85l. I don't mind a steep initial learning curve. I do want to be able to get going on a parawing size that will be comfortable for long upwind missions. Plan to be riding DWP755 and 685. Advanced kite foiler. Never winged. Any board thoughts appreciated.
I'll let you know mid February as I have a 4.2M Flow D Wing on order.
I have a SMIK Stokr Breeze 6' @ 85litres for my 85kg which I use for winging
I also have a Stokr DW 7'6" @ 115 litres which I use for light wind winging (sub 10knots)
The Breeze is a knee start and needs wind to get moving so I can stand, whereas the DW board I can just stand stationary and wait for wind. My thoughts are to use the DW board first to get a feel for the kite, I have never kited or windsurfed, but have been winging for 2 years. If the DW board is successful then I'll try the Breeze when the wind has some decent punch and see how I go. 
The Stokrs don't have any volume in the nose, its all in the middle and the tail, so my pump up onto foil technique is to sink the tail and then let it rise and repeat to get the board off the water which is the opposite to my previous nose buoyant boards where sinking and popping the nose was the technique that worked for me. Im sure it will be "interesting" to rely on board pumping only as the Parawings don't appear to respond to being "pumped"..
With quite a few more parawing options coming out I would have thought we'd see some nifty tools for managing stowing, line tangles redeploying etc. Surely there would be a range of different ways this could be improved by adding some kind of lines/clasp/noose that kills the wing and keeps all the lines organised.
I haven't actually started parawing yet so I'm wondering if maybe that's not really necessary? Maybe after a while the lines just aren't too hard to deal with. What do you guys who are already parawinging think? Would it be better to have some nifty tools for the stow or do you just get good techniques after a while?
Select to expand quoteYoungbreezy said..
With quite a few more parawing options coming out I would have thought we'd see some nifty tools for managing stowing, line tangles redeploying etc. Surely there would be a range of different ways this could be improved by adding some kind of lines/clasp/noose that kills the wing and keeps all the lines organised.
I haven't actually started parawing yet so I'm wondering if maybe that's not really necessary? Maybe after a while the lines just aren't too hard to deal with. What do you guys who are already parawinging think? Would it be better to have some nifty tools for the stow or do you just get good techniques after a while?
You will notice that in the majority of the videos you see guys are holding the wing in hand or tucked under the arm... A good douse>stow system will be a huge upgrade.
Select to expand quotedjdojo said..
Hi all, it seems mid-length style boards work well so long as there's at least 18 knots or so? I'm only interested in 18-30 knot range. What volume are you using relative to weight? I've gotten on foil (Armstrong HA1125, converted 4m Peak) on a mates 110 litre board but now looking to purchase my own.
At 84kg, considering a Smik Breeze, either a 70l 5'10" or 6'0" 85l. I don't mind a steep initial learning curve. I do want to be able to get going on a parawing size that will be comfortable for long upwind missions. Plan to be riding DWP755 and 685. Advanced kite foiler. Never winged. Any board thoughts appreciated.
I would recommend litres close to your weight and a board with bit of stability. Similar to you I'm an advanced kite foiler, and intermediate winger. I'm 92kg and spent several days trying to get on foil using a 65L Armstrong ML with 2.9m & 4.0m parawings in winds ranging 20 - 35kts. I couldn't get enough momentum to transition from my knees to standing and up on foil. Taxi on my knees was ok but the limited wind range of the parawing meant I'd get yanked off balance before transitioning to my feet. If I got to my feet, my board would sink in too much too pop up before I lost balance and toppled over.
After several frustrating days I grabbed a 95L Naish Hover and was up on foil on my first attempt. From there on it was pretty easy.
