countv said..
Thought I would provide some info and my experience with the 2.7m, 3.5m & the 4.5m. I have had the 2.7 & 3.5 for about 2-3 weeks. I tried the the 4.5 demo in hood river and felt that size was not for me. It does handle wind well but the size does not fit with my conditions or what I want to do while riding. The other 2 sizes work EXTREMELY well in my opinion. They have a extremely large range and the bar pressure is unlike anything I have flown. As the wind increases the bar pressure increases a bit but nothing like a single skin. The up wind angles are extremely good even if riding toe side. Single skins get really over powered for me if riding toe side and trying to beat to weather . These provide light feed back and don't need a harness. The brake line I find should be trimmed to feel, not just pulled in fully. If pulled in fully the wing will back stall severely especially if trying to pump up onto foil. My technique is to just sit on the board and trim the line till a good amount of power is felt in the wing. Then once standing you can bare off slightly and pump the board and wing to get up. The wings sit high in the wind window. Also the trim line can be pulled in slightly if bearing off hard. Stashing requires you burp the air out of the foils. The 2.7 can easily be held in your hand and the 3.5 is do able. I weight 150 lbs, F4 - 800 & 685 orca's. I feel the 2 m (which is on order) will solve the extreme wind range issues as the current single skins are super twitchy. Are these for everybody? Maybe not but after a slight adjustment period I can't see using anything else. The wings drain extremely well and the feel is so dampened and smooth its remarkable. WELL DONE PPC/NOVA and thank you for being innovative!!!!
Thanks for the notes. Two questions based on your experience:
1) I'm confused why a 2m is needed, as most people say you should size up on the Orbit. A 2m single skin parawing works well on the very windiest (summer) days of the year in the Gorge (most people don't even have a wing this small today). If we're meant to size up ~.5m, then I would expect the 2.7m Orbit to be an incredible high wind parawing that could replace a 2m single skin. If a 2m Orbit is also required, it seems to conflict with the idea that these Orbits have a better wind rage and you can have fewer in your quiver?
2) When getting on the board and up to your knees, are you able to place the wingtip on the water, or does this let water into the cells? In other words, does water only enter the cells when it's fully immersed, or also if you make a sloppy mistake and the parawing sits on the water?
