MeonAsh said..

maxpwr said..
It kinda feels like there's something going on with the frigate 2, similar to the initial dwings that had a bad batch.
A mate and his dad, who are very proficient parawingers (own dwings, frigates, afterburner) recently got a 4.5m frig v2 and are surprised how bad the bottom end is.They immediately told the dealer to get rid of the 3.5m, they'd never need it. My mate heard you should go up a size, he reckons go up 1-1.5m 🙃

It's like night and day to what I hear here. I genuinely think there must be an issue.

Without riding your friends parawings nobody can answer this question - I don't have any low end issues at all or any need to size up, the 3.5 and 2.5 that I own fit perfectly into my quiver replacing powerpacks of 3.6m, 3.0m and 2.4m ..... except I only need two now as the 3.5 and 2.5 easily cover the wind range of the three power packs. The only thing I would say is that if they are hanging off the A lines expecting to get power then that ain't going to happen, you need to sheet in the back of the bar a little to get it to fall back in the window and generate power.

Yeh true on the starting technique. Had a few sessions now at the very low end of the 4.5 and 5.5. To add though … kind of like the V1 PR… keeping it back in the window … but at the right time you let it crank forward - hunts the edge of the window giving you enough speed to pump your board up onto the foil.

maxpwr said.. he reckons go up 1-1.5m 🙃

In my experience owning BRMs, Dwings, 777 PT skin, Frigate V1s, PRV2s that is simply not true. I can get up on my 3.5/4.5 Frigate V2s at pretty well the same time as equivalent size in other wings. Technique helps a lot - board moving forward, pump the legs, small bump and use the back hand when pumping the para. I am 95kg and 60+ so no gun. They do not like gusty wind you need one or two pumps more than say a PRV2 that is the only caveat. Plus the bar on the 4.5 is too long and why all white 🤔

said..Agree with Hilly again - I’m not enjoying this folks!

Yep agree I am annoying 😂

Been through this with windsurfing in the 80s kites in the 00s and wings recently. Lots of different new tech that is good in different ways.


It is different strokes for different folks. Is that too many differences?😎 Work out what you want. Demo demo demo.


Big upwind and long downwind look at twin skin.
Downwind only look at low-down grunt and easy pack down.
Up down in waves, easy collapse, no stow, just hold, reliable redeploy, the Frigate V2 is very good.

Pick your wing for the situation you prefer. For me that is up down in waves. Might not be for you.

Edit this is what i doo mainly short runs

I shall be able to answer this when my buddy returns from holiday as he has purchased a 5.5. I dont personally have one.

Youngbreezy said..

Airshane said..

MeonAsh said..

maxpwr said..
It kinda feels like there's something going on with the frigate 2, similar to the initial dwings that had a bad batch.
A mate and his dad, who are very proficient parawingers (own dwings, frigates, afterburner) recently got a 4.5m frig v2 and are surprised how bad the bottom end is.They immediately told the dealer to get rid of the 3.5m, they'd never need it. My mate heard you should go up a size, he reckons go up 1-1.5m 🙃

It's like night and day to what I hear here. I genuinely think there must be an issue.

Without riding your friends parawings nobody can answer this question - I don't have any low end issues at all or any need to size up, the 3.5 and 2.5 that I own fit perfectly into my quiver replacing powerpacks of 3.6m, 3.0m and 2.4m ..... except I only need two now as the 3.5 and 2.5 easily cover the wind range of the three power packs. The only thing I would say is that if they are hanging off the A lines expecting to get power then that ain't going to happen, you need to sheet in the back of the bar a little to get it to fall back in the window and generate power.

Yeh true on the starting technique. Had a few sessions now at the very low end of the 4.5 and 5.5. To add though … kind of like the V1 PR… keeping it back in the window … but at the right time you let it crank forward - hunts the edge of the window giving you enough speed to pump your board up onto the foil.

Airshane do you have a 5.5m frigv2? How do you like it? Is it an exactly sized up version of the smaller sizes or have they tweaked it a bit? How is the pack down? I know they’re using 2 different material weights with the lighter weight for the trailing edge to make it less bulky.


What about line length and wind range?

ah I’ve only had one session in super light wind … got going though - it packs kinda similar to the 4.5 - slightly more with the batten size. But Not enough time to make a call. Flies kinda like the 4.5 but bigger lol.

Got out today - wind wasn’t great - had the 5.5 in the backpack ready but was able to get up on the 4.5 … took some doing but away she went.

In the GFP podcast with Nicolas Caillou he talks about positioning of the F2 around the 53:32 mark.

Not recommended for beginners on the basis that there are a lot of holes in the diagonal ribs and a beginner might grab the parawing there by mistake which would be an issue.

Also the deep power ability, turning ability and upwind ability is more for an intermediate to advanced rider.

Bottom line he recommends the Quest for beginners.


I guess that makes sense, just found it interesting. The reviews on the F2 seem to vary quite a bit.

The new light weight PRv2 looks especially fragile in the rib section.

So got my first decent session on the 5.5m. Had to wait until the weirdest late fill at 530 and got an hour up and down. Wind started at just being able to get up … with some effort mind you, to winds the 4.5 would be going in. Strange start to the season btw in WA.

Hilly said “Only a couple of gripes with the new Frigate: the bar is long enough to double as a pool cue, and the more HA outline makes getting the tips out of the water on a light-wind relaunch a bit of a circus act. You’re out there flapping around like a stunned mullet, trying to convince the bloody thing that flying is actually its job.”

No doubt this is exacerbated somewhat in the 5.5. Pulling on tjose 4 white A lines hard seems to help - but aspect is aspect and tips in the water are tips in the water.

Also being bigger with aspect than the 4.5 you need to be more “nuanced” when pumping the board and para together - as the para will collapse it’s structure more easily … and you lose that power momentum. But again that is a function of size maybe. Again you adjust and work with it.

But once up - damn this is the first para I’ve used that feels like a high aspect foil kite. Just pulls hard at the edge and rips your ass upwind. Can only imagine what the double skins etc feel like now. Really steady as linear drive as it moves slower to the edge of the window than the 4.5 and just stays and hunts the edge - only small trims / board angles needed to keep speed and momentum upwind.

Only got three 2-3km ups then downs as I was running out of sun, wind was turning south to south east and solo bump riding in the near black is daunting where i was because it’s a well known shark area (dived and fished it for 25 years). But she collapses well - packs similar to the 4.5 .. that’s all good.

Gybing takes some adjusting - was forced to use the back line help technique - until the wind came up properly.

As I said earlier, wind weirdly went from zero at 520pm to enough to fly the 4.5 at 6.20pm but as I also said earlier aspect is aspect. No problems - just meant you could crank even tighter angles to the wind.

80kg dry on a 65ML MK 2

whitewind said..
Frigate v1 vs V2
Upwind difference much?
Stash similar? Thx!

Upwind difference much? V2 better but the V1 was no slouch. V2 way more stable at top end so you can push harder.
Stash similar? V2 way better. Line setup is awesome and the fabric is easier to pack but weirdly same weight fabric apparently.