BRM doesn't launch product which hasn't been tested. If the bigger ones don't work they wouldn't be selling them.

It flys great on land.. I will hold off my decision till I get proper wind. I wish there were drain holes or something. The way the leading edge holds water just is frustrating. I liken the learning curve almost worst than a paddle.. plus if you fall into it and get caught up in it, kinda like a fishing net.. it is huge.

tillasurfer said..
It flys great on land.. I will hold off my decision till I get proper wind. I wish there were drain holes or something. The way the leading edge holds water just is frustrating. I liken the learning curve almost worst than a paddle.. plus if you fall into it and get caught up in it, kinda like a fishing net.. it is huge.

You need to grab the kite from the leading edge and pull it out of the water. Spread your arms and grab each side as wide as you can. Works great on the 4m. I will have a video up soon of my first session which is mostly slogging and relaunching the kite many times. Don't give up and have patience to naturally learn the techniques needed. This is all new try and enjoy being a pioneer!

beached57 said..
i'm surprised to hear of people selling them already. most of our sports take a fair amount of time to learn, why should parawinging be instant nirvana?

For people that struggle to paddle up, or do not already downwind I think the parawing is going to be more compelling - as it could potentially save many sessions, and skip the need for a large dw board. If you are riding in warm side shore conditions, maybe a walk back, or a potentially lost wing wouldn't be a big deal.As an experienced paddler those launches are either onshore or offshore, it just felt extremely risky to use this without a leash. With the objective of going upwind, the need for perfectly matched range I feel becomes higher - which means you may need to own 3-sizes to make this work. Once using a leash and a harness loop it starts to make sense to reconsider sheeting along that same attachment line, i.e. a regular minimal single skin kite. ymmv!

I flew double skinned foils for kiting at the start and stayed on them longer than most (which wasn't a great decision by the way) but nevertheless i know it takes some time to learn how to use them properly., launch and pack down. So there will be a learning curve for sure. Looks such an interesting idea - i predict it could very well be a sound option to consider.

If you want to watch struggle and relaunching. The reality of the first session. Did have 1 great ride that totally made all the struggle worth it. I am sold on the concept and can't wait to figure it all out. Hope this video is useful.
-pq

foilthegreats said..
If you want to watch struggle and relaunching. The reality of the first session. Did have 1 great ride that totally made all the struggle worth it. I am sold on the concept and can't wait to figure it all out. Hope this video is useful.

-pq

Awesome. I think the 6.2 is just too big. Watching you unstick from the water looks doable. The big size is just too much.

foilthegreats said..
If you want to watch struggle and relaunching. The reality of the first session. Did have 1 great ride that totally made all the struggle worth it. I am sold on the concept and can't wait to figure it all out. Hope this video is useful.

-pq

It seems to me that the bar just didn't have much control authority on a wing that big. Like it needs to be longer on the bigger sizes.

Youngbreezy said..
www.facebook.com/share/r/misNPxYEth8sEwyM/?mibextid=K35XfP

Competition in the parawing world is getting in-tents

Fun video ... but then, Hmmmmm. A carbon fibre hoop. A bit of a bridle. A stick. Hmmmmm.

tillasurfer said..
Got out day 2. Still really rough, but I changed up boards for more volume, and went to a new spot that really was not blowing too hard. I got it up and flew with it. I needed to use the fd to get up and get the feel. I honestly think once the management aspect is controlled it will be a fun toy. It was still fun, but I figured it was easier to motor to shore and untangle than try to deal with it on the board. The key is you have to stand up on the board and grab each leading edge line to let water drain out, but when you deploy it is tough to keep the bridal in line and the kite usually nose dives into the water to start the process over. Some times it works, most it does not. Luckily I had the motor to help out because if not I would have logged a ton of miles paddling back to shore. Progress is being made so I am still stoked to get out and try to make it happen. I have some video of me dealing with the challenges I may post up.

What wind strength are you going out in?

Have you tried laying the kite on its back in the water with the leading edge away from you?

You tension the front lines, and the leading edge catches air and stands up and the wing lifts up and drains the water away.

I've seen it done with smaller size Peak kites. I've tried it with an 8m. It showed promise when laying out the wing while swimming. It was too sunk once I got to the end of the 23m lines.

Greg Drexler describes this method in the Parawing instructional video.

Audio a bit bad but this is day two. I talk a little about what works, etc. I took it out on the beach and rode my 't. Board and had a blast.. really want to get the hang of this though.

Interesting development that Born-Kite is now building in water drainage panels into their leading edges, so maybe they are coming up with a on water version of their kite? Of course any ram air kite can be used on water, but most will not re-launch once saturated. The BRM kite certainly has the advantage ATM in this regard.

finally got some brief wind with a storm yesterday. about 18-25 mph for half an hour. was very difficult holding the 5.1M on the beach in these winds, but i wanted to go out flying the wing, not deploying after on water. managed to get on my board, but oddly on the water, the parawing suddenly did not feel powerful at all. i could tell it was pulling me downwind, which probably accounted for the lack of power. i did eventually find enough power to stand up, but not enough to get going on foil. i knew in these winds i'd be flying on my 4.2 regular wing, so it was weird to me that a 5.1 couldn't get me going. i was on a mid length at 72L, and I'm about 88kgs, so i may have had better luck on my DWer board. Since i was getting pulled so far downwind, i had to abort, go back to beach, walk upwind, and retry. repeated two more times, with same results. never got up on foil.

My takeaways on this session were:
1- expect your arms to be lengthened holding onto this thing in strong winds on the beach.
2- it's much more difficult to get standing on your board versus a regular wing.
3- there is a technique to getting on foil which i haven't figured out yet. since pumping the wing does nothing, i think pumping your board will be crucial.
4- flying these bigger sized parawings appears to be night and day to flying the smaller ones. i don't have a smaller one, but the videos from Maui on 1.8 or 2.9 make flying these things look so easy. But imagine trying to fly a 12m kite with 3 foot lines and that's what the 5.1 is like. the smallest wrong input and the wing tips were in the water. so overall, not sure right now about the viability of anything but the smallest of these. but more experience is needed...

If anyone wants to try hand kite cheaply theres a www.fiveowindsports.com/store/pocket-wing for sale secondhand on here.
Two handles?? www.seabreeze.com.au/Classifieds/Foiling-All-Foiling/~mks6b/2024-Five-O-Pocket-Wing.aspx?_page=1&search=QWFq4E3dZrrA9UhIOGFzNA%3D%3D