Yeah totally agree its way more rewarding when you get on foil. Takeoff means you have done a lot of things right...

I was thinking the same thing on the water today. I really enjoy riding upwind with the PW, more so than with a wing by a healthy margin. Flying with one hand on the bar and harnessed in is a vibe.
I accidentally didn't seal my waterproof back pack (1 cm open) and slowly gained a good 10 lbs of water throughout the session. I couldn't get going any longer and finally went to reach for my safety PW when I found the bag was full of water. Dumped it out and got going right away. It's a game of inches when riding a semi sinker.

I think the upwind performance is pretty reliant on the parawing vs wing design and the users skillset.

The vibe though, the experience of going upwind on a parawing is so much better than on a wing. That's what will kill winging for me.

In beachbreak-type waves where I'm doing a shorter ride, then getting back up to the peak or searching for the next good wave, I prefer a wing. luff and redeploy is 100% without fail and I might only be riding a wave for 30 seconds. The stow/redeploy with a parawing just isn't realiable enough in those conditions for me at least.

When there are good open ocean bumps that can be ridden for a long time, then parawing makes a lot more sense.

For flatwater blasting around its kind of a mixed bag. Those conditions are really just skill development for me, and its just a matter of what I want to work on. In my opinion, theres just more you can do in those conditions with a wing (jumping, backwinding, 360 variations, etc...) vs mowing the lawn with a parawing, but then I look at Ken Adgate and Johnny Heineken and all of a sudden I realize I'm probably just not creative enough...

I suppose its a little more than just creativity!

Parawing forces you to refine your balance getting up to and balancing in standing position.
Improves your understanding of the bump energy and reverb energy available to the foil and board in order to get up on foil and once up and surfing the bumps you have endless opportunity to learn to surf better while reading the bumps better with no flagged wing to leverage off.
Using the bumps to get on foil in light wind is certainly a refinement of my sup dw paddle up skills.
The parawing will 100 percent make you a better foiler but it will be something some people are just not able to do because of getting past reliably getting on foil.

I think a parawing also sails around much more nicely than a wing.

Stretchy said..
I'd love to switch to parawing just to avoid using an expensive pool toy that might go pop! But most of my sessions are in gusty fickle winds and flat water. From what I read on here, parawing would be a poor choice for these conditions

yeh it would - doesn't have direct power transfer as much as say a wing

AnyBoard said..
Parawing forces you to refine your balance getting up to and balancing in standing position.
Improves your understanding of the bump energy and reverb energy available to the foil and board in order to get up on foil and once up and surfing the bumps you have endless opportunity to learn to surf better while reading the bumps better with no flagged wing to leverage off.
Using the bumps to get on foil in light wind is certainly a refinement of my sup dw paddle up skills.
The parawing will 100 percent make you a better foiler but it will be something some people are just not able to do because of getting past reliably getting on foil.

I think a parawing also sails around much more nicely than a wing.

Agreed 100%. But my god, I have never experienced this level of frustration! When up on foil, the parawing is sensationally more efficient than an inflatable wing. But jesus christ...it is frustratingly pedantic to get there.
The four 'F' come to mind. Finesse, Frustration, ****it, Fun. Pretty much in this order as well.
Seriously, I think I invented a new religion out on the water...from the amount of times I called out 'jesus farkin christ'. Being out on the water it is clearly an incongruent experience. Almost in the same moment...almost...I can go from 'I hate this siht, I am going to burn it all' to 'Oh my god this is phenomenal'.

For the moment I still have all my winging gear.

I just made my first ever session with the parawing. And I was having long doubts whether I should do it.

Parawing didn't disappoint at all. I never felt I'm betraying winging or siding with kiters (as a former windsurfer) instead I'm adding nice variation in my foil time on the water, and have opened and exciting new avenue for learning new skills which won't bore me in the days and weeks to come.



I was super stoked to be riding up on foil this first time out and also to have done a couple of jibes.

I maybe enjoyed the best day on the water in a long time similar to my first day up on foil wingfoiling, and catching my first proper wave wingfoiling with a long flagged ride.

The upwind angle can be comparable to wing but it again depends on how you ride the foil (and so many factors and not just the parawing alone)

Stuff can be tricky. Lines can be dangerous, but it can all be managed. Just need to give it a first go in manageable conditions like here in a more flatter lake, with a bigger board, to first experience the annoyances like I explain in the video in a more controlled environment. I also took plenty of breaks during this session. Let things sink in a bit. Think what's actually happening.

The parawing/stringwing thing is the bomb! It is most assuredly more difficult than using an inflatable wing. But when it comes together and the planets align...OMG the sensation of achievement, speed, exhilaration, and general bliss. One can honestly say it is better than plain winging. One can also foresee my quiver of inflatable wings, one by one being replaced with appropriate size parawings.

Here on the Sunshine Coast we have a good variety of difficulty levels and excellent learning spaces for wing foiling, parawinging and such. We have a fantastic flat water space at Golden Beach. When one thinks of adding the next challenge...we have Moffat Beach. Numerous times now, one has over estimated my skill level on flat water and taken this enthusiam to Moffs...where one proceeds to have one's ass handed to him on a platter. A uniquely humbling experience. Having this same scenario played out again and again, one has come to understand this: When one can comfortably perform their chosen discipline on flat water WITHOUT cursing and swearing...only then should one begin to think...'Yes I think I am ready to step it up a notch'. This parawinging thing is a unique love hate relationship. So much frustration and yet so much satisfaction when one gets it right.

A fellow parawing enthusiast gave me a great tip the other day while trying to get up in lighter conditions.
You want to point downwind just enough to keep tension in the lines of the parawing...only just. Point downwind too far and you lose control of the stringwing. Point too far upwind, yes you keep tension in the lines, but you lose momentum. The idea is to gain maximum momentum while retaining minimum tension in the lines. The lighter the wind, the more accurate the degree of pointing downwind has to be. It becomes a most delicate balance.