Yeah I agree that hybrids and or better double skins are the way. It became crystal clear for me over the last two sessions. The first I was on the Paia and it was absurd how comfortable the 3.1m was in 40 knots. The only issue was honestly that the packdown size on anything bigger than that tends to get silly.

Yesterday I was back on the 2.4m pt skin while my buddy was on his 3.1m hybrid. I was very focused on controlling it two handed the whole session and got jerked off once or twice in gusts. He, on the other hand, was riding one handed upwind completely relaxed the entire time.

IMO any low end losses are 100% negated by the strong wind management right away. My LTX quiver ships tomorrow and I hope the 2.4 and 3.1 cover me for 99% of my normal sessions. I picked up a 1.9m PRv1 to see if that is a contender for single skin smoke on the water days and to have in the Gear Library. After that though, I don't intend to spend anymore money on single skin tech for the smaller sizes.

Hijack, sorry. BWalnut and Sheps, any comments on 3.1 Paia with small foils? Currently using a 1.9m frigate on the big days (30 knots and up), and on the UHA 570 at 82kg. The little frigate is super stable up to 40 knots but slow upwind. In these conditions I travel downwind very quickly so looking to improve that up/down ratio. Just concerned how well the Paia would get the little foil to take off.


Cheap Paia or wait for reviews on Flysurfer Zap and PPC Orbit?

Thanks for the instant response!
What would be your low end on the 720s with the Paia? And what board? (I’m on a 6’11” x 18” with lots of rocker so it gets up pretty easily.)
I’ve researched the handling challenges of the Paia and I think I’d be fine with it, but if the new gen of twin skins makes it instantly obsolete…

The big days are my favourite and happily we get plenty of them in Melbourne.

I have the PR2 in 3.6 and 2.4 as well as a 3m and 4.3 PowerPack. LOVE the 3.6 for all of the reasons already described, and it's my favourite wing in the quiver. The 2.4 PR2 feels great too, but not quite as steady and secure as the 3.6 PR2. It is more demanding to fly and gets pretty busy (not unstable, just busy) in the top end of its range, making it a little more physical to fly. The behaviour of the parawing doing quick sine-movements in gusts can be managed, but once it hits its limit, this behaviour gets a little annoying and can rip you off the board suddenly on rare occasions. But this is not at all a deal breaker for me. Still goes upwind great, is fast, and very reactive (sometimes too much so when OP'd). I'd like to see a little more calmness out of the 2.4 PR2 in the upper end due to the bigger gusts you encounter flying such a small para. Packdown is still excellent and I really enjoyed some absolutely epic days in the Eastern Gorge on it recently. I could have been on a 1.9 easily some days.

pp4 said..

What is your top end with the 2.4m?

At 93 kg on a KT Halo 800 foil and 2.4 PR2, I'd say top end is gusting about 40 knots. 35 is more comfortable. I noticed my much lighter friend on a V1 PR 2.4 was handling a similar range if not a little higher without too many complaints. I've not ridden V1/2 back to back.

Sorry you're dealing with that. I never got a response from Ozone and see the v2 2.4 getting dumped as low as $700 already. Hopefully your dealer can pull something off for you.

For reference:
My 3.1m LTX has 120cm lines and no stability issues (vs the 119cm lines on the PRv2 2.4).
My 2.4m LTX has shockingly short 104cm lines and no stability issues either.