I have the Flow D-Wing 4.2M, this is the only Parawing I have tried and I have had 4 sessions on it now. I don’t have a downwinding background, but I do have a fair bit of experience with Wing and Kite foil which might help.
All my sessions with the Flow so far have been on a downwind board, using a 1000cm2 or 800cm2 foil in about 18-25kts. My experience could be summed up that the Parawing is very different to a Wing (and I don’t see it competing or replacing winging for surf), but it is also a lot easier than a wing. Getting up on foil is a totally new technique, with pumping of the board while keeping the Parawing steady, unlike the combined pumping of a Wing and Board. The Parawing feels like it has very little power until you are up on foil and can generate apparent wind.
I was able to get up and foiling on my first session, and now that I am few sessions in I am getting a few gybes and few stow and re-launches. When I consider this progress to my first 4 (or 20…) sessions on a Wing, the progress is incredibly fast and I put this down to the Flow Parawing being so stable when up and riding. Getting up on foil is still a skill I am learning with it, but as soon as you are going with apparent wind it is soooo stable and intuitive.
When at the top end of the wind range (25kts+) things can get a little spicy, and although you can fly this parawing entirely on its front lines you still need to keep the canopy inflated, which means generating some power. Complete de-power is really only achievable by stowing it. At the bottom end, which for me is really around 18-20kts it can be difficult to generate power and even keep the parawing flying while I try and get up on foil. This is a very small usable wind range, and hence why I have so few sessions so far.
The crashes can be a lot more frustrating with the Parawing compared to a wing. First, the parawing will almost certainly collapse into a mess, sometimes with twisted lines or a folded canopy, and other times with you or your board tangled in some lines also. This is where the Flow really has such a simple stand-out feature over so many other parawings currently available – All 3 line groups (front, mid, back) have distinct colors, and the canopy has a colored leading edge. I couldn’t imagine how much time is lost in relaunching a twisted parawing that doest have this.
I will come back and review further once I have had more time with it, but my early impressions are that it is well made, flys well, and that I would not want to be learning on a Parawing that doesn’t have color coded lines & canopy and amazing de-power.
I have the Flow D-Wing 4.2M, this is the only Parawing I have tried and I have had 4 sessions on it now. I don’t have a downwinding background, but I do have a fair bit of experience with Wing and Kite foil which might help.
All my sessions with the Flow so far have been on a downwind board, using a 1000cm2 or 800cm2 foil in about 18-25kts. My experience could be summed up that the Parawing is very different to a Wing (and I don’t see it competing or replacing winging for surf), but it is also a lot easier than a wing. Getting up on foil is a totally new technique, with pumping of the board while keeping the Parawing steady, unlike the combined pumping of a Wing and Board. The Parawing feels like it has very little power until you are up on foil and can generate apparent wind.
I was able to get up and foiling on my first session, and now that I am few sessions in I am getting a few gybes and few stow and re-launches. When I consider this progress to my first 4 (or 20…) sessions on a Wing, the progress is incredibly fast and I put this down to the Flow Parawing being so stable when up and riding. Getting up on foil is still a skill I am learning with it, but as soon as you are going with apparent wind it is soooo stable and intuitive.
When at the top end of the wind range (25kts+) things can get a little spicy, and although you can fly this parawing entirely on its front lines you still need to keep the canopy inflated, which means generating some power. Complete de-power is really only achievable by stowing it. At the bottom end, which for me is really around 18-20kts it can be difficult to generate power and even keep the parawing flying while I try and get up on foil. This is a very small usable wind range, and hence why I have so few sessions so far.
The crashes can be a lot more frustrating with the Parawing compared to a wing. First, the parawing will almost certainly collapse into a mess, sometimes with twisted lines or a folded canopy, and other times with you or your board tangled in some lines also. This is where the Flow really has such a simple stand-out feature over so many other parawings currently available – All 3 line groups (front, mid, back) have distinct colors, and the canopy has a colored leading edge. I couldn’t imagine how much time is lost in relaunching a twisted parawing that doest have this.
I will come back and review further once I have had more time with it, but my early impressions are that it is well made, flys well, and that I would not want to be learning on a Parawing that doesn’t have color coded lines & canopy and amazing de-power.