Sheps forum posts in last 60 days

DWF said..
Regarding the harness line not being stiff enough, there is old trick we used in kiting with our chicken loop lines before plastic coating because the standard.

The trick was to soak the dyneema line in candle wax. I'd just melt and drip tons of hot wax into the line using a BIC lighter. The line would wear way better and it gained some structure.

So cool I'll try this for sure

hilly said..
Ordered a 4.3 and 5 to be my upwind/downwind tool. I do not downwind shuttle much and only in strong wind will keep the 2.5/3.5 Frigates for that as they pack down well. 5m PR in the backpack as security.

I hope they are as good as the reviews say. What I like the look of is the collapse in offshore winds I saw Dimitry doing on his vid.

Ordered a 5m for the same reason Hilly. Will compliment my hybrids and dw specific Parawing's well I think.

airsail said..

hilly said..

airsail said..Good that you can ride both ways, so many can't and it hurts their upwind.

That's funny Hooked in I can ride upwind so well. Easily better than wingers. Lean out with one hand on the bar harness swings way round stand straight and have a ball.

You should come over east and give some of our non switchers a lesson, their upwind while riding switch is pitiful. And watching their attempts to get going in anything but strong wind is comical.

Not sure how long you've been parawinging but it's not like winging in that you can go upwind really well toeside but you need more skill and not everyone can do it. Getting up toeside is really useful too, the alignment of the body holding the wing in your front hand is excellent for pumping the board, better than riding healside in a lot of conditions ..you should try it if you can ride toeside well enough ??

BWalnut said..

flowstate said..

BWalnut said..
Joy of a session on the 3.1 today. 25-35 Averaging 30 knots of wind. Just chilled out and sailed with it.
Never overpowered. No issues in transitions. Chill upwind. Awesome for surfing while deployed. Really enjoyed it!

apols for off-thread, but c'mon B, splurge on a 2.5 PT Hybrid for the new season to run alongside that Paia! Give us some insight how that little semi-double canopy handles those 25 to 50 Gorge days ;)

Not gonna lie, 777 would have my money already if I could get a demo on the hybrid. Local shop said no demos until the second half of the year!?!?!? I have the Vayu Pyro demo soon, Naish Hatch demo soon, and will try to track down a BRM demo when their new stuff lands. I'm definitely hunting for a new quiver this year and agree, a 2.5m hybrid could theoretically be a monster in the Gorge.

I get you and just fell victim to the 777 hybrid after a demo on both the 3.1 and 4.3 over a few days last week in some Perth storms. Both were super impressive but the Paia is still a little better upwind, bar is nicer balanced and small, just so comfortable the Paia. I also like the way the Paia can jibe in light winds and rear line pack down in high winds. The 777 doesn't do these things quite as well but it's so much easer to get up on and retains most of the benefits of the Paia, namely good top end and upwind ability. The 777 is so much smaller and it stashes so much better too. Water makes the Paia very heavy, not so the 777. Water relaunching the 777 is also very impressive. The wind range and pack down make this parawing a stand out to me. The upwind is probably only a bit better than a good single skin, just nicer for long hauls as comfort once locked in is almost as good as the Paia. It's easy to ride, however responsiveness is poor in light winds at the edge of the window and difficult to jibe compared to sing;e skin and even the Paia I think because it's higher in aspect ratio. I feel I may overcome this problem by tacking it in the same way people like to tack the Ozone PR rather than jibe in light winds. Line length is excellent but I'd like to see thicker lines on the rear not just the front as I still like to rear line pack down when needing a really quick stow and thin lines also catch the wing tips a bit too easily but this is no big deal. Overall I think these two wings will see me through winter well on the river and for longer upwind sessions on the ocean next season. Unlike you I don't think I need the 2.5m as we don't have that many storm days and I still really enjoy the Ka'a 1.7 and 2.3m despite their relatively poor upwind ability (the larger Ka'a models are way worse upwind than the smaller ones).