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mcrt said..

You are not being paranoid? :)

Wings bag out and soften with use, they will point a bit less high and probably have a slower top end.Ok.

But if you start a out with a modern,tight/flattish cut wing i think they pump a bit better with use (Gunnar Biniasch said this too in a vid) and they also become gentler in gusty conditions.

The top speed is more dependant on what size foil you are riding IMHO.
Maybe in the future we will see "fancy fabric" wings taking all the first spots in racing but right now it is not happening (edit: as far as i know).

It must be thing as it's such a consistent topic. Thankfully I'll probably never be able to come gliding in to shore on my old wing and have someone hand me brand new identical wing to go back out on, ignorance is bliss in this case Doing 50%+ downwinders also significantly extends a wings life though the LE handle on my 3.5 needs repair. There's some flapping going on but real sailing loads are only about 20% of the time. I go the beach, put my two hours in and then get the hell outa there. No wing sunbathing going on.

Finally broke the 3D printed harness hook I got from Gunnar yesterday, it probably had 200 hours on it though. Sailed around for 10 minutes like the old days (just hands). No thanks. I keep an old aluminum WS spreader bar in the truck and I'd forgotten the comfort difference a real spreader bar makes. I'm never going back to a simple narrow hook

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Thatspec said..

......I'd forgotten the comfort difference a real spreader bar makes. I'm never going back to a simple narrow hook

I agree. I found an old Dakine short 6" spreader bar. They don't make them anymore.

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DWF said..

Thatspec said..

......I'd forgotten the comfort difference a real spreader bar makes. I'm never going back to a simple narrow hook

I agree. I found an old Dakine short 6" spreader bar. They don't make them anymore.

I've seen a few guys in NZ ride full trapeze harnesses. Probably not a bad idea - allowing you to really spread the load.

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Thatspec said..

......I'd forgotten the comfort difference a real spreader bar makes. I'm never going back to a simple narrow hook

I agree. I found an old Dakine short 6" spreader bar. They don't make them anymore.

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Thatspec said..
I'd be very interested to discuss the concept of "bagging out" as my personal experience is that my wings have a significantly longer useful life than average. I have name brand dacron/ripstop wings with probably the 4m being the most used (four sizes and varied winds). I''d estimate 80 hours use since March and I can't tell the difference from new (i.e nobody's absolutely killing me upwind or downwind). Looks to me like this 4M could last three seasons.

What am I doing right?

80hours maybe 20 days. If you don't notice your wings "bagging out" then that is good news for you friend.

Anyone caught further updates on this? Can't find any resources online - particularly interested in that dyneema looking canopy.