Frankieboy said..
also curious about the low end of the S3 compared to what I know F-one Quest or Frigate
I’ve been riding the s3 5.3/4.2/3.4 for about week now, in all conditions from underpowered to overpowered. Re low end for me that’s right now 14-16mph. I’m 190lbs and ride a KT SK2 83L (custom) and Nomad 830 foil (midaspect wavefoil). What impressed me most for getting up with the s3 is that it sits very far forward in the window and pulls forward, allowing me to get up going across the wind and not pointing downwind like all other PWs. The difference this makes cannot be overstated. I am barely pumping my board (maybe 3-4 times), then pump the wing moderately 2-3 times and I’m flying. This is in underpowered conditions. I’m pretty sure that a skilled rider on a floaty board and a larger foil can shave at least 2mph from my numbers.
getting the wing off the water was no issue for me as long as it’s blowing at least 7-10mph. Below that the s3 just doesn’t want to fly properly (we are talking 5mph). Conversely when I am nicely powered (16-18mph on 5.3, 20-22 on 4.2) the s3 literally pulls me on foil without pumping. After the pumping orgies w other parawings this still amazes me every single time. I’ve ridden all new parawings (Vayu, Dflow, PRv2, PowerPack, Quest, Stash v2) and sold all my existing PWs and cancelled PRv2 orders. The BRM is plain amazing.