4.5M BRM Pai'a feedback.

Ok, so second session in the bumps with the 4.5M Paia with a 2.4Knt ebb running around a corner into 20-28 mph and it was absolutely amazing. No drama getting on foil (55L 880 foil at 67kgs plus gear). Super easy. Started on a 4M Kanaha, then 4.5 Paia, then 3.2 Kanaha then back to the 4.5 paia. The amount of ground gained upwind and the ease of that gain was very noticeable. Just way more chill and efficient.

I blasted up wind for 11 minutes and earned a mile long six minute blissful DW run in groomed, yet dynamic shoulder high swell. It's nice to get a taste of the gorge over here on the East Coast Of the US. The Chesapeake Bay is definitely holding.

I was able to stow the wing in the ozone belt pretty well, although it wasn't Velcro'd shut most of the time. I repeated the same run four times and left with a huge grin. In conditions like this, you can just feel your skill leveling up. Personal bests for me DW distance wise and turn wise, As I don't do shuttle runs and the single skins typically have me going half the distance upwind.

I'm definitely a convert to the Pai'a After today's session. It definitely has a place in my quiver. If anyone's on the fence about buying one, do it, Especially if you can find one used And you have condition conditions that make it worthwhile.

One main drawback is if you get it wet and then go to Stow it shortly thereafter, it can feel like you have a load in your pants. Best to keep it dry!

Here's tracks for two of the runs. I don't switch stances.

I had another great Paia day that started with the 3.1M and 4.5 in a waterproof backpack. Wind was in the 20-30 knt range and gusty. The 3.1 was surprisingly easy to get on foil, but the wind was honking. Swell was definitely up and a few relaunches with my semi sinker were challenging but totally doable with the help of the swell. Later on I swapped to the 4.5 when the wind dropped just outside the 3.1 range. It was game on again from there.

I really like this combo for sessions when I look upwind and see whitecaps for days. Gets me upwind quick and I ha a fallback in case the wind drops below the 3.1s range. For reference my buddy was winging a 3.5M and he said he was overpowered at times going upwind, but he was crushing it from my perspective.


I'm getting really efficient at getting back on foil after losing lift or a fall. Detangling a hasty stash isn't as bothersome as it used to be. A few moments to relax after a leg burning adrenaline spiked ride is not a bad thing!


My GPS said my fastest speed of the session was during a depower/pack up bombing into a set. Thankfully my muscle memory for the pack down has taken over, so I didn't yardage into oblivion.


Only con was both sizes had one moment where they half depowered and re-engaged rather violently in the gusty conditions. Harness line was engaged and really helped save my shoulders. I'm not sure what caused it, may have been during a gybe and my wind shadow caused the turbulence.

Anyone out there still frothing on the Paia and able to compare it to any of the other new wings on the market? I'm getting my hands on a 3.1m for the spring and am looking to use it when it's 35-45 knots. Any intro to Paia tips the seasoned paia riders want to share?

I've only got the 4.5m Paia so I can't offer anything for the really strong stuff but I can say the top end is pretty amazing. No problem holding down 28 knots or so. Gusts are so comfortable but I have to say at the low end especially, variations in wind direction are tricky as the wing tips are very prone to folding in. Until you have some apparent wind I find it best not to lower one wing tip too much or with any slight change in wind direction you might get a fold. From
my time riding, it excels so much in solid wind. Due to their size making them tricky to pack away i
tending to think these suit super windy days and the 3.1 sounds like so much fun. Looking forward to hearing from you BWalnut.

BWalnut you should get down to lake Mohave as it gets real windy there and 8-10 wingers out most windy days and most guys own 2m wings

BWalnut said..

Thanks for the tips Sheps. I'm very intrigued to see if on the extreme wind end of things this is the right call. It's funny to think that if I can't hold on to my 3m Pocket Rocket any longer I should upsize to the 3.1 Paia but I'm just telling myself its a different tool. I likely wont have any real experience on it until April/May but if I can score a few winter sessions I'll be sure to check back in with you all to share my experiences on it.

I get over-powered on a 5.5 flow and will then pull out the 6.1 Paia (it handles big winds really well).

rgmacca said..
So what is the consensus on the Paia?

Does it work well in gusty winds or more suited to steady wind.
My spot can be 10- 25knts and my 4.3 pocket rocket is very challenging.

I would expect anything to be challenging with that much variability except a wing.

Beans said..
BWalnut you should get down to lake Mohave as it gets real windy there and 8-10 wingers out most windy days and most guys own 2m wings

Do people stay in Lost Wages and then travel to the lake on windy days? Sounds like a wild adventure. I love the climbing there in Red Rocks.

JonahL said.. I think it partly depends on what type of gusty winds you are in.

I'll be testing this:



High winds here are never steady. They are always gusty and conditions like this are brutal to ride effectively in. I can have a blast in this with a 2m Strike v3 (no low end, unlimited top end) but I'm yet to really lock in to these winds with the right parawing. I'm hoping this is where the Paia can shine.

For future comparison, this is one of my stronger days on the 2.4m Pocket Rocket where it wasn't full survival mode, gusting to 43 knots:


The angles aren't bad but my lap times are always weak on the 2.4m. 10 minutes down, 15 minutes up is common on most of my laps. That, and the fact that I do have to be hyper aware of what's going on gets a bit tiring mentally. My hope is that the Paia will be faster upwind and calmer.

An unknown variable is how much slower am I going upwind because the swell is so much steeper and breaking on days like this vs going fast upwind in calmer waters.

bigtone667 said..

For me it goes upwind the same or maybe just a little better than my 4.2 Flow in 20-25 but it's a lot less work on long upwind legs.

You would definitely have longer arms after using a 4.2m flow in 25 knots.

It's work for sure, but I've modded the bridle a bit and I think I get a little better performance and top end out of it vs stock.

From extensive experience with foil kites I'm quite sceptical about a double skin as an option for high gusty wind. They might have good depower, but are often sensitive to gusty wind. I'm much more optimistic about the hybrid models that are coming out, as they eat gusts like nothing else. I'm often out foiling with hybrid foil kites in 30-40 knots and have an amazing time, while my friends complain it was terrible because of the gusts, which I haven't even noticed. There will be a hybrid parawing soon from 777 that should come in 3.2m and 2.5m sizes.

MidAtlanticFoil said..

Jve said..
From extensive experience with foil kites I'm quite sceptical about a double skin as an option for high gusty wind. They might have good depower, but are often sensitive to gusty wind. I'm much more optimistic about the hybrid models that are coming out, as they eat gusts like nothing else. I'm often out foiling with hybrid foil kites in 30-40 knots and have an amazing time, while my friends complain it was terrible because of the gusts, which I haven't even noticed. There will be a hybrid parawing soon from 777 that should come in 3.2m and 2.5m sizes.

Paia is great in gusts at the upper end. You can see the gusts coming and you get a marginal increase in pull, without any fuss from the flight, just rock solid.

Apart from going upwind at such incredible angle I'd say handling gusts is the most positive attribute of the double skin. Only, if the wind drops suddenly or changes direction significantly and fast due to wind obstruction or the like, the Paia can do some erratic stuff and due to its slow moving characteristics hard if not impossible to recover from in my experience so far. Making me a better sailor for sure though and overall I'm hooked.

I've got a 3.1m Paia to try but I haven't gotten in the water with it yet. With water temps around 40f or 4.4c I don't like falling in without gloves on. We've had the wind though...


Playing with the Paia on the beach it's clear that it's different than a single skin and I don't want to go out in cold east wind conditions as my intro to that sail. So, I've just been using my old 2m hand wing to scratch the itch on windy days (strike v3 with infinite holes in the canopy).

After parawinging so much the 2nd half of 2025 getting back on a hand wing is wild. The power is so different and the ability to instantly go to true 100% depower is dreamy vs the parawing. You just have to reset your swell riding brain to remember that you have a dance partner to work with now.

March is when we start to get west winds again and that's when the Paia will get a shot. Also trying to get a demo on the 1.9m Hatch and by then the new Pocket Rocket will be releasing so there will be plenty of options to choose from and I'll definitely be excited to get it sorted out.

First crack at the 3.1m Paia today. Zero experience on any double skin before this.
Tried 2 sessions. 86kg rider on 68l 6'5"x19" Sunova Pilot. 700 enduro with mako carve pro 125 to start and then the silk 1050 with ug39 second. Nasty wind range.

Launching the Paia: I thought this would be hard but it's not bad. It's just a two handed launch, hold the canopy up, let the water drain, then toss while holding the bar with one hand seemed to work well for me.

Getting on foil: I also thought this would be tough, but it seemed that pointing myself downwind with the swell generated speed quickly and I was right up onto foil.

Going upwind: This is what I thought would be easy, but turned in to a total fail for me. Every time I angled upwind I collapsed the lower wingtip and the canopy turned into a ball of fabric and I fell over. I called for an assist after my session was done and was told the bar sensitivity is very high and that you need to keep the canopy higher than you'd expect. I was keeping it right next to the water which may have been why it was collapsing.

Gust management: This was the most impressive. I was also testing a brand new 1.9m single skin at the same time. The 1.9m was unusable for me. I couldn't control it at all, absolute violence in these winds. I never got on foil with it. The 3.1m Paia though, never jerked me, never felt out of control.

Overall: Despite not having a successful day of foiling, I'd say I had a successful day of learning. The Paia seems like it is a super high tech option that will require a bit of training for me but I could sense that something special was there...


Also, I forgot: Collapsing via the A lines or backstall is a joy with the Paia. The A-Line collapse brings all battens straight to your hand. No management needed. Backstall doesn't overpower either.

For those who are more seasoned with the Paia sizes: Has anyone maxed one out? Felt like it was too much? I'm just wondering if these have far more top end than Gregs chart shows on the BRM website.

MidAtlanticFoil said..

BWalnut said..
First crack at the 3.1m Paia today. Zero experience on any double skin before this.
Tried 2 sessions. 86kg rider on 68l 6'5"x19" Sunova Pilot. 700 enduro with mako carve pro 125 to start and then the silk 1050 with ug39 second. Nasty wind range.

Launching the Paia: I thought this would be hard but it's not bad. It's just a two handed launch, hold the canopy up, let the water drain, then toss while holding the bar with one hand seemed to work well for me.

Getting on foil: I also thought this would be tough, but it seemed that pointing myself downwind with the swell generated speed quickly and I was right up onto foil.

Going upwind: This is what I thought would be easy, but turned in to a total fail for me. Every time I angled upwind I collapsed the lower wingtip and the canopy turned into a ball of fabric and I fell over. I called for an assist after my session was done and was told the bar sensitivity is very high and that you need to keep the canopy higher than you'd expect. I was keeping it right next to the water which may have been why it was collapsing.

Gust management: This was the most impressive. I was also testing a brand new 1.9m single skin at the same time. The 1.9m was unusable for me. I couldn't control it at all, absolute violence in these winds. I never got on foil with it. The 3.1m Paia though, never jerked me, never felt out of control.

Overall: Despite not having a successful day of foiling, I'd say I had a successful day of learning. The Paia seems like it is a super high tech option that will require a bit of training for me but I could sense that something special was there...


Also, I forgot: Collapsing via the A lines or backstall is a joy with the Paia. The A-Line collapse brings all battens straight to your hand. No management needed. Backstall doesn't overpower either.

For those who are more seasoned with the Paia sizes: Has anyone maxed one out? Felt like it was too much? I'm just wondering if these have far more top end than Gregs chart shows on the BRM website.

Glad to hear you got to test out the 3.1! I had it out in nuking winds that scared me enough to get off the water, however the 3.1 was holding it down just fine. Not sure what the gusts were at, but it was nuts, enough to create waist high swell in a 5 mile fetch in a matter of 15 minutes. I do recall one failed gybe where the paia downlooped by mistake and sort of popped in and out of inflation once or twice when it was deep in the window while I was sorting out the loop (unhooking and flipping the bar), which was sort of spastic and concerning in the high winds. It was pilot error, not really the parawings fault. I didn't let go and was able to correct and ride out fine.

For the wing tips collapsing, try checking the outer leading edge batons and make sure to sort of flex them in the open position. They can be proned to bending inwards after storage, which can lead to tip collapse.

The Paia's do tend to like a bit high angle when cruising upwind. They can wander a bit up and down from there in big gusts, but the pull doesn't get effected. Tips shouldn't collapse too much.

In lighter winds with the paia, when starting, if one tip collapses, you can pull the A or B lines on the opposite side to help fill out the collapse and get it flying correctly.

great insight there on Paia handling, thanks MAF!

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 ;)