Sheps said..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).
thanks for the great feedback Sheps!
With hybrid and doubleskin options all being north of A$2K, valuable info indeed.
The speed of parawing dev a bit overwhelming tbh, new best thing just around the corner etc, am curious to see what sort of low end Gregs able to build into his hybrid offering tho. Maui defintion of 'low end' notwithstanding...
BWalnut said..
