Podcasts & Parawings

This year was all about foil assists (yet again) and parawings. We were lucky enough to be invited to watch a soon-to-be-released ‘Founders of Foil Drive’ film hosted by the guys at a local bar one evening and found it nuts how much has changed in their incredibly short time on the circuit. It seems like nowadays every brand is scrabbling to showcase a collaborated offering with Foil Drive specifically and we also finally have some reputable competitors adding to the foil assist fold as well. We had a great sit down with Chris Reynolds, the designer behind the FLITELab* AMP system which hopefully will be released to the world by the time this publication is out and about. Chris will go down as one of the nicest guys we met this year, and it was great to finally see the product we’d been ribbing so hard in episodes following a delay or two to market.

We’d been playing on the parawings back home in the UK prior to arriving in Hood River and the level of ability was already relatively comfortable in the right winds – and the interest levels have been severely piqued. The main style being explored by most so far though has been assistance on open water downwinding, with larger foil setups and downwind boards. There’s definitely been a ton of interest from the keen beans around the UK, but sales have mainly focused around shop owners/ambassadors and local early adopters – I would say the more regular ‘punter’ hasn’t been shown the light just yet and hasn’t made the plunge.

Well, this couldn’t be further from the truth in Hood River. The place was overrun with SUP foilers last year and yet has been completely transformed over to parawingers this year. Brands have struggled to get enough wings into the US alone, and demand has soared. As a salesman of said wings, I’d love to see this in the UK too… but also because I have bloody loved what this discipline has shown me is possible, even after a few months!

The Columbia Gorge is like nothing else we’ve ever experienced. The sheer enormity, tightness and cleanliness of the swell is incredible, combined with the massively localized strong wind systems. Geographically nowhere else seems to lend itself so perfectly to the discipline of downwinding of all kinds. It works perfectly for the parawing – a ‘relatively’ simpler discipline for those already at a reasonable foiling skill level to pick up. Wind foil sports participants take to it extremely well but with riders from other disciplines close behind (namely SUP and surf foil). We know from the SUP foil downwind learning experience that that discipline seemed pretty far out of reach for many riders and so it is refreshing to see so many more enjoying the parawings already.

How’s it going to work in the long term once we get home? Well, that’s a different story.

We’ve got different, less regular conditions at home – and potentially everywhere else around the globe if we’re realistic. We’ve not figured it out 100% yet, but I would say it’s going to form its own little pockets of styles in different corners of the foiling world, depending on water and wind conditions, access points and miscellaneous other issues we might not have foreseen yet – basically, it’s going to look different everywhere. It’s also not likely to completely wipe out winging for either Liam or I – we both bloody love a wing session in solid conditions and currently I’m not sure I want to get into said solid conditions with a trash bag wrapped around my neck. I am curious to see if this will change as our abilities improve over time, like they did with wings – but currently my trash bag redeployment sits at around 20% success rate, and I’m not sure I want to depend on those numbers when the going gets tough. While the alternative to ballsing up a redeployment is getting caught on the inside of a scary face with no shoulder on a UK shorebreak in the wintertime…

“The age of the parawing is upon us, and my god what a breath of fresh air it is. Hands-free riding swell on smaller boards and smaller foils is glorious.”

Likewise – downwinding along European coastlines with headlands affecting swell and wind conditions doesn’t lend itself nicely to using small foils, boards and even wings – so you’re back to considering using larger pointy boards for efficiency for safety’s sake. Even my 67L midlength took a good bit of getting going in lulls in The Gorge for my 84kg hulk – fine where you’re only ever 500m swim from a shoreline if shit hits the fan, not 5km.

So what do we think? It’s here to stay, we have zero regrets only taking parawings and midlength boards on our trip this year – but we advise considering how it works in your local spot. Those with bumpy river inlets that simply need a tow-in to enjoy will love this new tool – the upwind ability is only going to get better, and more practice will make re-deploying easy peazy. I see it working in our home spot specifically in the more genteel days where the swell more closely simulates a playpark where you can jump from one line of wind swell to another with relatively low consequence and ride that swell in a long way before having to deal with redeploying. Once we get into more consequential beachbreak scenarios I think ability levels are going to have to build considerably before I consider getting stuck into the wrong spot – winging is still likely numero uno in these conditions for a while yet, but I’m happy to be proven wrong! Downwind wise – for reasons mentioned above in our more local conditions here in the southwest of the UK, both Liam and I are big fans of the Patrick Rebstock style of riding a longer board and taking both parawing and paddle options for safety’s sake. At least while getting more comfortable in these rugged conditions, taking both isn’t too much of a hindrance and yet allows you more scope in conditions.

So, get out there! Hands free riding is the dog’s bollocks and now isn’t solely confined to the upmost elite prone and SUP foilers – we all get a go. Just consider how it works in your area and get practicing.