Is Parawinging the Next Big Thing for 2025?

Theres been a lot of talk over the last few months about these new pocket wings that have been floating about on social media. Plenty of discussion about what they are, what they're for and whats the point? It wasn't long ago we were thinking the same about winging!

Why do we need something else?

Winging took off in popularity because it was accessible, safe to launch and allowed you to disconnect the power of the wing on the wave - allowing you to surf and ride the waves and/or bumps more freely than you could with a kite or a windsurf rig - getting back to a more surfing feel.

The idea of downwind SUP foiling has taken off in peoples minds because of the ease of access to open water swells that can potentially be ridden for miles, and because the wing still gets in the way while on a wave. The paddle weighs very little in comparison and isn't effected by the wind like a large wing is - free'ing up the arms to an even more surfy feel again.

The limitations with downwind SUP are that its incredibly technical to learn and should you get past that initial phase you're generally always going to be riding a large foil under a large board to help you get on foil, perhaps forcing your riding to lead down more of a longboard surf style as opposed to a snappy shortboard style. The lack of paddle skills and actual real life fitness by the bulk of wind sports participants, along with the necessary dedication to push past the learning phase has created quite a large barrier to entry to this discipline Participants including myself have been unwilling to commit to the huge time and effort it takes to learn this niche of the sport. We haven't even discussed the issue with logistics. We need a cheat code for the normal, everyday folks.....

Enter the Parawings. 

Whats a Parawing?

A single skin kite with very short lines on a simple bar that has enough power to tow you up onto foil and then be completely collapsed and stowed away to keep your hands and arms free to move as much as they want. Drop off foil, or crash a sweet turn and simple deploy the wing and get up on foil again without all the heart attack inducing paddling SUP foiling brings. Rumour has it the BRM's can even travel upwind relatively well, meaning no shuttle runs down the coast could well be an option.

Theres an awful lot of kiters and windsurfers that got into the sport of winging. We have the knowledge of the wind, how it works and how to use it to our advantage. This knowledge is easily transferrable into this emerging discipline, and we already have half the gear to make it work.

What boards are being used?

The boards seemingly suited to this discipline are also great crossover boards for other disciplines as the larger downwind board sizes are not as useful in this new niche Think a shrunk downwind board/midlength sitting on or just above body weight in volume, this board shape has become popular this year already in the winging scene for ease of getting going and lack of width to bog down on the waves. It also crosses over nicely with foil assist and maybe even prone in weaker conditions. (We'll have a higher volume midlength option from Appletree in the New Year by the sounds of things)

The wings themselves seem to be fairly rudimentary currently.  The only suitable model on the market currently is from BRM and is still very basic in looks and design, despite getting great reviews on its performance. Ensis enter the market mid December with the just launched 'Roger' which still looks relatively basic, and North were playing around with a prototype in Hood River during the North American Windsports show in September. A betting person would probably put money on seeing a few other brands come to market with their offerings early next year - we can't be far away.

We work with Ozone and Flysurfer in the kitesurf game and the argument would be that those two brands specifically have the best possible chance of producing something great in this space. Will they though? Who knows - but the more attention this discipline keeps getting the more the likes of these brands are going to feel the pressure.

How will it work here in the UK?

Forgetting the mad skills it takes to get up onto foil in the open ocean with a SUP foil board for a moment, one of our major issues here in the UK in relation to downwinding is our road network and geography. In many places in our country, we have high cliffs and windy roads - meaning quite often for what might end up being a 1 hour downwind run we might have to drive up to 2 hours to drop vehicles off and return to them afterwards. This changes things from 'a quick hour session' to more of a morning or afternoons epic excursion - which simply isn't possible for a lot of folk. SUP Foil has definitely become more popular in certain areas of the UK that aren't burdened by these issues - the likes of the South Coast for instance which has a lot of flatter access points for safety, and closer roads to make trips shorter. 

The appeal of the parawing would be if the upwind abilities improves to the point where you can get out and do a 5k/10k+ run to and from the same place you parked your vehicle. Enabling you to get all the benefits of riding open water swell, free as a bird of anything in your hands while also removing the issue with logistics.

 

So Whats next?

Wait and see! Come early 2025 I think we'll see a lot of new brands entering the fold with their wings and the industry will tweak and change its board offerings to conform. I think entering the downwind game is about to get a whole lot easier with the likes of these products, so your personal quivers may change yet again - but its early days! I also think - like we saw with the boom of winging - we'll see a whole load more spots popping up as they become accessible with these parawings, especially once that upwind ability improves.

Keep an eye on the social medias, as always there are regular hot spots such as Maui and Hood River that you'll see snippets coming from. Theres a lot of media on youtube and podcasts with early adopters discussing the Parawing usage. Check out the video above of course for an idea on parawings and their usage. 

 

X-Foils Dylan did a great indepth chat with the man behind BRM - Greg. Watch below