WHICH OF THE THREE NEW MODELS IS MOST LIKE THE ORIGINAL MALIKO?
From a performance perspective, all new models share updates making the performance of the three more similar to each other than to the original Maliko. From a riding application perspective, the Ka’a is the most similar due to the flight character of its aspect ratio and the stow/deploy of its line length. The Kanaha’s performance is quite similar to the Ka’a. The Maliko 2 has performance more specialized for “single-stow” downwinding.
CAN I GO UPWIND?
Absolutely. Parawings share design DNA with Olympic class parafoil kite racing at the highest possible upwind performance. Upwind angle on a parawing varies by individual technique, conditions, and equipment pairing. Most riders will find higher upwind angles easier with the performance updates on our second generation of parawings. Upwind effectiveness is the performance priority of our Kanaha model parawing.
CAN I RIDE A PARAWING WITH A HARNESS?
Yes, a harness can offer great performance options. Parawinging has specific new performance challenges, which we’ve put a lot of development into solving with our harness lines, hooks, and belts.
CAN I USE MY SMALL WINGBOARD?
Yes, we test our parawings on the full spectrum of board sizes, from itty-bitty pump boards to full size DW boards. A board’s efficiency level has a massive influence on a parawing riding experience, including the power required to get on foil. The greater the board’s efficiency, the greater the range in riding conditions. The balance in efficiency vs. performance of mid-length boards is a great choice for many parawing riders.
DOES THE PARAWING FLOAT?
Our designs target neutral bouncy so that, when released, the parawing temporarily parks in position on the water’s surface. Performance varies by environment.
WHAT SIZE PARAWING DO I NEED? AND HOW MANY SIZES?
The size of parawing needed, and a size’s range, varies by the specific combination of numerous variables including wind speed, board, technique, and riding application. Combinations are unique to a single rider (at a single moment) to the extent that a range accurate for one rider might have no overlap with another rider’s range. However, to offer you one possible example as a single generalization: At 170 lbs, on a very efficient 90 liter mid-length board, in rounded-off parawing sizes, from the low power threshold needed to get on foil, to the pull getting higher than is ideally comfortable without a harness for upwind riding (very different from downwind-only riding), my range (in mph) per size might be 13-16 on a 6m, 15-21 on a 5m, 18-26 on a 4m, 23-31 on a 3m, and 31+ on a 2m. How many sizes I need depends on how many of these wind ranges I want the option to ride in.
WHY IS IT CALLED A PARAWING?
Our initial development was seeking to progress the performance of our wingfoiling inflatable wings. Our prototyping included inflatable kite designs prior to evolving to designs crossing over from paraglider and parafoil kites. The term “parawing” has existed for over 75 years. We adopted use of this terminology for the new riding category defined by the launch of our BRM Maliko in August of 2024 because we felt that its perfectly descriptive of our newly applied use of parafoil design to the sport of wingfoiling.