Hi! Thank you for your wonderfull comment😃 We hope you will have a great time flying the parasailor. We hope, after you have cought up on our video's, we can serve you with a couple of more video's sailing around New Zealand.

Did you talk to Oxley (and possiblly Wingaker) during your reserch? I am preparing to buy a "parasail" type, but get more confused the more I read. I talked to Oxley, who claims their sails are not exact copies, but has imporved design over the older parasail/sailor. Also I hear a claim, that the Oxley designer actually did make a hybid during the original design phase, but found it was too much compromise. I have not been able to find any reasonable indenpendant comparisons tests of the 3 (5) different types 🙂

@@madspragroesen8053 Hello Mads. Yes, I spoke with ISTEC and Oxley people. We discussed design aspects in great detail, as well as the history between the players. My discussions with Oxley included the statement from them that their Levante and Bora were the same as the old Parasail and Parasailor by ISTEC. This was in 2020. If they are now saying there are design differences between ISTEC's old Parasail and Parasailor and Oxley's Levante and Bora, well, they can't be major changes. Clarification should be sought. I think you'll find there's not much in it, if anything. The simple fact of the matter is that ISTEC's New Generation Parasailor is a much newer design, incorporating lessons learnt from their Parasail and Parasailor. Now, the real question is, which design is best for you? This depends on how you plan to use the sail; in what sorts of conditions? ISTEC's Parasail and Oxley's Levante are optimised for light conditions and will best be used in true wind speeds of ~4 to ~ 18 knots. They both have simple, steeply curved, single skin wings. They are very voluminous sails. ISTEC's Parasailor and Oxley's Bora are better in stronger conditions. They are more heavily constructed, with double skin wings. It takes a bit more wind to keep them up and open. They can handle stronger winds, including the ability to spill gusts through their large slot. The wing shape is longer and less curved than with the Parasail and Levante, for optimal performance in stronger winds. The twin skin wings of these sails have a wide opening at the aft edge and narrow opening at the front, both of fixed height. If the wind speed is at the upper end of the sails' usable range (say around 26 knots true), they can be difficult to collapse. The wind blowing over and through the wing creates more lift than a sailor can deal with by pulling down on the sock. Other strategies are needed to get the sail down, such as turning part of the way around into the wind to partly collapse the sail, or raising the main sail (eek!) to shelter the foresail from the wind. And this where one of the main design changes with the New Generation Parasailor is helpful. It has a twin skin wing, with a fixed aft edge opening and a front edge opening that is normally closed, except during strong gusts or when collapsing the sail with the collar and sock. In either of these cases, the front opening can open more widely than with the 'classic' Parasailor or the Bora, and thereby spill air more rapidly. So the sail can protect itself against strong gusts more effectively and is easier to bring down. The overall sail is also narrower than the classic Parasailor and Bora, which fits with this being a cruising sail, not a racing sail. Now, back to the question - which is best for you? The Parasailor and Bora are good for trade wind sailing, such as crossing the Atlantic. Wind speed (knots) might be in the high teens and steady for long periods, though there might be gusts. I know sailors who have used them day and night for as long as a week. The Parasail and Levante are better choices if you want to make progress without the engine in light to medium, downwind to broad reach conditions. If you look at the New Generation Parasailor you will see that it has a more curved upper wing surface than the Parasailor or Bora. This will provide more lift in lighter wind conditions (like an aircraft using its flaps during takeoff), keeping it up better than the other two. If the wind gets much stronger, the wing's vents can open at the front edge, to release pressure. When it's time for me to buy one of these, it will be the New Generation Parasailor that I will choose. It has a wider usable wind speed range than the Oxley sails and a more advanced, more technical design for the wing, with a narrower slot. And it's smaller overall, which is something I will appreciate. If having the maximum sail area for blasting across oceans is your thing, have a look at the Bora. 🙂

@@SailingSnowGum Wow - thank you for the very detailed and knowlegable answer 🙂. We are not planning to cross oceans in near future, but might in a copule of years. We want the sail for these very low wind days where we have time and dont want to use motor. We sail a Neel 51 trimaran - a wide, heavy, stable platform. Almost sounds like we should go with the Levante/Parasail now for lightest wind performance, and then buy a Bora/Parasailor when/if we cross oceans in the future 🤣. Did you by chance also look at the Wingaker? Both Oxley and Istec states that this is not a "real" wing sail because of the missing top opening, but apparently customers are still happy with it. And thanks again - I will do some more study on the details on the new Istec while waiting for their offer.

@@madspragroesen8053 I did look at the Wingaker and have the same views as you heard from ISTEC and Oxley. Given the varied use you have in mind for the sail, the New Generation Parasailor would be a versatile choice. However, the Neel 51 is a stable platform, which should make handling the big sail area of a Levante easier than on a monohull. So either the Levante or the NGP would be good choices for light wind sailing. You know what my preference is. 🙂 You might want to do what I did while researching, which was to go through the NGP and Oxley videos, stopping the video every few seconds to study the design features. Your contacts at the companies will also be able to send you detailed photos of particular design features. Measure the size of the hatches to your sail locker, to make sure the collar for the NGP can slide in and out through it. The people at ISTEC will be able to send you some 3D pictures showing how the collar will fit through, if it's close. But you should have good sized hatches on your big boat. Consider visiting Boot Dusseldorf and placing your order during the show. Or calling them while the show is on. They will have some good deals on offer, I'm sure. 🙂 Regards, Rick.

@@SailingSnowGum Thanks Rick - in the meantime, I got response from other people on catamarans, that turned away from wing type sails after using them for some years - because on multihull they found they could just as easily fly a traditional spinnaker without pole and with practically the same stability. So perhaps these sails really makes the most benefit for monohulls. I will take your advice and take a stop motion view at theri videos 🙂

It definately is! And we hope we have the conditions to use it all the time🤣

Heel leuk om te horen! Daar doen we het voor😃

Thanks, appreciate it. Almost lost our drone again for this shot🙄 we are very lucky people🤣

Nice! I hope you enjoy it as well!! And fair winds on your crossing!

Hola. Quiero comprar un parasailor pero no se si funciona con viento de 5-6 nudos. Me puedes ayudar. Gracias

Thank you!

Thanks for your comment and feedback😃 From my own research the oxley is like the first parasailor. So the wing now is a bit different and creates more lift and power. Materials used are different says parasailor.

@@SVTranquillity Hello. This is a good video and will help many sailors understand the New Generation Parasailor. Please see my separate comment on the history of these sails and their competitors. The Oxley variants are copies of old ISTEC products, not the originals. Regards, Rick.

Thanks for your comment! The seller of parasailor recommended to use it this way on our boat. So without extra costs to make a gennaker bow pole or something. The force at the bow is not that much as it is to the sheets. So this worked out really well.

Dank je! Hahaha nee t einde is echt al een paar jaar geleden opgenomen🤪

Gracias por su pregunta. De 5 a 6 nudos de viento es muy poco. Entonces recomendaría un spinnaker normal o el parasail istec. El parasail es para climas más ligeros que el parasailor.

@@SVTranquillityGracias.

Nice! We have 20 m of sheets(2x boatlength) and 25 m of tackline And 7 m of guy. But it also depends on how you setup your tackline. Just bear in mind the lines have to be able to come back almost to the stern of your boat.

@@SVTranquillity thank you, all the best!

So we have the new genaration parasailor indeed. The difference with Oxley is they are look a likes compared to the old parasailor. So a little less strong and a little bit less upward push from the wing. I do not know if you really feel the difference. A wingaker doesn't do as good in very little winds. So we thought the parasailor is a bit more versatile.

I wish😊 but no that's not possible because of the wing. It will not roll in tight enough.

Thanks! Yes it is possible but a bit of a hassle. But what isn't when single handed sailing😅 You can setup you tackline and take your leeward sheet around your winch forward. Hoist the snuffer and pull on the leeward sheet. If they are self tailng is most helpfull I guess.

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We had one before. But we do not agree on this one. A parasailor is way more forgiving. As you said yourself you need proper trimming which is a bigger job on passages. So especially shorthanded a parasailor is much easier to use. With less sailchanges. Cause you can leave the sail up in higher winds.

@@SVTranquillity By properly trimmed I mean that it's possible to slightly oversheet a normal spinnaker to be more forgiving. I have sailed a couple of boats with parasailors and too many to count without. I can't tell the difference. It's a gimmick. Of the very experienced cruisers I know who I regard as good sailors, exactly none have a parasailor.

@@deerfootnz Handling a gust of 20 knots? With a normal spinnaker is hard work. You will have to handsteer to prevent getting a chinese gybe. With a parasailor it's still a relaxed sail. But this is our own experience. If you sail without a child and have a third crewmember I can imagine there is no need. Also you are not able to sail dead down wind with an asymmetrical one. So more gybing is more work for the allready tired shorthanded crew. And (but it is a feel) we definately feel the boat less rolling. Maybe not compared to an asymmatrical one. But again you will need to gybe more. And even if you fancy the angle you can do the same with a parasailor. And gybe more. Gybing a parasailor is way easier and less work than a gennaker stand alone a spinnaker. But if you experienced no difference I would not force you to buy one😅 This is our real life experience as experienced sailor's which we like to share. We do see a lot of benefits and plus points of this sail compared to other light wind sails. Maybe not on a day sailing holiday sailboat. But as cruisers sailing oceans oh yes.

@@SVTranquillity I seem to have managed tens of thousands of miles with a spinnaker without hand steering or unintentional gybes. I certainly won't be buying a parasailor any time. Or a Shamwow or those steak knives. I often sail an assymetric in a dead run or close to it: I simply rig the pole and move the tack out to windward as if it was a symetric sail. To gybe we simply put it back on the bow and gybe as normal. In return for swallowing the parasailor Kool-aid you get a sail with objectively worse performance. It's got a big hole in it for a start. If your normal spinnaker is Rolly then the pole is too far aft and you don't have enough tension in the tapes, or the sheet and guy are too far aft . Trimming properly is most of the battle. And I don't mean constant attention, just set and forget.

@@deerfootnz @SVTranquillity Hi Nigel. My name is Rick. I have to say, I'm curious about your negative comments here about something it appears you've never tried. Put me straight if I'm wrong about that; do tell if you have actually sailed far enough with a New Generation Parasailor to be able to offer a valid assessment. Let me ask, has there ever been a time in your life when you've been initially negative about some new fangled contraption, idea or experience, only to find upon giving it a good try that you're pleasantly surprised about how good it is? From my personal experience I could rattle off many such revelations, so much so that it's helped me keep an open mind about new developments that I haven't tried yet. 🙂 There's a thought. Some of the wisest, most knowledgeable folk in sailing have described the Parasailor as the most significant development in sailing technology in over 100 years. Along side that I've used my extensive background in aerospace technology to assess this sail and its competitors, including deep discussions with the respective designers and manufacturers. Everything SVTranquillity discuss here holds weight. But I tell you what, I'm going to throw all of my common sense and logical thinking aside and believe you instead, even though you have no information to offer. Regards, Rick.