Helia 44: Wingaker vs. Parasailor

[Blues Traveler]

Any opinions on which one is preferable for a Helia 44?

[Lady Roslyn]

Hi there,


We have a Saba 50 and a 190m sq Wingaker. Absolutely brilliant sail. Couldn't be happier. Gives fantastic performance and easily our most efficient sail.



Wingaker was designed by the same person who designed the Parasailor but the Wingaker is his Version 2 parasail with increased lightwind performance as well as easier deployment and retrieval.


If you are interested please take a look at our website for blog posts and images of us flying the Wingaker.


Let me know if you want any further information or contact the owner of Wingaker directly. He is from Austria but speaks perfect English. He is probably the most experienced person in the world at flying parasails so has a huge amount of information which he would be happy to share with you, as he did with us.


Cheers
Nic
LADY ROSLYN
"Lady Roslyn" Saba 50 Catamaran Fountaine Pajot

[Blues Traveler]

Thank you. I received a quote from him last year and it is being currently being updated. It appeared that the wingaker is a smaller sail plan vs. parasailor. There is not much else info on either one to make a technical comparison. Your photography is awesome by the way!

[Lady Roslyn]

Hi Scott,


Thanks for your kind words on the photographs. Much appreciated.


I haven't seen a magazine article with a side by side review. What I can tell you from having looked at both is that the Wingaker with its fixed wing element just seems so much simpler and has far fewer thin lines which could get caught or torn from the sail. The Parasailor wing floats with lines top and below whereas the Wingaker is fixed at the top and open at the bottom of the wing element slot.



What I do know is that Lothar has sailed using a Wingaker on almost every production catamaran available so his recommendation on sail size will be pretty accurate. We have the 190m sq. I believe from Niels Boerma, a Saona 47 owner, that the 168 m sq is the recommended size for that hull. Not sure for the Helia.


Good luck with your decision. It's a sail that puts a huge grin on my face every time we fly it.


Nic

[CatNewBee]

Never heard of this product before, what price range is it?
(Comparable to the parasailor from Istec)

[Lady Roslyn]

As far as I am aware if you buy directly from Wingaker, their pricing is better than a Parasailor but you would have to do the research yourself based on boat size and where you are located. Wingaker have a website in English with all information about their product.

[DavefromNZ]

I am also very happy with the Wingaker 168m2 for our Lagoon 450. See quite a few of my videos on YouTube for the set up. Wind range 5-20kts, 130-180 degrees for us. Very stable but like any spinnaker will be harder to use if the main is up.

[CatNewBee]

Wow, that is a big one. I got the recommendation from them to use a smaller sail (126m2) instead of the 142m2, that would be the max size for the L400, so it can be run at higher wind speed range especialy on passages with the trade winds..

[Catamaranbliss]

Originally Posted by Lady Roslyn

Hi there,


We have a Saba 50 and a 190m sq Wingaker. Absolutely brilliant sail. Couldn't be happier. Gives fantastic performance and easily our most efficient sail.



Wingaker was designed by the same person who designed the Parasailor but the Wingaker is his Version 2 parasail with increased lightwind performance as well as easier deployment and retrieval.


If you are interested please take a look at our website for blog posts and images of us flying the Wingaker.


Let me know if you want any further information or contact the owner of Wingaker directly. He is from Austria but speaks perfect English. He is probably the most experienced person in the world at flying parasails so has a huge amount of information which he would be happy to share with you, as he did with us.


Cheers
Nic
LADY ROSLYN
"Lady Roslyn" Saba 50 Catamaran Fountaine Pajot

Hi! thanks for the GREAT info! I have a Helia 44 evolution, and definitely will buy a parasail/Windgaker for it, so I would like to ask your Windgaker owner for a quote. This is the newer version of the "big banana" parasailer that Cheeky Monkey blog had for their Helia I think?
I'm not smart enough to know how its improved...I can only get my head around bigger is better as long as it doesn't dunk itself too much....?! It seem like you rarely get much of a wide spread of possible running angles, despite the claims, but that may again be my ignorance....also given if the breeze picks up you can run the main instead when you have plenty of power.
Thank you Forum!

[CatNewBee]

We have now a Parasailor on our L 400S2, great downwind sail, but useless below 6kn of wind, we fly it up to 20kn yet, it can take more, but it gets harder to get it down if necessary.

This is the one with the independent double chamber wing from IsTek. In wind above 10kn, you can sail it up to 70 degrees, most comfortable is between 100 an 180.

In lighter winds, if not going dead downwind we prefer the code0, easier to furl in and out. Parasailor is better dead downwind, easier to gybe and gives a much better visibility from the helm, we like both sails.

A smaller Parasailor is better, because you can fly it in stronger winds, especially on long passages in the trades. It is quite forgiving and does open much softer than a spi.

I have not tested the wingacker yet, it's a different beast, it looks similar, but has other aerodynamic properties, it is not really a wing, but a hole in the spi with some stabilizing canvas above like a parashute, the wing is fix sewed to the upper part of the spi. There is no lifting airflow element above the wing. They claim it can handle lighter winds.

[CatNewBee]

Here a picture to show the difference...
The Parasailor creates more lift, but needs slightly more wind to unfold. The air chambers stabilize the sail longer when the wind changes and open it softer when the wind sets back in.

[Lady Roslyn]

I am afraid that anyone who sells you a parasail and claims that the wing element gives lift to the bow of the boat is not telling the truth. The wing element is there to help the sail track through the air as the wind angle shifts.

[Catamaranbliss]

That makes a lot of sense, thanks so much for your comment, I really appreciate the learning.

[Catamaranbliss]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

We have now a Parasailor on our L 400S2, great downwind sail, but useless below 6kn of wind, we fly it up to 20kn yet, it can take more, but it gets harder to get it down if necessary.

This is the one with the independent double chamber wing from IsTek. In wind above 10kn, you can sail it up to 70 degrees, most comfortable is between 100 an 180.

In lighter winds, if not going dead downwind we prefer the code0, easier to furl in and out. Parasailor is better dead downwind, easier to gybe and gives a much better visibility from the helm, we like both sails.

A smaller Parasailor is better, because you can fly it in stronger winds, especially on long passages in the trades. It is quite forgiving and does open much softer than a spi.

I have not tested the wingacker yet, it's a different beast, it looks similar, but has other aerodynamic properties, it is not really a wing, but a hole in the spi with some stabilizing canvas above like a parashute, the wing is fix sewed to the upper part of the spi. There is no lifting airflow element above the wing. They claim it can handle lighter winds.

This is GREAT info. I'm actually digesting it to come up with the most specific question that might help others as well--but basically, to be sure I understand, you mentioned the parasailor having nice characteristics above 10 Knot wind, and below that you like the code zero. Running downwind in high winds you like a smaller parasailor. Its funny, somewhere I guess I got an idea that to maximize light stern winds you would fly some huge light spinaker/parasailor, but it seems like your saying the code zero is fine, definitely easier and less risk of repeated dunking hassles...I suppose Wingaker wants to do this job of being better than a code zero running before light winds, right? Its definitely great that you can really run the IsTek parasail well at or even below 100 degrees, that is very strong. So appreciate opinions from sailors who aren't trying to sell me stuff, thanks again.

[CatNewBee]

Well, the code 0 is a great sail for low winds, especially apparent, you can sail very slowly down to 3kn of wind with 1.5kn. Downwind it works too quite well and it is easy to furl for tacking if necessary, downwind jibing is even easier, but you need then more wind to get it around the bow.

We had it out up to 20kn downwind, it is slightly slower than the Parasailor in strong winds, the sail area is similar, our Parasailor has 148 m2, so not really small.

Downwind above 10kn, the Parasailor outperforms the Code zero in any sense, faster to sail, more comfy, easier to jibe, and you have a great visibility around.

We really like it, changing sails from code 0 to the Parasailor takes about 10 minutes.