The New Generation Parasailor
With the debut of the New Generation Parasailor , ISTEC AG presents a radically redesigned wing sail that builds on the extensive expertise of the ISTEC development team and its parent company, Swing Gleitschirme (paragliders), as well as 30 years of paraglider development and the experience gained from the continuous evolution of the first Parasailor generation. With this redesign, ISTEC AG has accomplished a generation shift of its popular downwind sail.
Over the past 10 years, many improvements have constantly been made to the design of the Parasailor. These included details of the wing connection, the choice of material, and even a complete redesign of the clew and head – all with the aim of improving both the stability and sailing properties of the product. However, after 10 years of constant evolution, the potential of the 15-year-old basic design of the Parasailor reached its limits.
The development team of ISTEC AG therefore decided to take a radical step and launch a complete redesign of the Parasailor in order to merge the numerous ideas for product innovation with the latest developments of paraglider technology.
With the New Generation Parasailor, ISTEC AG has succeeded in significantly improving the performance of the first generation once again.
A key role is played by the new hybrid wing (for which a patent has been filed), which is basically a combination of the conventional 3D wing (with lower and upper sails) and the single-skin wing (known from the Parasail). This innovative wing is complemented by the newly developed, flow-optimised sail body, which combined an increase in performance and stability while making handling easier, especially when it comes to hoisting and recovering.
During almost two years of development with a range of prototypes, numerous tests, and extensive CAD-based flow simulations, the new product had to prove it could achieve the ambitious goals for its development.
Two 3D CAD programs from the areas of sail design and aerospace wing design were combined and optimised to create a specifically adapted system for this redesign. With the aid of this powerful development tool, the development team combined their expertise from sail and wing development.
In addition, a powerful CAD tool with integrated flow simulation was used to test and analyse dozens of versions in the virtual wind tunnel. During the development of the New Generation Parasailor, several thousands of hours of CFD flow simulation went into the different profile variants of the hybrid wing and 3D Parasailor models.
At the same time, tests were carried out with around 20 prototypes in different versions and various development stages in the Mediterranean (Croatia and Italy), Norway, and on lakes in Bavaria. More long-term tests on the Atlantic with close-to-production models confirmed that the development goal of higher performance, increased uplift, a larger wind speed range, as well as easier hoisting and recovering had been achieved.
The redesigned Parasailor will be available in 15 standard designs which are new interpretations of the previous models. Three new colours – golden yellow, graphite grey and lime green – complete the appearance of the new Parasailor.
The designs remain true to ISTEC’s philosophy of the dark luff, leech and foot, which makes it easier on the eyes in brighter light conditions. Naturally, the new generation also offers the future owner the option of freely creating a colour design from the given colour palette.
The New Generation Parasailor is planned to be available for ordering from October 2019 and for delivery from December 2019.
The new model will also be available in a set containing the 2017 reworked Easysnuffer PRO snuffing funnel with a two-stage control reefing system and the compressible cruising bag.
From October to December 2019, the existing predecessor model will be available in a “Final Edition” with a discount of 10% on the list price. The future owner of the Parasailor will have the choice between the new generation (available from December 2019) and the discontinued model as a “Final Edition”.
