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Review · Raced, not unboxed

Flow D-Wing V2 — 3.7 m²

Tested by Dmitry Evseev over 1 sessions
First session at Manawa · 18–20 kn · AXIS Fireball 1250 · upwind/downwind · full verdict pending our 15-session protocol
Hands-on

Verdict

First-session impressions, not a final verdict: after 1.5 hours on the 3.7 m at Manawa I have no real complaints. It launches easily, goes upwind far more easily than its online reputation suggests, packs to almost nothing in one motion, and never collapsed — leading edge and wingtips stayed solid in every mode. The nits are the very thin lines with metal fittings, and a classic harness loop I'd want 5–10 cm shorter. Wave riding, with its constant stow-and-redeploy, is where I still need to test it.

Genuinely easy upwind — the 'hard to point' reputation didn't hold up Very thin lines with metal bits; may cut when packing under hard upwind load Packs ultra-compact in one leading-edge grab (32 g/m² cloth); fits any belt Classic harness loop runs long — I'd shorten it 5–10 cm No collapse in any mode; confident leading edge, wingtips don't fold Harness loop already chafing the bar's braid (visible dents) Well-sized bar: comfortable thickness, sits neatly in the stash belt Clean redeploy — pull it out, let go, it flies

I finally got the conditions to test the new Flow D-Wing V2 in a 3.7 m. Manawa was small that day, 18–20 kn, so I rigged the 3.7 on a big foil — an AXIS Fireball 1250 — and planned an upwind/downwind session rather than a pure downwind glide.

Upwind is not the problem people say it is. I’d read online that this parawing is hard to point. I didn’t feel any of that — riding upwind was very easy straight off the launch, and launching the 3.7 itself is easy.

The pack is the standout. One grab of the leading edge and the whole thing folds down to a very, very small bag — Flow lists the cloth at 32 g/m², standard these days, and it shows. Once it’s in the belt you forget it’s there; it would fit any bag. Redeploy was equally honest: pull it out, straighten it, let go, and it flies. No tricks.

What I didn’t love, out of the box: the lines are really thin and there are some metal bits in the layout. On a downwind session that never bit me, but wave riding — where you stash and redeploy far more often, and sometimes fold mid-run on hard upwind — is where thin lines can start to cut. We’ll see. The classic harness loop also runs a touch long for me; in reverse mode it’s shorter because you throw it over the bar, but for classic I’d want it 5–10 cm shorter. And as expected, the harness loop is already chafing the braid on the bar — the dents are visible.

Stability was a clear plus. It didn’t collapse in any mode. The leading edge is very confident and the wingtips don’t fold, which is exactly what you want when the wind is up.

One honest caveat, and the reason the scores above are provisional: an hour and a half is not a test. Per how we test, a full verdict needs the 15-session protocol with published logs, and this is one session. The measured block here is session context, not our usual on-water numbers — those, and the wave-riding assessment, come once I’ve put the sessions in.