Ewan Jaspan - NAISH Parawing and Kite Lead Designer

What we talk about

• YouTube against Vimeo, and why foiling is hard to film well
• How parawings took over the Hatch in Hood River in a year
• Designing the Hatch parawing, from the first prototypes to the final rounds
• Toning down the small sizes, and testing with riders of different weights
• Why a kite foil and a downwind foil need very different profiles
• Parawing canopy materials, how long they last and why drying them matters
• Bridle and line length for easy stowing, and whether anyone needs a size above 5.1
• Double skin parawings, and where stowing and design go next

About this episode

Having invaded his home in Hood River, commandeered his wifi, made cups of English tea, used his electricity to top up the airbeds, charged all electronic devices, and had a good poo, we figured we ought to sit down and do a podcast with the man of the hour, Ewan Jaspan.

Ewan has been on Freddie and Liam's radar for decades as a professional kiteboarding athlete, pioneer amongst both the freestyle and wakestyle, and a standout filmmaker. Whilst he still pushes hard on the kite, he has been as hooked by foiling as the rest of us and rarely a windy day at the hatchery will go by without him sending a few laps with a paddle or parawing in hand.

Nowadays Ewan is the lead parawing and kite designer for Naish who will soon by release the appropriately named 'Hatch' parawing. This is his baby from start to finish and is a firm favourite amongst those locals lucky enough to have experienced the prototype iterations through its development. It is a product we are excited to see hit the market.

Until next time, enjoy!