Parasailing

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Parasailing in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Parasailing, also known as parascending, is a recreational activity where a person (two or three people may also ride at the same time) is towed behind a vehicle (usually a boat) while attached to a parachute. The boat then drives off, carrying the parascender into the air. The parascender has little or no control over the parachute. There are 5 parts of a parasail. The harness attaches the pilot to the parasail, which is connected to the boat, or speeding form of transportation by the tow rope. The activity is primarily an amusement ride, not to be confused with the sport of paragliding. There are parasailing locations all over the United States and the world.

Land based parasailing has also been formed into competition sport in Northern Europe and especially in Finland. In land based parasailing the parasail is towed behind a car or a snowmobile. In accuracy competitions the tow-vehicle controls the speed and height and the person flying the parasail controls the parasail sideways. The competitions consist of two parts: dropping/throwing a streamer to a target and accuracy landing. The sport was developed at the end of 1990s in Germany and is growing fast. First international competitions were held in 2004.

1 History
2 Modern Commercial Parasailing
3 Links
- 3.1 Associations and Manufacturers
- 3.2 Operators

[edit] History

Brian Gaskin the founder of Waterbird created some of the first parasails after experimenting with ex-military parachutes in the late 60's. In 1974 he created the first true parasail which he named "Waterbird". Nearly all commercial parasails in operation today were derived from Brian Gaskin's original "Waterbird" design.

In 1975 he founded his company "Waterbird Parakites" which is still in operation today producing commercial and recreational parasails in the UK.

Chris Abbott designed chute

At the same time Gaskin was creating the "Waterbird", Mark McCulloh of Miami, Fl was designing the first parasail winchboat. The winchboat was patented in 1976 and made its commercial debut in the 80's. Today nearly all commercial operators use winchboats equipped with a PTO (power-take-off) which uses the boats engine to drive a hydraulic winch.

The combination of these two designs ushered in the era of widespread commercial parasailing.

Commercial Watersports winchboat

[edit] Modern Commercial Parasailing

Today's parasail operators have evolved into highly organized and professional operations. Many of the largest operators are located in the South East US and Caribbean. The formation of PAPO (the Professional Association of Parasail Operators, founded by Arrit McPherson in 2003) and advancements in safety technology have increased safety throughout the sport and helped the industry's image in recent years.

Operators have moved from small (20ft range) parachutes to large (30-40ft) parachutes which utilize high-lift, low-drag designs enabling operators to fly higher payloads in lower (typically safer) winds. Most operators now offer double and triple flights using a tandem bar. The tandem bar is an aluminum bar attached to the yoke of the chute allowing two or three passenger harnesses to be attached side-by-side. A tandem bar can be seen in the photo showing the Chris Abbott designed chute.

Typical parasail flights are performed with 500-1000ft of line although some operators use as much as 2000ft of line. In some locations, notably Myrtle Beach, FAA regulations limit flying height. In the case of Myrtle Beach the max height off the water is 300ft-500ft. Daytona beach on the other hand has flights as high as 2000ft.

The largest current parasail operator is Caribbean Watersports in the US Virgin Islands.