Best of 2026: The Gear That Won the Gorge This Summer

A big Spring day in the Gorge: a pack of foilers downwinding from Drano Lake to the Hatchery. Photo: Bob Stawicki.

By T.J. Gulizia

We’re no longer just a windsurf and kiteboarding shop (thanks, foiling!), and this summer showed it. Here’s our Best of 2026: the gear that sold, the gear our crew couldn’t stop riding, and a few surprises we didn’t see coming.

At a Glance

The Rise of the Parawing

Best Parawing: Naish Hatch V2

This was the year the parawing took off in the Gorge, and there was a clear winner here at Big Winds: the Naish Hatch V2, designed by local Naish ripper Ewan Jaspan.

The original Hatch was good. For version two, Ewan tweaked it for more range, more stability and a very user-friendly feel. The V2 came out mid-summer, slowly made its way into the hands of local parawingers, and the feedback was unanimous: the Hatch V2 can handle anything the Gorge throws at it.

The best-selling size? That’s an easy one: the 3.5m. Ewan told us it could be a one-and-done size for most riders, and he was right. The 3.5m was always the first size to sell out.

Naish designer Ewan Jaspan on the Hatch V2 3.5m at the Hatchery. Photo: Naish.

Best Parawing Board: KT Arc and Arc Strapless

We also saw parawing-specific boards emerge this year, and the nod goes to KT for the Arc. The strapped Arc (red, with strap inserts) came out first in late spring in Pro Carbon construction. Then the Arc Strapless arrived, a solid pound lighter in the mid and bigger sizes.

Kudos to Keith and the Maui crew for a stable, fast and fun shape. The Arc does exactly what its name suggests: tight, controlled, arcing turns, with a “V” deck that gives you a locked-in feel.

Hands up at Maryhill, with the Biggs bridge behind, on the KT Arc Pro Carbon 68L and KT Apex mast. Photo: Bob Stawicki.

Honorable Mention: Armstrong Midlength MKII

We have to throw some respect to the New Zealand-based Armstrong crew for the redesigned Midlength. The ML MKII wasn’t marketed as a parawing board, but a lot of us grew keen on what it offers on and off the water. It’s more stable than the OG Middy, slippery coming off the water, and much thinner, so the foot-to-foil feel is very direct. The new X-Form construction is bomber too, and it comes with a bag for extra protection when you travel.

Tom Woodward laying a hard turn into a Rufus bump on the Armstrong Midlength MKII 55L. Photo: Bob Stawicki.

Honorable Mention: Duotone Paradox

Duotone’s Paradox parawing board arrived a bit late this season, but it came in much lighter than their wing boards, which surprised the whole Big Winds gang. The Paradox carries into 2027 unchanged, and it will keep grabbing attention.

Flying a Duotone Stash 2.8 on the Paradox, with a sailboat for company. Photo: Bob Stawicki.

Best Accessory: Kaohi INVIZ + Coil Cover Leash

Props to the makers of some of the best foil accessories on the market. Roy and Karen at Kaohi keep delivering. This season they released a parawing-specific leash, co-developed with our friend Cynthia “Cynbad” Brown on Maui. It takes our #1-selling leash, the INVIZ, and adds a cover over the coil so your parawing lines don’t get tangled in it. Like many leashes, it comes two ways: belt-worn with a carabiner, or leg-worn with a calf cuff.

Wings: Duotone Unit and Float

Best Wing: Duotone Unit SLS

The wing department was hot this summer, and Duotone led the way. The Unit was our best-selling wing, and the mid-tier SLS was the clear pick. It’s light, the Pentatex leading edge and strut give it a stiff feel, and a sprinkle of Aluula in the center of the leading edge adds even more stiffness where it counts most. (The Unit also comes in standard and D/LAB.)

The Unit technically debuted in fall 2025, and it was the pick for freeriders off Waterfront Park and for the young freestyle guns who were boosting bigger than we’ve ever seen this summer: 30+ feet, and throwing forwards at the Hatch!

The Duotone Unit SLS 3.5 in Concept Blue, flying in the Gorge. Photo: Bob Stawicki.

Boosting at the Hatch on the 2027 Duotone Unit D/LAB 4.0. Photo: Bob Stawicki.

The new 2027 Unit SLS 3.5 at AWSI, from the air to the next generation. Photo: Bob Stawicki.

Honorable Mention: Duotone Float SLS

The Float followed in spring 2026, in the same SLS construction. Riders chasing swell (or ocean surf) tended to choose the Float, especially the wingers up at the Hatchery and Swell City.

Boom or Handles?

That’s an easy one. The Fusion Boom went out on 99% of the Duotone wings we sold this season. The boom seems to have won most riders over.

Wing Boards: The Midlength Takeover

When it comes to wing boards, midlength shapes are still clearly leading the charge.

Best Wing Board: Armstrong Midlength MKII

The ML MKII was our best-selling wing board this season, and the clear winner for stiffest and most durable, thanks to the updated X-Form construction.

Honorable Mention: Duotone Skybrid

The Skybrid is the most stable of the bunch, and the lightest, too, in the new hollow D/LAB construction (the 60L weighs in around 7.5 lbs).

And a shout-out to the KT Super K, our best seller in 2025 and still the fastest to take off.

Tom Woodward on the KT Super K 2 Pro Carbon 50L, just as happy under a parawing. Photo: Bob Stawicki.

Masts: The 2026 Hot Topic

Foils get better every year in this amazing evolution of flying over the water, and the hot topic for 2026 was masts. Who would have thought a thinner, stiffer mast would get people to ditch their old hunk of carbon and pony up for another (not cheap) carbon product?

Best Mast: Armstrong Performance X and Performance MKII

Let’s start with Armstrong, since so many people here foil with stripes on their masts. There’s no doubt the original Performance mast was ahead of its time, a huge leap from the original A+ carbon mast. So how could an updated Performance mast be so much better? It takes riding one to appreciate it. Our demo center saw loads of people try the Performance MKII and Performance X, and plenty bought one afterward.

Aeron Ford on both of our best-selling masts: the Performance MKII 865 with an XPS MKII 3.5m wing in Stevenson, WA (left) and the Performance X 795 at Swell City (right). Photo: Aeron Ford.

The Performance X 795 was the first hot commodity. At 12mm thick and 10% stiffer than before, the “X” hit the sweet spot for prone, downwind and pump enthusiasts. It creates so little drag that you can ride a size smaller front wing.

Then the Performance MKII 865 came to light. The MKII is way stiffer than the original Performance mast, and the control it offers is unbelievable. Riders can push harder and longer than they ever expected, and it stays locked in even with Armstrong’s widest, highest-aspect foils.

Honorable Mention: KT Apex

The rest of the industry is following suit, and KT’s Apex mast put grins on riders invested in the KT family of foils. Leave it to Kane De Wilde to design a winning mast: he rode his 77cm Apex to many podiums in 2025, and it finally became available to the public in spring 2026. The 77cm was popular with the downwind SUP foiling crowd, but the 85cm was our #1 seller.

Coming in 2027

Naish has updated ultra-high-modulus masts coming in 2027, and so does Lift. We’re excited to see how they compete with the ultra-thin, ultra-stiff masts already on the market. Duotone is entering the mast arms race too, with an ultra-slim prototype that turned heads at AWSI (more on that below).

Front Wings: Crest and UHA

Best Front Wing: Duotone Crest D/LAB

Our local brand Duotone stepped it up in the foiling world, and the Crest raised eyebrows for everyone who tried it. The Crest D/LAB hits a sweet spot for Gorge foilers: not too high aspect, not too mid aspect, but just right, with a great balance of pump, glide and turning. It plays best with the D/LAB Slim 2.0 mast, and it gets an upgrade in 2027 when Duotone releases an ultra-slim mast. That should be a winner!

Eddy P.’s pre-work dawn patrol (left) and T.J.’s post-work executive session (right), both on the Duotone Crest D/LAB. Photos: Eddy P. and T.J. Gulizia.

Want the full story? Read Eddy’s post: The Duotone Crest: The Foil for the Rest of Us

Honorable Mention: Armstrong UHA

Armstrong’s new 12 aspect ratio UHA was a hit too. We loved the whole range, from the smaller, more playful 670 lighting it up on nuking days to the bigger 770 and 870, which became our best sellers this summer.

Talk about pump and glide: the UHA feels like you’re on an eFoil. Pump a few times aggressively, then glide for days with little to no input. It especially suited riders learning to parawing, because it gives you the extra time to stash and stow the wing without feeling on edge looking for the next bump. Point and go: that’s the UHA!

Safety: The Season You Could See the Crowd

One thing I really liked seeing people embrace this season was safety and visibility. This was the season you could navigate a crowd with confidence.

Best Safety Gear: Armstrong Signal Pink Caps

Our best seller in the safety department wasn’t a helmet. It was a hat! Armstrong’s Signal Pink caps flew off the wall all summer: the 5 Panel Water Cap, the 5 Panel Bump Cap and the Bucket Bump Cap. That pink is easy to spot in a crowd, and the two bump versions add a padded shell for close to helmet-level protection. They’re moderately priced, too (yes, an Armstrong product with a price tag that still lets you eat dinner that evening). To be fair, a bump cap is not a full helmet, but I’d say it’s better than not wearing one!

Armstrong Team Rider Cash Berzola, easy to spot in a Signal Pink 5 Panel cap. Photo: Bob Stawicki.

Shop the Armstrong Signal Pink Caps

Honorable Mention: Forward WIP Prowip 2.0 Helmet

For those looking for maximum head protection, look no further than our best-selling helmet, the Forward WIP Prowip 2.0. It has an ultra-light feel, easy adjustment and a quick-to-connect Fidlock chin strap.

Hi-Viz Is In

High-visibility gear is getting worn and getting noticed. Props to the brands offering fluoro colors in UPF jerseys, lycras, helmets and impact vests. It’s such a relief to see people on the river who aren’t hidden under a black wetsuit. Keep being seen out there, people!

More on staying visible out there: Be Seen: Bright Gear on the River

Electric: The Topic I Didn’t Expect to Write About

Last but not least, a topic I didn’t think I’d be writing about this season. eFoil and e-Assist gear clearly gained traction, and a number of our customers have invested in Lift and Foil Drive electric gear over the past couple of years.

Best eFoil: Lift5 and LiftX

Lift has always been our best seller, especially for true eFoils. We teach on Lift, we’ve sold their eFoils since 2018, and we were very impressed with the Lift5 redesign. The LCS connections (board to foil, foil to mast, battery to board) make it so easy to piece together. It’s ready to ride in seconds! The LiftX was right there with it, too, for riders after a lighter, more surf-like eFoil.

Big Winds’ own Tucker Hoffman learning to eFoil on the Lift5 5’4″ with Blowfish, Columbia River, Hood River. Photo: Connie Ozimek, Big Winds.

Coming On Strong: Foil Drive MAX+

Foil Drive has been the clear winner on the foil assist front, and they’ve dominated this space for years. The recent release of the MAX+ has been well received by our customers. It’s too new to call a best seller yet, but keep an eye on it in 2027.

Ryan Arzy flying his pro model board, the KT Super K Drive, with the Foil Drive MAX+. Photo courtesy of Ryan Arzy.

The Surprise: Duotone DTE

But hold on, there are a couple of newcomers. One is from our local supplier Duotone: DTE (Duotone Electric), their take on the eFoil and foil assist, with the batteries worn around your waist instead of attached to the board.

I wasn’t sure how to feel about it at first, but after a few test rides I became a firm believer. Both the Assist and eFoil systems are very intuitive. Instead of a throttle remote, you use a watch and ring remote, stepping up and down through the power levels with a click of a button on your index finger. It also feels more hands-free, with no remote slamming into your board when you pop up from your chest to your knees or feet.

The DTE can be set up on any board, but the Midfish swallowtail is an incredible shape, not only for assist and eFoil but for all things winging and parawinging. I expect some riders were nervous about buying into a first-generation product, but it was clear from the get-go that this one had been tested for years before it reached the public.

One Run I Won’t Forget

One of my most memorable sessions this summer was a Viento to Hood River run on the smallest Midfish with the D/LAB Assist, set up with an Armstrong UHA 880. Duotone offered free shuttles every Friday this summer (thanks, guys!), and I took advantage of one, not knowing what to expect from the smaller 7A battery. Taylor Meehan, our Duotone rep (and one of the many Big Winds alumni now at Boards & More), even asked if I wanted to borrow his Stash parawing “just in case,” haha!

It ended up being a big surprise: I started the run at 100% battery and finished at 100% battery! Granted, the small board and bigger foil helped, but it was all grins knowing I could do an 8 mile downwinder and use the motor for only 5 to 10 seconds to get going. I’m pretty sure that run is when I decided to trade in my 7′ downwind SUP for a 5′ midlength and a motor.

Downwinding on the Duotone D/LAB Assist and the 5’5″ Midfish, with the battery worn on the waist, not the board. Photo: T.J. Gulizia.

The Viento to Hood River run on Waterspeed: 8.78 miles, 11.25 mph average, 16.68 mph top speed.

What’s Coming Down the Pipe

This evolution is happening fast: lighter batteries, more range, higher-torque systems. RIIFT? Yes, please. Lift? Keep it coming with the updated LiftX (what an amazing system). Foil Drive? What’s next? I’m guessing 2027 will bring plenty of curiosity to this part of the foil industry, and we’re ready for it here at Big Winds!

Coming soon: a RIIFT 2P assist on a custom KT Performance 37L, running an Armstrong Performance X 795 mast and UHA 870. Photo: T.J. Gulizia.

Wrap-Up

Let me know what I missed! There’s so much good gear out there these days that it’s hard to find a dud. The designers know what works and what doesn’t, and if something comes out of left field, we’re ready for it. (I wish our shop floor could say the same. We’re no longer just a windsurf and kiteboarding shop… thanks, foiling!)

T.J. Gulizia is a co-owner of Big Winds in Hood River, Oregon. Come by 207 Front Street or call 541-386-6086.

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