Ozone Pocket Rocket: Gorge Review.
- Bryan Lee
- Aug 24
- 11 min read
Updated: Aug 27
Intro:
It's nice getting the opportunity to be a beginner again in foiling. Winging, paddling, and now parawinging. Perhaps I could learn to dockstart and prone one day? Maybe kitefoiling? Will there be another iteration of foiling down the road? I don't know, but I sure hope so. It's a blast learning something new. This review will be coming from my perspective as a beginner parawinger. I had a grand total of 18 miles on foil with parawings before getting my Pocket Rockets. We don't get a lot of reviews from "beginners" but I think they are valuable in their own unique way. An experienced rider is comparing everything in their head and skipping the learning process when they try a new piece of gear. In this situation you'll be getting a review from myself and it will reflect not only the performance of the Pocket Rocket, but how it suited me as a beginner in the parawing realm.
The sizes I ordered and why:
Initially I ordered the 1.9m and 2.4m sizes. I did this because I had previously tried another brands 2.3m that was extremely powerful. I also figured I would only bother with parawinging when it's nuking. When the shipment reached the shop I got the call from Christian at Poseidon Standup and was informed that unfortunately no 1.9m sails were in that shipment. The opportunity to swap to a 3m was presented and I decided to go for it. Honestly, this turned out perfect. The 3m is great in the Gorge with the 2.4m being awesome on our bigger days.
Rider Data, Gear and Style:
Location: Columbia River Gorge.
Experience foiling: 10,000+ miles on foil
Experience with the Pocket Rockets: 300 miles and counting.
Weight: 86kg
Style: I'm looking for monster swell and powerful carving on the AFS Silk foils most days. If I can't keep my Pocket Rockets packed away for 10-20 minutes at the minimum I'm probably pulling out my wings. I don't car shuttle, I always go back upwind on the rockets.
Sizes tested: 2.4m and 3m.
Wind range tested: 20-45 knots of west winds.
Boards used in this review:
Sunova Aviator Review
Custom Sunova Carver Review
Foils used in this review:
AFS Enduro foils 700, 900, 1100
Mast used in this review:
My First Session:
Short and sweet was the theme for my first day on the Pocket Rockets and I couldn't have been happier. I did 2 sessions for about 20 miles In 23 knots of wind that was slowly fading and I was having a blast. It was pretty flat by Gorge standards but there were a few knee high rollers to collapse the Rockets on and glide. Riding powered I was immediately inspired to hook in due to the ability of the Pocket Rocket to absorb gusts. Upwind travel was completely respectable on my first day and the flight was stable enough for foot switches. For me, as a beginner parawinger, this first session was confidence inspiring and set the tone for days to come.
Subsequent Sessions:
After having such a blast on my first day I decided to spend the rest of my time learning the Pocket Rockets out at Rufus and Arlington. These are both well known large swell and high wind locations in the Gorge. I'm very comfortable in high winds with a wing (I prefer 30+ knots) and was so sure of the Pocket Rockets that I wanted to skip the rest of the learning process and get straight to the swell riding. For me, this was the right call. I quickly fell in love with the feeling of freedom that comes with having no sail in my hand. It has been a few years since I last paddled but the stoke returned instantly.
Initially, I didn't think much about packing down the Rockets but I think that was a mistake. Day 1-2 had several strange tangles with my coil leash and odd tangles when I would try to redeploy after simply collapsing the sail and riding swell for a few minutes. Pretty normal parawing growing pains. Going into my third session I developed my own plan for how to pack up and it has given me perfection on the water ever since:
Once the pack away was sorted all I wanted to do was parawing. Driving longer distances for better wind and swell was never questioned. My days and rides quickly got longer, growing towards 50 mile swell sessions. Perhaps I was inspired by a new toy but I genuinely started to feel as though the body fatigue from riding the Pocket Rockets was lower than when riding my beloved Ocean Rodeo Glide AA wings. Interestingly, I started challenging myself in a way that makes me think of prone foilers trying to get 3 for 1 waves. I started seeing how many full downwind laps I could get without falling in. 3 mile (5k) swell ride fully stashed, nail the redeploy and upwind section, then do it again. My best at the moment is in the 2-3 hour range without making a mistake and falling in.
A few notes from my journey:
Handling:
Steering and general controls are very intuitive. You don't need more than a second or two on the beach to get comfortable with them. The 2.4m is incredibly easy to fly through gybes and is my favorite size to ride every day. The 3m gets more use from me due to the current summertime winds but requires just a touch more focus and skill when flying. I don't have the larger sizes but my friends have no issues cruising with them:
Takeoff:
The Pocket Rockets always want to go upwind. This makes syncing them up with downwind swell for your takeoff a little more technical if you don't have enough power to just yank you up sideways across the wind. I used a +5l mini downwind board (Sunova Aviator Review) to get comfortable with the takeoff and then switched back to my -10l board (Custom Carver Review) and always use my Carver if its 25+ knots out.
Upwind:
I'm not doing car shuttles. When properly powered my upwind ability was just as good if not better than any winger I was coming across on the water. At this point I've had multiple riders approach me on the water as well as back on the beach telling me "your upwind angles were great!" A group of riders at Arlington pointed out: "Parawinging has always looked horrible. Then you show up and it's like you're on a chair lift re-setting your swell rides. Thanks for the inspiration!" This was the primary reason I got the Pocket Rockets and it's great to get external validation that I'm going upwind as well as I think I am.
Being Overpowered:
I learned very quickly that if I am harnessed in, I can push the Rockets upwind through some pretty extreme gusts without stress. The struggle with being overpowered only happens when I am unhooked in strong winds (30+ knots on 3m or 40+ knots on the 2.4m) and is honestly worst when I am trying to get my water start while extremely overpowered. I now hook in immediately when I get on the board and will just sit out the gusts in comfort for a minute or so if necessary. When unhooked, one thing I really like is that I've never had the Rockets ripped from my hand in the worst of gusts. This was something that scared me a bit when overpowered on other parawings but has never happened with this model. In comparison to wings I get better low end out of 3m and 2.5m wings but much better high end out of the Pocket Rockets.
Flat Water Riding or Deployed Sailing:
At first I didn't like this at all. This is because I'm not any good at actual parawinging. I can ride swell and I have tons of experience going upwind, but that's about it. I can't tack (haven't tried), gybes on the 3m require a touch of focus with back stalling of the sail, and I simply didn't see the point in using a parawing if I wasn't packing it away. However, after my epic swell riding days out east the winds got light and I was forced to ride flat water. Since I was hooked on the parawing I forced it. The experience of riding the Rockets in flatwater was very reminiscent of kitesurfing for me. Hooked in, one hand on the bar with it slid to the side, cruising around with nothing in my face. I loved it. The stability of the Pocket Rockets made this kind of riding very fun and friendly. Any gusts are casually absorbed and flat water foil sessions have been surprisingly fun and meditative for me. Where I was once a huge skeptic I have quickly transitioned to being a big fan.
Pack it away in the stash belt:
The Ozone stash belt is awesome. It holds the Rocket and bar inside with no issues. USE IT! Rip that bandaid off as fast as possible and just start stashing it away. I get into the water with it stashed and once on foil and riding swell I pack it away. The only time I ever get tangles anymore are if I insist on holding it in my hand and fall like that. At the end of my run I try to always have it packed away so I can casually walk back up onto the beach.
Retract length:
My wingspan is 68" (173cm) fingertip to fingertip and I have no issues retracting the 2.4m or 3m via the A lines. I also played with a 3.6m on the beach and found it to be manageable on land.
3m Bar to Batten A-Line retract length: 54" (137cm)
2.4m Bar to Batten A-line retract length: 48" (122cm)
The lines are soft:
Initially this was something I heard as a negative. The soft lines are supposedly easier to tangle. After playing with some of the stiffer lines on the market though, I've realized the soft lines are very forgiving to my hands vs some brands. I've never had a cut or even sore hands from big sessions and tons of retracts with the Pocket Rockets.
Canopy math:
I always measure my wing canopies to see how close they are to true published sizes and commonly find inconsistencies. Parawings are pretty much just rectangles, so the canopy math is easy to do. All my measurements should be considered approximate and vary from published sizes for a variety of reasons.
3m
Span (batten to batten): 105" (267cm)
Central Chord: 43" (109cm)
Size: 2.91m
Aspect ratio: 2.44
2.4m
Span (batten to batten): 90" (229cm)
Central Chord: 39" (99cm)
Size: 2.26
Aspect ratio: 2.31
Interestingly, the spans are very close to what the same size wing spans would be. The aspect ratios are significantly higher than my wings which are all below 2.
Colored coding matters:
Avoiding tangles is best, but they are going to happen when you are first learning or in a crash. When that does happen the colored lines (and color coded canopy panels) make all the difference in the world. The biggest thing I can recommend when I get a tangle is to just chill out. It's really no big deal and only takes a few minutes to untangle if you are relaxed and looking at it as a puzzle.
Published vs My Experience Wind Range:
*note: winds in the Gorge are very gusty, typically showing a range of at least 10 knots and commonly having a range of 20 knots. I'll state the average wind in my experiences but note that the lulls may be -5 to -10 and the gusts could be +5 to +10.
3m
The published sweet spot is about 21-27 knots. Advanced riders can squeeze approximately 16-32 knots based on the Ozone chart. As a beginner I found this to be reasonably accurate. I look for an average windspeed of 23-27 knots as the sweet spot for me. Below 23 my water starts are more sensitive. Above 27 is no problem, the peak gusts I've ridden through on the 3m are 35 knots and it was critical to be harnessed in for comfort at that speed. However, when the average is reaching towards 30 knots I prefer a smaller size.
I did fool around with a 5m and an Anchorman in 13 knots the other day. I used the wing to get on foil and then ditched it to deploy the 3m Rocket. This felt like a pretty desperate low end for me on this size. Not sustainable for long as it was pure pumping to keep it going.
2.4m
The published sweet spot is about 23-32 knots. Advanced riders can possibly get 17-36 knots based on the Ozone chart. As a beginner I can't imagine ever getting on foil at 17 knots with this size. I look for the gauges to be averaging 28-29 knots or higher when I pull this sail out. On the other hand, the upper end of the 2.4m has been awesome for me. I have been hooked in screaming upwind in 45 knots of wind without a care in the world.
Room For Improvement:
Durability:
This is my only real complaint so far with the Rockets. There are some unfinished edges throughout the build that are fragile. My second day on the 2.4m (the day I swam back) I had a full tear all the way to the next seam. I figured that I must have done something wrong and taped it back together. My third day on the 2.4m ended with fray spots in another location along the side of the sail. I taped this as well. This isn't the end of the world but I think the v2 will need to have these edges reinforced. I'm a bit confused by what causes this as there doesn't seem to be any kind of obvious heavy load path to these locations. Plus, I have twice as much time on my 3m and it still looks perfect which strikes me as odd.
Changing the bar foam:
This is a pretty nuanced criticism but the bar foam seems to hold the smallest amount of water after being submerged. You wouldn't think this matters but after a few hours of riding and handling a wet bar my hands get pruny. This makes it difficult to retract the canopy as the lines have too much friction on my moist hands. I think an ultralight carbon bar option with no foam or rubber alternative would be awesome.
Upwind support on the belt:
The stash belt is excellent for stashing but it's not ideal if you are serious about going upwind. It doesn't have the padding or structure necessary for long powered up rides while hooked in.
If I were to buy another size today:
Most of my friends in the Gorge have a 3 and 4.3m quiver. This is pretty tempting because they are obviously having fun in the lighter conditions where I can't use my 3m. However, I'm a little more excited to buy the 1.9m right now. I've always loved small sails and getting better at low end is something I've always been dedicated too. I'm also wondering, if I can handle the 3m at 35 knots, the 2.4m at 45 knots, then does that mean I can hold down the 1.9m at 55 knots? If so that might completely terminate high wind winging for me. Down the road I'm probably going to end up owning a full 1.9m-4.3m quiver.
Final Thoughts and Recommendations:
This product quite simply blew my mind. I didn't expect the gen 1 parawing from Ozone to be as good as it is but I love it. The ease of use, color coding, upwind ability, gust absorption, and outrageous fun factors have completely changed my perspective on parawinging and even altered my desire to wing! If you're a rider who plans to do upwind/downwind laps I can't recommend the Pocket Rockets highly enough. I'd recommend a 1/2 size larger than your normal wing size for beginners and I think everyone should get harnessed in as soon as possible to enjoy all the benefits of the Pocket Rockets.
Questions?
Thanks for taking the time to read and I hope you enjoyed this Ozone Pocket Rocket: Gorge Review. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section below (join the site for free) or shoot me an email and I'll do my best to answer your questions! Thanks again to Christian at Poseidon Standup for getting me on these as well as the great sales and customer service!
See you at the river,
Bryan Lee, M.S. Experiential Education.