Parasailing, also known as parascending, or "parakiting" is a recreational kiting activity where a person is towed behind a vehicle (usually a boat) while attached to a specially designed canopy wing that reminds one of a parachute, known as a parasail wing. On land or over water the manned kite's moving anchor may be a car, truck, or boat; parasailing just by kiting in heavy winds is highly discouraged. The boat then drives off, carrying the parascender or wing and person into the air. If the boat is powerful enough, two or three people can parasail behind it at the same time. The parascender has little or no control over the parachute.
There are six parts of a parasail. The harness attaches the pilot to the parasail, which is connected to the boat, or land vehicle, by the tow rope. The activity is primarily a fun ride, not to be confused with the sport of paragliding. There are commercial parasailing operations all over the world.
Land based parasailing has also been formed into competition sport in Europe. In land based competition parasailing, the parasail is towed to maximum height behind a 4 wheel drive vehicle and then releases the tow line and flies down to a target area in an accuracy competition. The sport was developed in the early 80's and has been very popular ever since. The first international competitions were held in the mid 80's and continue to run today.
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The first ascending-gliding parachute was developed by Pierre-Marcel Lemoigne in 1961. Lemoigne is a well-known developer of ParaCommander-type of parachutes such as the "ParaCommander" or PC-canopies. In the same year, LEMOIGNE established an Aeronautical Training Center to introduce his new ascending-gliding parachute establishing as a training tool for parachutist. He displayed his new product at various jump centers around Europe to train parachutist in a more concentrated form by towing the parachutist to a suitable altitude, then released them to practice landings. This training method proved cheaper than an airplane. The date of the first use of the ascending-gliding parachute outside of training parachutist is not known, but one of the first mentions is a flight by Colonel Michel Tournier from France flying behind a tractor in the same year - 1961. In 1963 Jacques-André Istel from Pioneer Parachute Company bought a license from Lemoigne to manufacture and sell the 24-gore ascending-gliding parachute which was trade-named "parasail".
In early 1976, Brian Gaskin designed, created and tested the first 16-gore canopy design which he named "Waterbird". The Waterbird was revolutionary in its canopy design, its unique tow yoke harness arrangement its construction and the use of zero porosity fabrics which allowed it to be used over water safely. The majority of commercial parasail operators utilized the 16-gore canopy design that was derived from Gaskin's original invention. In 1976 Gaskin founded his company, Waterbird Parakites, which is still in operation today, producing commercial and recreational 16-gore parasails worldwide.
Both the parachute and parasail can ascend and glide, if pulled by a vehicle and are designed to retard the fall of a body or object during the descent at a given altitude. The primary difference between the two is that the parasail is more stable during the ascent when towed and importantly kept not in free-glide.
In early 1971, Mark McCulloh of Miami, Florida is the original inventor of modern day parasailing equipment beginning with the world’s first stationary parasailing platform in 1971. Miami Herald
His innovations, inventions and accomplishments within the parasailing industry are broad in scope with a focus on improving the safety of parasailing through equipment design.
McCullohs inventions are:
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Mark McCulloh was issued the only patents ever granted related to commercial parasailing methods and equipment. United States Patent and Trademark Office Some of the highlights of McCulloh’s inventions inspired NASA's new X-38 crew rescue vehicle (NASA X-38).
McCulloh’s innovations, inventions and operating techniques continue to advance safety within the parasailing industry and have set the standards by which the majority of operators follow.
Many of McCulloh’s accomplishments have been aired on worldwide television and print media, such as Good Morning America, Inside Edition, Fox News NBC, LA Times, New York Times, and Miami Herald.
The most famous of McCulloh inventions is the winchboat, (a powerboat that incorporates a winch system to launch and retrieve parasailors from the boat) which is the preferred method for the majority of commercial operators worldwide; as is utilized by the at Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida for water survival training. This course lasts four days and simulates in-flight over-water emergency. The course centers its training on aircrews which utilize parachuting as the primary means of escape. Instruction includes initial academic training, parachute equipment procedures, parachute drag training, post-egress and recovery training, which includes a deep water landing, and a one- to two-hour raft familiarization exercise.
In 1993 Mark McCulloh formed the Commercial Winchboat Operators Association (CWOA) in Florida, and re-published his original 1985 "Para-Safe" Operating Standards and Guidelines (OSAG) for commercial parasailing. Insurance Underwriters mandated CWOA membership and adherence to the OSAG's as a prerequisite to obtaining commercial parasail liability insurance. State of Florida
In 1998 Mark McCulloh formed “Parasail Safety Council” , parasail.org[1] which established the first parasail association and information website to educate and influence people about parasailing safety, promote parasail regulations and provide the public with valuable information about parasailing.
In 2003 Arrit McPherson an advent parasail operator formed PAPO (the Professional Association of Parasail Operators teampapo.org[2] to promote safety throughout the sport.
In 2010 a group of parasail operators including (North Shore Parasail and Daytona Beach Parasail) joined the Water Safety Industry Association wsia.net[3] in an effort to establish best practices and safe operating practices for the parasail industry. WSIA organized the first parasail operators symposium in January of 2011, numerous parasail operators attended, along with various members of the US Coast Guard, FAA and NOAA.
As the success of McCulloh’s parasail winchboat grew around the world, operators required different performance from their parasail canopies as they were no longer flying directly from the beach or a fixed platform.
Operators have moved from small (20-foot range) parachutes to large (30-40 feet) 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 an adjustable side by side bar arrangement. The side by side bar is aluminum attached to the yoke of the chute, allowing two or three passenger harnesses to be attached side-by-side. The bar can be seen in the photo.
In the late 1990s Waterbird Parakites waterbird.co.uk[4] and Custom Chutes Inc,[5] redesigned the original Gaskin design for the new marketplace that required the parasails to carry more weight (double rides and triple rides) but still ensure they could operate in the same operating conditions. As a result a completely new design much larger in diameter but with much smaller increased air resistance was born, these new designed parasails can now be seen all over the world transforming the sport of parasailing.