Downsizing?

I haven't changed anything in my normal flying gear for well over 2 years. There hasn't been a lot of incentive - I'm very happy with my gear and it seldom limits my flying. 

But a number of things have me considering some new gear. Almost every flight I do is a hike and fly, so weight is important. I'm flying in the Alps, so handling strong conditions well is more important than ridge-soaring in weak conditions. Many of my flights are out and backs or triangles, so flying into the wind is important.

So I'm considering a smaller wing, to come in around the top of the weight range. The local school lent me a small Mentor 2 today. WIth new wings it's hard to sort the hype out from the reality, but I was very impressed. This is a newer, highly regarded and lower rated wing than the one I currently fly - it's got plastic batons in the leading edge. 

Of course, it's hard to make your mind up in a single flight, but it was solid and performed well. The plastic batons mean it has a lot fewer lines than my wing - it's a three line glider, whereas mine has 4 lines. I expected a 'detuned' experience but that wasn't the case at all; there was plenty of feedback from the wing. Being smaller, it seemed to cut through turbulence and sink better than my current wing. I got below ridge height a couple of times but was always confident in the wing.

The wing I really hope to get is a small Factor 2, which probably won't be available for 3 or 4 months. This should offer a slight performance advantage over the Mentor 2, but I must admit I'd be perfectly happy with the Mentor 2.

Really, wings today are very good...