TRENDS 2023

Photo: Johan Chemin TRENDS 2023/1

TRENDS 2023 (1)

COCOON HARNESSES, STREAMLINED OR NOT A very visible trend at the Coupe Icare 2022: more and more pilots, including re‐latively inexperienced ones, are looking for the comfort of a cocoon harness, with the added bonus of a gain in performance, even if this is principally during accelerated flight.

Some manufacturers are adapting to this new trend and offering two versions: with or without rear fairing. This fairing in the back of the harness acts as a stabilizer and thus provides even more comfort, but above all, it can give racing wings up to one extra point of glide ratio. The biggest disadvantage of a streamlined harness is often the volume it takes up in the backpack, and the higher price. To learn about cocoons, here is the link to our most recent in‐depth report in 2018.

Photo: Arthur Burkhardt