EZE=No Joke

[pebbles]

A buddy of mine has been telling me how great this kite is in litewind. I am a skeptic until I can get my hands on it. He was like " Go check the vid on freakdog.com" ,well , I couldn't really tell anything with the grainy video.

So I'm hanging at his local spot last week when the wind starts gusting to 12. Winds were probably 7-12 avg. 10. I'm usually the guniea pig in litewing cuz I always want to ride. I weigh 215 lbs. and live in a litewind area so I HAVE to use big kites. So I grab my skimmer w/ 13m and immediately I am on plane, actually going upwind a little, too.The lulls hurt me, but in 10-12 I'm doing good. Another guy @ 125lbs is on the 11 with a big plywood board is powered.What?

Next day is more wind, 12-18mph, and I try the 11m with my 133 CF. Normally in this wind I'm on my 15m and comfortable. I actually sheet out in the gusts with the 11. My buddy is on the 9m and doing triple forward rolls with downloops. The smaller guy is riding an 8m vicious with a regular sized board.

Wind starts to drop (10-15) and the 11 is just not enough for me. I come in and give the 11 to another friend who weighs 185 and is at a higher level than me. He goes out powered with a 132 best board. He is boosting at least 20ft airs. I pump up the 13 and I'm powered the rest of the day. The whole time the wind is dropping. Later I ask him how he likes the 11 and he says "what? I thought that was the 13."

Bottom line is these are fast powerful kites that excel in litewind. Oh yeah, I'm gettin' a 13.

later

pebbles

[FreakDogVegas]

Pebbles,

Thanks for posting about the EZE.

Whenever I tell people about the lightwind performance of 13m EZE they all say "bull$hit". Nobody can believe that a 13m will perform so well especially when hauling around larger guys.

If you are thinking about getting one, do it. We have about 50 EZE kites (13m and 11m) arriving soon. I've been told that Eric Hertsens (EH) will send any remaining EZE kites to Europe or Australia since his other shipments are already sold out.

[fkb]

Seems most kites are better these days. I'm down to a two kite quiver, and my main "goto" kite is a 9m. I ride it from 13 - 30 knots @ 190lbs.

Life is good

[KHawaii]

It's great if you can get enough time on the water starting at 13 knots. If you want to be able to kite in the 8 to 15 knot range, the EZE is the answer, and I'm talking 8 to 15 on a TT, not a surfboard.

[Kite-Me]

Although this is only my second post on this board, mainly because I usually don't have the time... I do not try and plug any kite companies, but did see the EZE in two separate locations in Florida.

I did see Jeremy Green from Jupiter Kiteboarding riding a 13m EZE Freak Dog on Saturday morning of the Jupiter Invasion in 10-12mph winds. He was the only kiteboarder out there among all those surfers...I did see these kites again in Melbourne a week or so later at Kitetricity Kiteboarding's facility in Melbourne, FL . I was told there was some video on their website of these kites being flown in 10-12mph winds, be sure to check it out.

Check out the pictures below.

I showed up late in the afternoon, and all three kites were up in the air, the 9m, 11m, and the 13m, being ridden by all different types of people, but all in the same wind speed, 10-12mph.

The day was 2-5-08 in the afternoon at 4:30pm, I even checked it out on ikitesurf to verify the winds.

[The Jess-Man]

What's the largest size they are making?

[pebbles]

Largest size EZE is 13m. It really makes you feel like there is more wind. The 13 has much more power than my 15m. Flys alot faster in lite winds, so you can generate power easily. Having never flown these kites I was worried about relaunch. Easy to do, just different technique than I am used to.

Once I figured out the relaunch, it became second nature. I noticed that if I tried to force the relaunch I would screw up. Later, I realized that when I was relaxed and patient, it would leave the water faster/easier. Grabbing the back line should be pull not jerk/yank.

Later

pebbles

[tautologies]

looking forward to having a go

a.

[droffats]

I asked in the Monsoonz thread about the differences between the Monsoonz, Liquid Torque, and the EZE but I'm wonding if anyone in this thread can be more specific. I know they all share the original bow patent, but is there also a newer patent for ultra flat kites and the infill panel between the struts and the canopy? Does the EZE not have that feature? It seems there is some legal reason EH has to be called Freak Dog in the US and I speculated it has something to do with the companies that license EH designs. Anyone know for sure/

Thanks,
Droffats

[FreakDogVegas]

droffats,

The Monsoonz and the EH kites are both ultra flat kites but that is where the similarity ends. I was told the Monsoonz is a direct copy of a DW patent and Bruno has worked with Monsoonz in its production and furthering the design.

Eric designs his kites independently but respects the patent and pays DW. He did not recieve input from the patent or Bruno. The EH/FD RippEHr/Unleashed and the EZE are designed as "high performance flat hybrid" both are considered ultra flat kites. They are designed to fulfill different purposes. Go to http://www.cabareteairforce.com for more information.

DW holds patents on other kite designs in addition to the "BOW" design. I don't know the details of the other patents.

The reason EH wasn't sold in North America has to do with legal and liability issues. The name change was done to satisfy both legal and business necessity.

I hope that helps answer your questions.