Ozone kites 12m low end experience

[stephduche]

I would not agree that if you are over 100kg you rarely use 9m and below. It all depends on your style and skill. I am 105kg. My quiver is 10/8/6. Granted, I am only on surfboards but my most used kite is 8m. When it is 20 knots or over I will be on 8m. I would not call 20 knots a very rare wind.

By the way I am on Ozone Reos so my post is not completely irrelevant

To comment on the original post, I used to have Reo v4 12m, but to be honest if you work your 10m the difference in power is not huge and the compromise in turning speed and range is significant. If your 12m is for crossover to TT forget Reo. If this for waves it depends. In onshore 12m will be a liability. If your are lucky enough to kite in side/off shore (with waves) it will be a blessing ...

what do you mean "12m Reo can be a liability in onshore winds"?

[stephduche]

For those who ride REOs,
Does a quiver of 7,10,12 makes sense, or 10 and 12 are too close and better do 7 (7 is clear to me) 9 and 12?

I'm 105kg and ride Ozone Reo V4 8/10/12 + surfboard Firewire Evo 5'3" (AWESOME board!!) then switch to hydrofoil when 12m is too small.

As you can see I have 8/10/12m. I think it's definitely a+ to have the 12m on top of a 10.
I just recently started to experiment with shorter lines: it makes a world of a difference to fly the 12m with shorter lines as it makes it so much faster turning and so much nicer for wave riding

[nayy]

I'm 80 kg and have catalyst (2014) 12 and 9 m², reo V3 7m² and reo V4 5m²...
I was happy with my 12 until this year... i started foiling and in less than 10 knots this kite does not fly well anymore... not stable, backstalling, ...
If you take a more recent version Cat 2015, or enduro the low-end is much better... not the power but they fly much better in light, marginal wind...
My brother has the enduro 1 and compared tot the catalyst 2014 there is a big difference in low-end comfort.

For foiling I bought a strutless 12m², nothing can beat such a kite... but for regular kiting the recent ozones are good...

[Archer77]

81kg/1.8m/178lb/5'11", retired grandfather, live near the sea, 136 x 40.5 Lieuwe Shotgun twintip and 5'8" Mitu directional.

For 3 kites I would have: 7m x 1.3 = 9.1m, then 9m x 1.3 = 11.7m, so 7/9/12m

I have 6/8/10/12 Enduro V2s - 10m is the biggest I use on the directional and 12m the biggest on the twintip. Ideally would have 6/8/10/13m but Ozone don't make a 13m Enduro. In winter I mostly use the 6m and 8m and in summer the 10m and 12m. To be fair I mostly use the twintip, and use the directional only when the conditions are nice (but I'm crap on it).

Edit: 2m between kites is nice on a directional.

iriejohn please could you make a comparison between the upwind ability of yours 136 Lieuwe TT and the 5'8 Mitu? it's the TT so much better?

[iriejohn]

iriejohn please could you make a comparison between the upwind ability of yours 136 Lieuwe TT and the 5'8 Mitu? it's the TT so much better?

I'm not the right person to compare the Lieuwe Shotgun with the Mitu 5'8 because as I said.

To be fair I mostly use the twintip, and use the directional only when the conditions are nice (but I'm crap on it).

Sorry.

[Archer77]

iriejohn please could you make a comparison between the upwind ability of yours 136 Lieuwe TT and the 5'8 Mitu? it's the TT so much better?

I'm not the right person to compare the Lieuwe Shotgun with the Mitu 5'8 because as I said.

To be fair I mostly use the twintip, and use the directional only when the conditions are nice (but I'm crap on it).

Sorry.

thank you anyway john! following my research I have also found this very interesting maybe could be of some help also to you

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2400657

[iriejohn]

iriejohn please could you make a comparison between the upwind ability of yours 136 Lieuwe TT and the 5'8 Mitu? it's the TT so much better?

I'm not the right person to compare the Lieuwe Shotgun with the Mitu 5'8 because as I said.

To be fair I mostly use the twintip, and use the directional only when the conditions are nice (but I'm crap on it).

Sorry.

thank you anyway john! following my research I have also found this very interesting maybe could be of some help also to you

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2400657

I know how to drive boards off fins because I used to windsurf/wavesail with small (250cm) fully rockered wave boards which would only go upwind when driven off the fin. But with a kite I'm still crap on a directional board, mainly through lack of practice to be honest because most of the time a TT is best suited to our sea conditions.