Aluula? New Revolutionary Material from Ocean Rodeo

[RagingGrandpa]

Another close-up:

[kitcho207]

@OR...
Why is the smallest flite 12m. Surely stronger would be a great strong wind kite too.
Also
With the material stiffer how well does it pack away with being folded in the same place?

[droffats]

As far as I've been told, the smaller Flites that people used mostly for hydrofoiling end up overlapping with the Roam -- they both drift well, are light weight, responsive when depowered, etc. The newest edition of the Roam gets upwind well too. So anyone wanting those things in a smaller Flite can just get a Roam and have a great surf kite too.

For high wind, boosting, hooked in tricks, big air, etc. maybe that is something Ocean Rodeo is developing that would be in the smaller sizes and made of Aluula? My guess is a company can only truly design and test so many things at once.

As for the folding, I've wondered that too. I like to try for myself first, but there is one story I heard. In testing, someone made an hourglass shaped strut so it would bend at the narrow point and left it on the beach flapping in the wind like those inflatable guys outside the used car dealership...

[purdyd]

I think OR made a good decision to focus on the large flite and roam as I imagine changing all of their kites would be a huge commitment of resources and risk.

And these models should really benefit from the light weight material.

Unfortunately it looks like it will be almost a year for general availability and graphene is a notoriously expensive substance.

It’s going to be a huge financial commitment from OR to meet demand. I imagine that is why they are asking for preorders in the winter to better judge how many to make and help with cash flow.

[Faxie]

I think OR made a good decision to focus on the large flite and roam as I imagine changing all of their kites would be a huge commitment of resources and risk.

And these models should really benefit from the light weight material.

Unfortunately it looks like it will be almost a year for general availability and graphene is a notoriously expensive substance.

It’s going to be a huge financial commitment from OR to meet demand. I imagine that is why they are asking for preorders in the winter to better judge how many to make and help with cash flow.

That's where the advantage is.

I still don't expect the new material will change the game that much for moderate winds and up. Nice for travel though.

[nothing2seehere]

Listening to Reece Myerscroft in the kitesurf365 interview he was saying he was at the point of asking for the prototypes he uses for competition to get slower steering as the kites were too fast. I'm guessing this is why the small sizes aren't being produced for the Flite. The big sizes won't be a problem to be faster, the small ones are pretty nippy already.

[ORSales]

Hi guys, thanks for all the questions and interest... I'll do my best to address them all.

We chose the name The Aluula Project to show that this is an ongoing, evolving effort to radically reduce kite weight.

For years we've worked hard to carefully refine and reduce the overall weight of our kites without sacrificing quality. Our 2020 kite line up built with conventional materials (coming August 12th) has a weight reduction per kite of between 6% to 12% when compared to the same size / model 2 years ago. The introduction of Aluula materials is just the latest, though most extraordinary, step in this process.

Eventually, all of our kites will include a version built from these exciting new materials but for now, this is a carefully planned roll out with multiple stages ahead.

Starting in the fall, demo centers and key dealers will receive kites for consumer demos. These kites are a taste of what's to come, a proof of concept and it's important everyone try one to see just how remarkable the difference in kite feel and performance is with these new materials.

Then, starting in the late fall / early winter we will begin to make available consumer purchases of the Flite (lightwind) and Roam (freeride foil board / surf) kites as these 2 kite models have the most immediately obvious application of the new materials. As posters above note, it's all but certain that these new materials will open whole new channels of exploration in kite design and experimentation. Certainly, kites designed for Big Air will benefit enormously from these materials.

For now, consumers are encouraged to sign up for our kiteboarding newsletter to stay informed and to register their products for an additional 6 month warranty. Consumer introduction of these kites will be done in stages with those who have registered or register a kite purchased after January 1, 2018 receiving initial priority.

A reminder too that as part of our Trust Program, consumers can trade in their used kites (from any brand) for credit towards new gear purchases. Call or email your local Ocean Rodeo dealer today to ask about great deals on 2019 kites or the availability of our soon to be launched 2020 kites. Purchase any one of these kites today, demo a BLACK kite in the fall and trade in your purchase for credit in the winter towards the new BLACK kites built with Aluula composite materials!

A quick thank-you too to the community for the support you've shown our brand for the last 18 years.

John Z ~ OR

[jespin4845]

can't wait for the razor in Aluula,...I love foiling with the 10m, under 12 knots you notice how heavy it is...

[purdyd]

Hi guys, thanks for all the questions and interest... I'll do my best to address them all.

Just for clarification the email says

Starting this fall and extending through the early winter, BLACK kites will be available for consumer trials at a worldwide network of demo centers. This taste of what's to come will be followed by a staged consumer rollout of a full range of BLACK kites starting in spring, 2020.

Consumers having registered an Ocean Rodeo kite purchased anytime after January 1, 2018 will be given early priority for this staged rollout. Together with this registration list, consumers will be given the opportunity to also place a fully refundable deposit on a BLACK kite starting in the late winter, after having demo'd a kite.

So it looks like you demo the kite and late winter you put down a deposit for delivery in Spring I suppose that could be June. And if you don’t own an OR kite it could be later as you would not have priority.

I don’t see a problem with that as long as you are clear in when the kites can be ordered will be delivered and that doesn’t seem to be the case right now.

A lightweight aluula roam sounds like a perfect kite for me as I foil and wave kitesurf but if it is year or more until I code get one, I need to plan accordingly, there is a lot of kitesurfing between now and then.

[ORSales]

Hi guys, thanks for all the questions and interest... I'll do my best to address them all.

Just for clarification the email says

Starting this fall and extending through the early winter, BLACK kites will be available for consumer trials at a worldwide network of demo centers. This taste of what's to come will be followed by a staged consumer rollout of a full range of BLACK kites starting in spring, 2020.

Consumers having registered an Ocean Rodeo kite purchased anytime after January 1, 2018 will be given early priority for this staged rollout. Together with this registration list, consumers will be given the opportunity to also place a fully refundable deposit on a BLACK kite starting in the late winter, after having demo'd a kite.

So it looks like you demo the kite and late winter you put down a deposit for delivery in Spring I suppose that could be June. And if you don’t own an OR kite it could be later as you would not have priority.

I don’t see a problem with that as long as you are clear in when the kites can be ordered will be delivered and that doesn’t seem to be the case right now.

A lightweight aluula roam sounds like a perfect kite for me as I foil and wave kitesurf but if it is year or more until I code get one, I need to plan accordingly, there is a lot of kitesurfing between now and then.

Thanks Purdyd, I'm sorry if I confused you.

We've been working with these materials for years. People close to the company have had the chance to demo various versions of kites built with these new materials and all of them have been incredibly excited by the results. The plan with the fall roll out of demo kites is to expand this exposure and to really awaken the world's interest in the potential of the materials.

Later in the fall / early winter we will have a much better sense of interest / demand in the product plus a sense of timing for delivery of consumer ready products. It is at that time that we will start to put a more clearly defined timeline together for the consumer sales but our goal is late winter / early spring. So, even if you do none of the aforementioned things to get on the early mailing list, etc, Spring 2020 is still realistic for you to have a new kite.

As mentioned too, our conventional material kites are already the lightest 3 strut kites available. It could be interesting for you to consider trying one of our 2019 or 2020 kites as an introduction to the brand, our build quality, etc and to then use the trade in option to swap up to a BLACK kite when they are available.