Aluula? New Revolutionary Material from Ocean Rodeo

[alford]

Was that board a Mako? Shape looked like one but not color. Anyone?

[iriejohn]

Was that board a Mako? Shape looked like one but not color. Anyone?

It has "MAKO" written on it.

[OzBungy]

It has been suggested that an Aluula kite will be double the price of normal kites. It would want to have more than double the performance of a normal kite for that to be at all attractive.

Similarly, if it is going to cost as much or more than a foil kite it needs to have as much or more performance.

I would be looking for Aluula to deliver a light wind inflatable kite that is suitable for foiling in sub-10 knots winds but remains comfortable in winds up to 20 knots.

A foiling quiver of 2-3 kites that covers <10 to 50 knots would also be a nice thing. I can that with 4 Switch kites now.

The strength test in the videos is good to see but it's also kind of irrelevant. How may times does a hook with 100kg go through the dacron on your leading edge?

I would be much more interested in seeing resistance to puncture, abrasion and bursting. They would all be easy tests to simulate. Not so good for showing on a bench at a kite show.

[purdyd]

Increased power per meter, increased reactivity/turning, increased power delivery, there will be a bit of a recalibration of kite sizes to wind ranges. Of course it's my hope that the top end is also improved with increased stiffness, and that the depower is enough to keep up so you don't lose teeth in the gusty stuff.

As someone looking to cover large ranges with as few kites as possible it all sounds pretty good.

I’m Leary of the increased power claim. In one of the OR interviews one of the employees says he doesn’t get more power but does get a better upstroke when starting on a foil.

The last super stiff leading edge kites did not produce more power. They were reactive but were very stiff to turn and had a wide turn radius because the tips did not twist well.

They did however, have a huge upper range but also a thin leading edge.

And while it seems possible that changes in the leading edge geometry and kite construction might allow the kite to twist, the prototypes I have seen so far appear not to be optimized for using aluula,

Perhaps that will change before the production kites are released.

Also, the canopy material seems to me the general limiting factor in kite longevity. So not sure this first iteration will last any longer.

I think it good to temper expectations at this early stage.

[Havre]

It has been suggested that an Aluula kite will be double the price of normal kites. It would want to have more than double the performance of a normal kite for that to be at all attractive.

I would be shocked if they didn't milk the market initially. My guess is that demand will be a lot higher than their capacity of production. Rare to see anything like this in any market. It feels a bit like when the iPhone first appeared. To serve kiters with limited price sensitivity makes a lot of sense. And I believe there are quite a few kiters that would like to be in the "exclusive" group for some time - being the only one on the beach with Aluula etc.

I am not a product nerd. I am perfectly happy with my "oldish" equipment, but I got to say this Aluula sounds amazing. When the Razor and/or Prodigy comes out in Aluula I might be tempted to replace my current kites even if they still got plenty life left in them. I don't know how much of a premium I would be willing to pay, but certainly some.

[daspi]

Is there a too stiff? Is stiffness really wanted in kite design, or at least to what degree? Here is what Pat Goodman had to say about it at about 30min into the video. Found it very interesting.

[jumptheshark]

Kite design will no doubt evolve to maximize the potential of new materials into a better flying kite. Shifts in materials in any other industry have resulted in changed end product that are generally better than what you had before and in many different ways you could not have easily predicted before hand.

Current kites are great, but they are not the end of the line design wise. New materials are overdue. Of course there is a down side on cost, but that's the nature of the beast when it comes to markets and competitive advantage, especially when dealing in luxury products.

[jumptheshark]

The needs of different styles of kites have never been more divergent. As long as you can get that initial burst of power, foilers can get away with smaller kites than imaginable a few years ago. The static pull is no longer even relevant. Its peak power, and the ability to work a kite quickly and get more power out of the up stroke could push foilers into yet another step down in size.... equates to much wider range as smaller kites can handle so much more on the top end as well.

Even if aluula kites are expensive, I'd be tempted to pay up if a 7m is basically the only kite I need.

[elguapo]

a ROAM BLACK in 5m would tempting... but i'd very interested in a 3m or 4m for foil use (wish they had smaller sizes)

[jumptheshark]

I think I'll venture into Aluula from the big side of the kite spectrum. Well, more accurately the mid size. I want to spend the money where I use it most, and that is by far and away my 8-9m range. Want to size any new significantly lighter kite to take over for my 8.4m cloud, and take a bite out off the range of my current 12 and 6m kites.