2022 Ocean Rodeo Aluula Rise: first hand experience?

[Paleofit]

Alright, all the Rise sizes are coming out. Who has ridden what? What’s the stoke level and verdict out there?

10m: 3 sessions in and loving it. It’s got that amazing aluula low end of course (fun to mess with a surfboard) but my biggest grins so far were in 22 knots average on TT. As expected, it turns suuuper fast…it does it around the tip and with power but you have quite a bit of control of the power by just turning it faster. Jumping: with proper wind, it does that explosion/leave your stomach behind thing which is cool. Kite really wants to go vertically up and eventually get right over your head (so put it around a shoulder and heli). I’d put hangtime at medium and say you do need to know where it is (it is fast enough to get in unexpected places). Timing jumps took a sec to learn. It doesn’t pull very hard when you ride (very different from flite which pulls always bc it is optimized to make the most of the wind). Drift compared to roam is obviously worse but it’s still pretty exceptional.

12m: unfortunately the situation was weird (I rode a bigger freestyle board and tiny fins, not my normal set up). To be continued…

[fernmanus]

I have the 10m and I have ordered a 12. The 10m is my favorite big air kite that I have flown (I have been kiting for 20+ years and I have flown a lot of kites). If you like big air style kites, you need to try the Rise before you diss it, because it is nothing like the Roam or Flite. It is a super fun kite to fly.

This is a kite where the materials make all the difference. Take a look at a photo of the Rise and you can see that is is a long narrow kite. It would be a jellyfish if built with Dacron, but it is not. It is solid in the air, even in strong, gusty wind, it doesn't deform.

Yeah, it was gutsy of Ocean Rodeo to say a "new Big Air Legend is born" - I don't know if that is accurate I guess time will tell. However, they could have said that a new era in kite building is opening up due to the characteristics of Aluula. I don't think the Flite takes best advantage of the material, but I think the Rise is different and I have heard similar feedback about the Crave.

[y2kBug]

hey guys, please keep the feedback coming. especially interested to hear about 12m

[droffats]

Wish I could review the 12m, but they sell out before I can ride one. You may have seen this video from last fall of the 10m already, ignore it if it's a rerun:

[fernmanus]

It is a fast turning kite. I usually set my kites on the fastest turning setting, but after a couple sessions, I moved to the middle setting.

It is a fun kite to fly because it is so responsive and inspires confidence as you know it will not deform, but stay stable even in super gusty conditions.

[Abaltasis]

Any new reviews for the Rise?
Anyone have any comments for Rise vs Rebel or Orbit?

[fernmanus]

I heard a container with larger sizes (11 & 12) just arrived.

As far as comparisons go, you need to try each kite for yourself. I personally think the Rise is one of the more fun kites that I have flown, it is responsive and nimble. It reminds me of the Evo, easy to loop and playful. Yet unlike the Evo, it doesn’t the leading edge is rock solid and does not deform under load, hang-time is also better than the Evo. I don’t have enough experience on the Orbit or Rebel to compare them to the rise. I can tell you that the Rise feels more nimble than the Edge v11.

[y2kBug]

12m: unfortunately the situation was weird (I rode a bigger freestyle board and tiny fins, not my normal set up). To be continued…

@Paleofit wondering about your experience with 12m

[rnelias]

[Kitehume]

OceanRodeo's website now showing 11m and 12m in stock.