Anybody else got the 10 and 12mtr Ozone Alpha 1 strut?

[Foil]

Foil, you say you could relaunch the Alpha, but not get your Onda on foil to get you back to the beach !?
My personal rule of thumb is: as soon as my Mono 12 can stay in the air - it will get me (80kg) going on my Onda

sounds like you have a heavy Mono12?
my Alpha12 weighs only 2.45 kg, it just hangs there in next to nothing.never had that before apart from my old foil kites. and the relaunch is well, you have to experience it to understand it, best bit of kit I have bought for light wind foiling

I had a set of North Mono kites from boardworx, I only kept them for around 3 weeks and swapped them for a set of Fone breeze kites which were slightly better.
but the Alpha kites are so much better for light winds.with silly easy relaunch.

[Foxi]

Thanks Foil, sounds like a good solution for my local issues in thermal mountain lake winds. Ozone does use same standard materials as for their eg Reo - right ?! Couldn’t believe their stated weight first ..
I‘m missing a 9m size in the Alpha range - do you think 12/8 would still have enough overlap ?

[RadDrDuke]

Anyone compare the Airush ultra 12 to Alpha 12?

I have the Ultra 9 and love it but I'm moving to a real lightwind spot (Florida) and need a bigger one strut kite and I know Ozones are generally great kites.

To counter the prior durability point: I've had a great experience with the 9m ultra and no durability issues (constant self launch by rolling as well as self landings; >50x), maybe he got a lemon?

[Youtch]

Anyone compare the Airush ultra 12 to Alpha 12?

I have the Ultra 9 and love it but I'm moving to a real lightwind spot (Florida) and need a bigger one strut kite and I know Ozones are generally great kites.

To counter the prior durability point: I've had a great experience with the 9m ultra and no durability issues (constant self launch by rolling as well as self landings; >50x), maybe he got a lemon?

Out of curiosity, I m in the market for an ultra and hesitate between 9 or 10. Your ultra 9m gets you going from which wind speed (specifying your weight and type of foil)?

Many thanks in advance

[RadDrDuke]

180lbs, liquid force happy foil (high aspect and super unstable/twitchy but fast). ~9knots (10mph) I am foiling, below that I can't get really going consistently but the kite flies still.

Sweet spots are: 10-15knots for foil, 12-18 knots for surfboard, 15-25knots for TT. 10m is probably just as good maybe 1-2 knots less for all categories but I have never flown it.

sorry for hijacking the thread.

[Foil]

I can come back now on that statement I made about the lack of flutter on the 10 and 12 Alpha.
The first 2 sessions were very light winds even dying to zero, and during these sessions the common flutter feature did not appear, strange as I have had 4 different brands of one strut kites over 2 years and the others fluttered a lot.
As of now have had 6 more sessions on the 12 alpha, 3 of those sessions were in stiff winds, where at times I was overpowered to the point of being lifted off the water in the gusts,
In these winds I noticed a little flutter in the loops, but this I put down to sheeting out a lot to reduce the power in the turns, but once I was sailing normally with normal pressure flowing over the kite, the flutter stopped, even parking it overhead the back edge stayed stable, and the large single strut kept the main canopy stable.

So you can make the kite flutter if you take it out in winds outside its optimum range,
but the flutter is not intrusive and not felt through the bar,
Coming off my 10 and 12 Reo's I have definitely noticed that at times the kite feels a tad slower, not a lot but definitely a little slower,
the upsides though are worth the small loss,
this is truly a great light wind Foil kite, with amazing super light wind easy relaunch, with over head stability in near zero wind (great hover capability)
the 10 is also a gem in the light stuff with the added bonus of being superb in overpowering conditions as well, the range is really good.

At one of my local spots with a lagoon available at low tide but with a very very long walk to get to it, I packed my 10 Alpha and 7 reo for the trek to the water,
I was confident the 10 had the range to allow such a big gap, as it turned out the 10 was up to the job,
the slower turning feature compared to the 10 Reo was hardly noticeable, but the much lighter feel and user friendliness was.
I love the way it packs down so small into its little stuff bag,(reminds me of my 9 mtr Ozone Hyperlink I had last year)
It's funny that my 10 alpha weighs less than my 7mtr Reo, which itself is a light kite.
I have not tried these Alpha kites on my twin tip to see if they work well, I hope they work better than my big Fone breeze kites which were appalling for Ttip use.
( before I bought them I was warned that the 15mtr was for the foil only, )

[www.kite-surf.com]

this is truly a great light wind Foil kite, with amazing super light wind easy relaunch

Thanks for your impressions. Could you please describe the light wind relaunch more in detail?

Thanks,
Robin

[mar menor]

Hi ,what is the wind range of the 10m Alpha with the 633 onda ?

[Foil]

this is truly a great light wind Foil kite, with amazing super light wind easy relaunch

Thanks for your impressions. Could you please describe the light wind relaunch more in detail?

Thanks,
Robin

The kite can fall in the water and lie in basically two ways,
1- flat on it's tube with the lines slightly tensioned by the wind pressing the the canopy wide open, this is the best position to relaunch the Alpha, and depending on the wind speed this method will work quickly, as it will for most modern kites, the difference is the lightness of the Alpha and the design of the big main tube along with the absolutely massive upturned wind ends, all this makes relaunch in silly light airs look like a trick of the eye, where other kites will stick to the surface, the alpha lifts off from its "on its edge position"
to get the kite to turn up into the position just a simple gentle pull in on the back line, again same as any other good easy relaunch kite, remembering to ensure your bar is the right way round to steer the kite once it has lifted well clear of the surface.

2- when the kite has decided to be awkward and sits there in the water canopy down sticking to the surface, tube bent with half in the water and half out,
this is the one where practice and understanding comes into play when the winds are super light, if its windy then the wind will normally help you out and spin the kite round itself,
but if the wind is very light I have to use this method-
(to make thing easy my lines are coloured coded right down to the bar, yellow for the right side of the kite, and red lines for the left side of the kite, as you look at the kite when flying)
Ok to start I sort the bar out ensuring its the right way up and free of any twists up to the kite, this step its very important.
then I decide if I want the kite to relaunch on the left or right side as I am looking at it, if one wing tip is catching a bit of wind then I choose that side as its less to do if a tip is already in the air, then I grab hold of the line which is attached to this wing tip, this needs to be the steering line, at this point I do not start pulling in as this will make things a bit more difficult when executing the next step, which is to find the opposite sides center line, this is where colour coded lines play their part as the lines will be a few inches under water and almost out of reach, if they are out of reach I pull hard in on the depower line to get the line I want, as soon as I have a good grip of it I pull it right in towards me watching the kite as it swings round with that wing end being maybe just under the water as it comes round, at the same time I balance things out with the steering line (already in my other hand) from the opposite side wing tip, the aim is to pull the kite out in a straight line along the same line of the wind direction, with the top wing tip high and clear of the water and the lower wing tip secure on the surface, this will lead to the canopy filling with wind and assuming the "lift off position"
now your ready for lift off but this is where it often goes wrong as you grab the bar, as it nearly allway spins itself upside down as you are manipulating the two lines getting the kite in position.

[Foil]

Hi ,what is the wind range of the 10m Alpha with the 633 onda ?

that's not easy to answer as its so different for different people with different needs, sailing style and water shape, skill levels and experience,
what works for me is not necessarily the same for someone else,
all I can say is it has a huge wind range for a single strut kite, much better than the 3 other brands of one strut kites I have owned, it does not get out of shape, it does not go heavy on the bar, the bar pressure stays light when outside its optimum range, for some reason it has a better range than my outgoing 10 mtr V4 Reo, which although very good, did get heavy and more aggressive when overpowered, great on the Ttip as it boosts so well, but not the sort of feeling wanted by me on the foil.
I used to change down very quickly when using the 10 reo, the 9 has a much better range, and as you go smaller on the reos the range gets even better as many other guys have found.