Single strut kite comparison

[dave1986]

I have a 13m Ozone Chrono UL for 6knots+, but realised this weekend that in heavy rain and large surf I'd rather not fly my foil, and a 10m single strut kite would be beneficial.

I'm looking at these 4 options:
-Ozone Alpha V1
-Airush Ultra V2
-F-One Breeze
-Naish Boxer

Which has best relaunch in low winds?
Should I avoid any particular model?
Pros and cons of each?

[tomtom]

Just take Alpha and do not overthink it. Its simply best. And if is not 2x more expensive than rest for you its nobrainer.

[mar menor]

Alpha is good ,but is not "the best" ( and I sell Ozone )
You would prob. be happy with any of them. Also ,the new PLKB Synergy
https://www.iksurfmag.com/reviews/kites ... -10m-2019/

[jumptheshark]

Everyone will have one soon enough. SS have the Ghost, LF the solo and North the Mono. Then there is Gong and Voyager who were early adopters. I think the field is big enough and the market experienced enough that you can't just say you would be happy with any of them.

I would love to hear impressions and comparisons of any of them.

@ Tomtom,

What makes you rate the Alpha so highly?

[mar menor]

I didn't like the Mono or the Solo, but I am on Onda 633 and weigh 68kgs,found them 'grunty'
Not to say they are not good kites,my foiling buddies love them!
People's opinions on the forum are just that,though sometimes presented as 'objective' facts,when in reality they are subjective bias.

[dave1986]

In particular I'm interested to know which of them relaunch well (or badly) compared with others in light winds.

[jumptheshark]

Opinion is just that, but there are plenty of people who's I respect. Takes me no time to see if the reviewer shares any of my priorities.

I am very spoiled by strutless kites, and could see the early single strut kites were not really tuned into the core concept of shedding ALL unnecessary weight. They simply dropped a couple struts and hit the market. I'm sure they have improved, but my initial impressions of the mono and solo are pretty low. I wanna hear what the latest ones are like. They have been out a couple seasons now and hopefully have figured it out. The new PL looks very light build, and I mean that as a positive.

[jkrug]

In particular I'm interested to know which of them relaunch well (or badly) compared with others in light winds.

I've owned both the Alpha and the Ultra in 12M. the Ozone Alpha relaunches MUCH better than the Airush Ultra. don't know about the others. overall I like the Alpha better in all aspects. i also own Airush Wave kites, and they are subpar relaunchers as well. The Airush kites don't have solid connections between the strut ends and the leading edge, which i think causes the bad relaunch. And unless you weigh very little, you're not going out on any 10M single strut kite in the 6-10 knot range.

[Desgro]

I've tried the 10m Alpha for one session in light wind;
Liked: the no pulley setup, rigid single strut, tight canopy in the water, floaty in the air, easy water launch, standard Ozone construction. Did not like: Huge over size leading edge, slow turning.

I decided to buy the Airush Ultra II 7m-9m-12m. I like: Fast turning, amazing floaty drift, pretty good water relaunch, takes gusts really well, never stalls, great power delivery. I do not like
The six pulleys and bridal, difficult to drift launch, difficult to hot launch in the water, soft center strut, saggy canopy.

Once the Ultra is in the air though the positive out way the negative, in my opinion the Ultra is a great foiling kite.

[Wazza Foil]

I have observed a very skilled guy with a 10m Alpha and conclude my 8m single strut Cloud kite better in most aspects.
I do have other strutless Cloud kites but as the topic is single strut then I'll try to stick to the topic.
My Cloud is more responsive, stays in the air in lighter conditions and will water relaunch in lighter breeze.
I also have a 9m Strutless Gong kite (with a centre batten) and about 9 months ago demoed the Alpha on the same day I flew the Gong - both felt very similar in performance and kite weight and both much heavier and less responsive than Clouds.
I have sold all my regular multi-struted kites.