Ocean Rodeo raises the bar to a whole new level

[grantman54]

next kite i buy will hopefully be a Rise. I love that bar. Finally some real engineering.

[blowhard]

that's very nice ,I don't care for back line safeties at all
the spreader and loop look right ,
similar t what I use on my old Naish bars ,
and is proven and effective

[brunoperez]

I can understand the concerns raised by gonewiththewind because it happened to me. For the record, I love Ocean Rodeo since 2008, I am an experienced rider (8 years) and I practice safety.
It was on January 1st 2010, riding near Hobbie Beach Miami, FL. I want to bring up this experience because when I think about I wished that day the quick release had a flagging feature, or a quick second option for emergency release. Here is what happened:
My friend and I were riding well powered our 10 meters RISE in 20-25 MPH conditions, a cold front was approaching. Lots of kites were on the water since it was New Year ’s Day. We felt that the wind was increasing so we were on the way back to the beach. I was hooked in, with my leash attached to the ring below the chicken loop. All of sudden a gust came in at almost 50MPH (see graph), I brought the kite down near the water and my instinct told me to quick release because it was too strong to hold on (at that point I was not thinking about depowering the kite first). I was then away from the bar, still holding the kite by the leash attached to my harness. To my surprise, the kite was still in extreme full power so I was scared to even touch any lines, and I was wondering what to do, hoping that maybe the gust would stop. We were on a sand bar, so I was able to stand up. My friend was next to me also on a RISE 10, seeing what was happening. He then depowered his kite, reached to the handle and recovered his kite hoping he could then help me. But the wind was so strong that my leash finally gave up, snapped and my kite flew away to at least 500 yards, landing onto a pole. The storm was over, we were then rescued by a boat, and we recovered my kite (main bladder exploded) and luckily no one had any injuries.
I was lucky I was able to stand up, so I could prevent being dragged downwind into the wall of the Seaquarium.
So thinking back, I pulled the eject, but my kite was NOT depowered because it is still on 4 lines. The problem is that the bar is now out of reach. Having the option to flag out the kite on one front line is critical in this situation, but this was not available to me.
I wished I had the opportunity to hook my leash to a second option like an “OH Shit handle” that would be easily reachable near the bar, as this would make me feel much safer in any situation. Now I really see the point gonewiththewind was trying to bring up.

Gust at almost 50 MPH.JPG (24.95 KiB) Viewed 2028 times

[stefaans]

brunoperez, you willl be very glad to know then with all the 2011 gear you will not have this problem again the kites now completely depowers as the pully runs to the centre of the kite and kills it.
i never hada problem with the previous models but then again never ran into a situation like yours. Glad it all worked out for you.

[ORSales]

This is indeed unfortunate. In 99% of situations our current system offers adequate depower but, unfortunately until this 2011 season there were still extreme situations which ultimately demanded a total release of the kite.

For 2011 all Ocean Rodeo kites will offer complete depower when ejected to the safety system and will not require, or lead to, total releases and situations described above.

All existing customers riding 2009 or 2010 Rise kites will have the option to upgrade their kite and their bar and line systems from those years to easily accommodate this change in design. Similarly, customers buying 2011 kites who wish to use bars from earlier years will easily be able to upgrade their existing bar set-up.

John Zimmerman, OR

[brunoperez]

Wow, this is fantastic news, I am very happy that the new 2011 will handle that situation because I really love OR kites. With that addon they will be then perfect, thanks for that. I can't wait to get my new 2011 soon.
Bruno

[kitezilla]

So, will the 2011 safety flag the kite out on one line? or the 2 front lines?

On a related note, why not just include an "Oh sh@@" handle on one of the rear lines, as was suggested above? It could be used for downing the kite onto one line in an extreme situation like the one described above.

[eag]

Oh Shit handles don't really work on SLE kites that maintain their shape. Most new non-C kites are rigid enough that they won't fully flag and you'll have a wildly looping kite if you release to one back line.

[stefaans]

To answer some questions. Yes the prototypes I saw did have O-shit handles use them or don't. The kite will flag from two front lines and depower 100%. or lets say it will have the power left of walking with your kite on the beach in your hands as you will be attachet still from the very front end of your LE.

[gonewiththewind]

This is indeed unfortunate. In 99% of situations our current system offers adequate depower but, unfortunately until this 2011 season there were still extreme situations which ultimately demanded a total release of the kite.

For 2011 all Ocean Rodeo kites will offer complete depower when ejected to the safety system and will not require, or lead to, total releases and situations described above.

All existing customers riding 2009 or 2010 Rise kites will have the option to upgrade their kite and their bar and line systems from those years to easily accommodate this change in design. Similarly, customers buying 2011 kites who wish to use bars from earlier years will easily be able to upgrade their existing bar set-up.

John Zimmerman, OR

What exactly has changed? The kite or the bar? Riders wishing to use your bar with another kite are still screwed? Does it release to one line from below the chicken loop?