Looking forward to picking up my new kite this afternoon.

I flew the Catalyst in a 10 and 12 earlier in the week and fell head over heals the instant I had them in the air.

Ive tried a fair few different kites in the lead up to getting this one but have to say for my money its the best all-rounder/wave kite out there!

Its got an incredibly thin leading edge but doesnt have to be pumped up to 100 psi for it to be sturdy and rock solid.

The bar is setup much the same as last years kites, however the depower trim has been tidied up.

Its got alot of power whilst not being overly 'grunty' so even in the higher winds I reckon it whould go well.

looking forward to hitting the beach this arvo!

Once you get used to the kite you'll be surprised how much bottom end it has.
Its at least as powerful as last years LightXC.
I was flying our 12m the 2 nights ago in average of 12/13 knots, with short gusts up to 15/16 onan Underground Stella 1.46x44 and had no trouble ripping upwind from Dolls to Brighton, and doing small jumps and transitions.

Its a really nice kite and I agree with you that its one of the sweetest all rounder and wave kites out there. Much smoother bar feel this year and smoother power delivery and depower. When I go back to kites with pulleys it takes a while to dial them in and there is no getting rid of the indirect doughy feel. The Ozones are crisp, smooth and light with a very direct feel. I hardly ever look at the kite on an Ozone, unlike others with pulleys.

Can anyone compare between the 10 catalyt to the 2009 10.5 Naish Cult.
Thanks

So what is turning speed like?
Does it drift nicely?
Back stall?

Thanks

Hi Reli,

Turning speed is pretty quick, drifts nicely and didn't back stall whatsoever the other day I rode it. I'll write a bit more once I get a couple more hours on it. Back injury kept me off the water for 3 weeks

Looks like another trip up north for you for a demo eh mate?

Cheers mate,

KH

Yeah i won't be in Kitestock this year so am contemplating a sickie tomorrow and heading your way also want to demo the C4.
Will have to see the lay of the land tomorrow.

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poor relative said...

Yeah i won't be in Kitestock this year so am contemplating a sickie tomorrow and heading your way

Haha,

Just like everyone else Reli. On that day a couple of days ago, the windy one after the long spell without a decent breeze (Thursday I think). There were 18 kiters out at Pinnaroo at 2pm ..... on a school day [}:)]

There is usually only 3-4 out

Long live the Ausie Sickie!

LOL

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poor relative said...

So what is turning speed like?
Does it drift nicely?
Back stall?

Thanks

10M turning speed is fast, turning radius is tight, turns on its tip, U turns nicely
10M drifts extremely well
10M backstall, some but can be tuned in or out as desired, with the knots at the bar (inside the floats)
12M turning speed is medium fast and turning radius si slight less tight
12M drifts nicely
12M stall, can be induced or not, up to the rider.
Demo Kitehards, he has a 10 and 12M too.

I tried the 12m on the standard issue bar last week. It drifted nicely when you followed the kite a bit. Very easy to fly and stable however I found it a bit slow for my liking (on the fast setting) and would have liked to try it on my own bar with q pro line instead. Same really for C4 12 I tried but had nice boost. Really keen to try the new edge when it shows. I have been running qpower pro now for a couple of seasons and any standard lines seem sluggish to me on any kite now - even my own - so for a better review I will try them again with my own bar setup when I get a chance.

How does the Catalyst differ from last year's LightXC?
It looks very similar in shape, number of srtruts etc.
Is it as good in light wind? (Could go for a 14m like Steve has had the last few years rather than buying the larger Zephyr. I notice Ozone's wind range comparison on these two kites are similar)

Very similar to last year kite.
Bigger difference is a lighter bar pressure and a bit more direct feeling a tad faster and better high end.
Low end seems about the same but only flown the 12m.
The Zephyr give 2 knots of low end to the Light XC 14m.
I'm powered on Zephyr going up wind when I had to sine like crazy the XC 14m just to hold my ground.
Bye Jak

The 10m Catalyst is the sweetest 10m kite I've used, this kite provides smooth, consistent and totally controllable power. I wanted something for the surf that goes where I want, when I want and this kite does it exceptionally well. It’s super light, responsive and from the first flight it instantly feels comfortable and predictable. There are no gimmicks and there’s absolutely no need because the design and quality of the entire setup is outstanding from the start.

After trying one out at Kitestock we managed to get hold of a 10m Catalyst, big thanks to Darren Marshall (Australian Kiteboarding School). We’re really looking forward to trying the smaller sizes which will hopefully arrive sometime in the next few weeks. I couldn’t resist posting a photo taken on the south coast on Saturday

Nice pic, the catalyst must have a lot of back line pressure though to be bending the bar like that.

Anyone compared the 10 and the 12 for bottom end? Just wondering as with some kites, the 12 has only a knot better bottom than the 10 but gets truckish when the 10 still has several knots to go.

Anyone tried the 8?

Hey Dojo,

Ozone had only released the 10m and 12m. All other sizes were awaiting testing to get the final nod from designers and test ride team. All sizes were finally signed off as of the weekend of Kitestock and so they go off to production. The order system went live with all sizes at the same time. Now we have orders being filled and kites rolling off the production line as we speak.

We hope to have the 6m's, 8m's and 14m's in stock in another week or two.

Such a great kite. Nice pic Nath! You obviously scored down south!

Cheers,

KH

Awesome photo Nath - makes me super jealous over here in QLD Havn't seen a wave like that in ages...

Got a new 8m last night and christened it today near Trigg in just under 30knts, shoulder high waves and a strapless 6’ surfboard. The ocean was really rough and everyone I spoke to had mentioned the gusty wind conditions. The Catalyst smoothed out the gusts and the huge depower made down the line wave riding possible even though I would usually have used a smaller size. The kite felt responsive and totally controlled.

I left the bar pressure set on light and also left the back line adjustment on the standard setting. It will be interesting to try the various adjustments to see how much difference it makes. The option of slightly more bar pressure might work for me to give more feel when riding strapless and it looks like it may even provide slightly more depower.

I’ll post more at a later stage but at this point I would definitely recommend trying it out (I think AKS have a demo available in WA if Poor Reli ever gives it back).