Has anyone who has ridden both these kites able to comment on their upwind ability / comparison in 10 - 15 kts range. Around 15m size?

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dachopper said..
Has anyone who has ridden both these kites able to comment on their upwind ability / comparison in 10 - 15 kts range. Around 15m size?

Not much going on here Chopper?
Probably not a lot of people out there who have tried and could be arsed to comment?

I'll throw my 2c worth in BUT I have not ridden both although I have ridden Edge V11 and every other model since it was released 10+ years ago.
The Edge was always a fast, high aspect 5 strut "flat" design and it was designed in the first 6-7 years as an unbeatable race-winning kite that held multiple world race titles in that timeframe. Then kite racing switched to hydrofoils and foil kites and the Edge V10/11 all were designed to be more playful and began to turn better for big air and looping.
I've never ridden a 3 strut kite that came anywhere near the Edge in terms of upwind (and boost acceleration).
In 10 knots only the larger Edges work provided you weigh less than 90kg and have a big board and good kite control skills, I regularly kite with a guy who has a 19m Edge V9, it can do 10 knots but its just mowing or downwindering.
When its 15 knots 13m and up work well and hold ground or go upwind easily if combined with the right board/foil.

Its interesting to see that Ocean Rodeo have dropped the 3 strut Flite in favour of a 5 strut design, and personally I prefer the way that OR constructs and sews the Alulla material (the repairers I know do too).

Regards

Steve

It looks like OR are leaving the 3 strut design for light wind ( unchanged from last year maybe? ), and the 5 strut is only 12 metres and below. I don't think they have used the new lightweight canopy material yet..... maybe 2024.

Interesting comments about the 19m.... either way, I bought the 15m Edge V10, to sit between my 18 Dyno and 11 Edge V10. Racing trials I think are next week so see how I go ;) wind is light 10 - 14kts..

Unless your a full on serious racer - the price of a new kite could buy a good foiling setup and do some decent jumps in 10 knots..

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SaveTheWhales said..
Unless your a full on serious racer - the price of a new kite could buy a good foiling setup and do some decent jumps in 10 knots..

That's it.... I don't want to come second, and already have the foil gear, along with most of the race gear bar the 15.

See how I go this weekend.

Very good non-biased review of the D-Lab (Edge not included in this review). Compares to the rebel, orbit and core xr

Worth a watch.

Guy is a very good local rider, can confirm he has no brand affiliations

I can confirm jumping in less than 15 knots is only really possible on foil kites. I took 10m Soul 2 and 13m Sonic to Maritius recently and was throwing pretty huge jumps in as little as 10 knots on a foil. The lack of drag makes it totally possible to ride at speed and get a good launch from the water where the efficiency of the twin skin foil kite makes the most of the kite to take you way up.

DM

I just sold my Juice 17 ( not Alula) because the Edge 17 outperforms it on turning speed and ease of hitting the jumps and feeling playful. If only for beginner kitefoiling the Juice is a tiny bit better.

Thanks guttorm.... yeah I'm really impressed with the upwind particularly of the large ozone edges.... 17m. Gone are the days when 17m = struggling to go upwind.

I hope they introduce some newer materials if only in their 15 meter plus sizes, I feel they would benefit massively from some weight loss given they are 4 - 5kg. Lighter kite = faster stroke = more power in lighter winds and more responsiveness.