The new Ocean Rodeo AX wing to go along with the HL and A wings. It was mentioned elsewhere this new Ocean Rodeo high tech wing in 5m only weighs 1kg (2.2 lbs). AND is very stretch resistant . With 3 handle options. What more could you want?

I can't wait to hear more about this and some performance feedback too..

Wow this looks absolutely insane. Love OR for being so innovative. Kited with their Aluula kites since they were released and they are amazing. Wasn't as keen with the first Glide but with this new canopy material and handles it looks unbeatable. Probably not much change from 3k my guess. I'll probably hang onto my current wings a bit longer and start saving.

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Fishdude said..
The new Ocean Rodeo AX wing to go along with the HL and A wings. It was mentioned elsewhere this new Ocean Rodeo high tech wing in 5m only weighs 1kg (2.2 lbs). AND is very stretch resistant . With 3 handle options. What more could you want?

I can't wait to hear more about this and some performance feedback too..

I took the new A and AX series wings for demo along with the new carbon handles, Both 5M versions.
As an owner of the original A series the difference between that and the generation wings is noticeable.

First, the weight of the AX is nothing short of amazing. The wing basically fly itself which is very noticeable in light wind transitions.

The new canopy material is bulletproof, I saw the tear test vs. Dacron and it was an eye opener. a 6 year old kid tore the Dacron like a paper towel. 2 strong man could not separate a piece of the Aeris X with hole in it. There wasn't much if any give in the material either.

Even if you put a hole in it with your foil,the foil won't go through it like hot knife through butter and you'll be able to continue to ride without the fear of ripping the entire canopy like with Dacron.

There is a new bladder material as well called Atom, which is much more stiffer and puncture resistant.

The matrix handle system along with the ability to mix and match handles to the conditions can really fine tune your ride in a way that wasn't possible before. I rode the new A wing with a front carbon handle and a floppy back handle in very gusty overpowered conditions and feel of the wing is completely different than the original A wing. The addition of the slightly more flexible Graflyte material at the ends of the leading edge and along the sides of the strut together with the new canopy enabled them to refine the flight and control the distortion of the airframe.

The difference between the wings is also very noticeable when pumping. it doesn't feel as flat and by that I mean that I could get more grunt from the wing with a long deep pump, that comes very handy in light wind conditions when you mount the carbon handles.

I will say that I still don't like their floppy handles, they could do a lot better. There are plenty of good example floppy handles on the market like F-one's new Strike V2 and Ocean Rodeo should up their game in that department. Even with the new carbon handles and boom there's still place for the floppy handles and it shouldn't be an afterthought.

I like the leash release. Will get one of those, such a simple brilliant idea.

This was Norths chance to release a 3Di raw wing. Too slow and the industry develops one anyway. Well done to OR - paving the way and acting as the single hand in driving wing innovation. Designers and engineers should be stoked. Watch this space - OR was able to sell on Aluula to manufactures. Soon you'll be riding your next gen wing made from this 3Di/ Aluula combo.

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burchas said..

Fishdude said..
The new Ocean Rodeo AX wing to go along with the HL and A wings. It was mentioned elsewhere this new Ocean Rodeo high tech wing in 5m only weighs 1kg (2.2 lbs). AND is very stretch resistant . With 3 handle options. What more could you want?

I can't wait to hear more about this and some performance feedback too..

I took the new A and AX series wings for demo along with the new carbon handles, Both 5M versions.
As an owner of the original A series the difference between that and the generation wings is noticeable.

First, the weight of the AX is nothing short of amazing. The wing basically fly itself which is very noticeable in light wind transitions.

The new canopy material is bulletproof, I saw the tear test vs. Dacron and it was an eye opener. a 6 year old kid tore the Dacron like a paper towel. 2 strong man could not separate a piece of the Aeris X with hole in it. There wasn't much if any give in the material either.

Even if you put a hole in it with your foil,the foil won't go through it like hot knife through butter and you'll be able to continue to ride without the fear of ripping the entire canopy like with Dacron.

There is a new bladder material as well called Atom, which is much more stiffer and puncture resistant.

The matrix handle system along with the ability to mix and match handles to the conditions can really fine tune your ride in a way that wasn't possible before. I rode the new A wing with a front carbon handle and a floppy back handle in very gusty overpowered conditions and feel of the wing is completely different than the original A wing. The addition of the slightly more flexible Graflyte material at the ends of the leading edge and along the sides of the strut together with the new canopy enabled them to refine the flight and control the distortion of the airframe.

The difference between the wings is also very noticeable when pumping. it doesn't feel as flat and by that I mean that I could get more grunt from the wing with a long deep pump, that comes very handy in light wind conditions when you mount the carbon handles.

I will say that I still don't like their floppy handles, they could do a lot better. There are plenty of good example floppy handles on the market like F-one's new Strike V2 and Ocean Rodeo should up their game in that department. Even with the new carbon handles and boom there's still place for the floppy handles and it shouldn't be an afterthought.

thanks for the info and photos. Would love to try these. Any info on the layup of the HL (canopy, strut and LE)? Also, dare I ask for estimated cost? Are they sticking to the 1m size increments or will they have .5m increments.

have you tried the new handles on the existing wings? I wonder how much of the pumping grunt is from the handles vs the new materials? I've got new handles on order and will test it out soon.

Price tag $2k and more I assume.

Very Swanky

The HL airframe is all graflyte but Dacron Canopy. I expect prices to stay high. They'll have 3 price points: AX Series, A and HL AX is the lightest A is the stiffest. HL entry level.
I did try the new handles on the current wings, the grunt is not related but you'll certainly have responsiveness and better light wind performance.

The OR booth was buzzing. All the other brands came to inquire about the new materials.
the owner of OR is also the owner of Aluula and they do source out to other companies. Expect Duotone to be in the mix sooner rather than later.
The owner of F-one is a good friend of Aluula boss and I saw them having a long conversation. I suspect F-one is experimenting with the materials already but probably won't release anything soon. Cost being one reason.

Foil Proof!!!

I suspect the cost with the carbon boom or carbon handles will be in the $2,500 U.S. range and closer to $3,200 to $3,500 in Canada and Australia. If wing design was to stop with this version of wing then the investment would be long term and perhaps worth the price. I suspect this won't be the case for at least another few years. Good to see the industry evolving but the price of admission may be too high for the general public -- when this stuff hits the used market expect a big shift upwards in the cost of the "pre-owned" gear. Maybe the market will split into "recreational" and "hardcore". The problem of course is that with any recreational endeavour someone will get the "best" stuff for those "recreational" races and then everyone else will have to "upgrade" to have a chance or lose interest and drop out.

Very cool to SEE these new materials!... I'm sure I'm not the only one looking at the central trailing edge though on both of the above wings, where it looks like somebody fell into it. Wonder how much use these have each seen? Maybe this material really shouldn't be creased too many times? If my $2.5K wing started looking like that after a few months use I'd be disappointed. Will continue to let the pioneers take the arrows on all this stuff

.....maybe it cleans up under load

They look fantastic bits of kit, love the Innovation.

shame cost will be so high to make it a dream for most of us.

I was in the Gorge for a month this summer and saw many trick material canopies on the water from several brands. None of these wings I saw being tested, were shown at AWSI.

I think in the Spring of 2023, we're going to see lots of trick canopies released.

The comment in that video saying it requires special handling during sewing, so it won't be coming to kites, is a red flag. Guessing it's a material that crinkles. Look at the panels near the trailing edge. Looks like crinkles.

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DWF said..
I was in the Gorge for a month this summer and saw many trick material canopies on the water from several brands. None of these wings I saw being tested, were shown at AWSI.

I think in the Spring of 2023, we're going to see lots of trick canopies released.

The comment in that video saying it requires special handling during sewing, so it won't be coming to kites, is a red flag. Guessing it's a material that crinkles. Look at the panels near the trailing edge. Looks like crinkles.

No I think you're off the mark on the special handling note. This is more of a laminate sail and his comment was more driver by the differences In spinnaker cloth manufacturing and laminate manufacturing. He noted templates wouldn't fit ect. They would need to develop more on their manufacturing side to make this kite ready

I've handled sails with similar material and it's pretty robust in terms wrinkles etc. Very exciting if this becomes industry standard and the price comes down.

I will not go near a 3.5k wing. That is almost the price of a quiver. Just like tiny boards it will not turn me into Kai Lenny

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hilly said..
I will not go near a 3.5k wing. That is almost the price of a quiver. Just like tiny boards it will not turn me into Kai Lenny

What if this material lasts twice as long and the wing has twice the wind rang? Big if I know but just maybe...

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Sheps said..

hilly said..
I will not go near a 3.5k wing. That is almost the price of a quiver. Just like tiny boards it will not turn me into Kai Lenny

What if this material lasts twice as long and the wing has twice the wind rang? Big if I know but just maybe...

Windsurfers have been using laminates in their sails for decades, but many will get new sails each year. Their sails don't evolve much so no real reason to update each year.
Wings are evolving at a huge rate, a wing from 3 years ago will be virtually worthless other than to a beginner. The argument that a wing will last you more years is probably true, but in reality it will have been superseded many time and you won't want to use it.

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Sheps said..

hilly said..
I will not go near a 3.5k wing. That is almost the price of a quiver. Just like tiny boards it will not turn me into Kai Lenny

What if this material lasts twice as long and the wing has twice the wind rang? Big if I know but just maybe...

I tend to damage my wings in waves frequently, user error I realise, so need an overlapping quiver to cover when one is sent off to be fixed. No local wing repairs near by.

Give it time. As the bigger brands develop their materials and come on board prices will inevitably drop.

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shi thouse said..
Give it time. As the bigger brands develop their materials and come on board prices will inevitably drop.

Yes, competition will certainly help. Aluula isn't the only dacron replacement anymore. North has a dyneema based fabric that achieves the same goals and it's white, a pretty good idea on anything inflated to a high pressure.

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Thatspec said..

shi thouse said..
Give it time. As the bigger brands develop their materials and come on board prices will inevitably drop.

Yes, competition will certainly help. Aluula isn't the only dacron replacement anymore. North has a dyneema based fabric that achieves the same goals and it's white, a pretty good idea on anything inflated to a high pressure.

I wouldn't be so sure that prices will drop. The USD is very strong atm and costs are up across the board, plus manufacturing challenges in China etc, and shipping costs. There will always be a premium for new technology too. Kites where I live are closer to NZ$3k these days , they used to be more like NZ$2k not that long ago - and they are still made of Dacron and ripstop , nothing exotic there. Just the way of the world. Wings have to be the ultimate depreciating asset though, so if you want to save $$$ you just need to wait for people to sell their lightly used 6-12 mth old gear and hey presto!!

I spoke with an OR engineer last night, the new canopy material is an actual revolution in durability. I can see getting it for my largest wing in a year or so then keeping that wing for 4-5 years.

The full carbon boom was very sexy as well.

It's tough to justify a $3500 wing when wing DESIGN is still in the early stages. A new year cheap-plain-Dacron wing will in some cases, out perform last seasons $3500 wing. Resale becomes crap.

Look around. Some brands still can't figure out how to make a tight, wrinkle free canopy, with a free twisting wing tip. Still a long way to go design wise.

Looks like the white material is a dyneema based fabric? I say based off the threads and the crinkling. Unclear how the graphite material would be better/worse in terms of durability?

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Sheps said..

hilly said..
I will not go near a 3.5k wing. That is almost the price of a quiver. Just like tiny boards it will not turn me into Kai Lenny

What if this material lasts twice as long and the wing has twice the wind rang? Big if I know but just maybe...

I just "retired" my A series allula Glide at just short of 70 days on the water-still completely useable.

I figure i get about 25days on a dacron wing before it gets bagged out.
At just shy of 70days my A series airframe was ~80% as stiff.
My canopy had about over 100inches of repairs and kund of soft, but even then, that is pretty good value for the dollar. In my opinion anyways.

I'd be very interested to discuss the concept of "bagging out" as my personal experience is that my wings have a significantly longer useful life than average. I have name brand dacron/ripstop wings with probably the 4m being the most used (four sizes and varied winds). I''d estimate 80 hours use since March and I can't tell the difference from new (i.e nobody's absolutely killing me upwind or downwind). Looks to me like this 4M could last three seasons.

What am I doing right?

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Thatspec said..
I'd be very interested to discuss the concept of "bagging out" as my personal experience is that my wings have a significantly longer useful life than average. I have name brand dacron/ripstop wings with probably the 4m being the most used (four sizes and varied winds). I''d estimate 80 hours use since March and I can't tell the difference from new (i.e nobody's absolutely killing me upwind or downwind). Looks to me like this 4M could last three seasons.

What am I doing right?

You are not being paranoid? :)

Wings bag out and soften with use, they will point a bit less high and probably have a slower top end.Ok.

But if you start a out with a modern,tight/flattish cut wing i think they pump a bit better with use (Gunnar Biniasch said this too in a vid) and they also become gentler in gusty conditions.

The top speed is more dependant on what size foil you are riding IMHO.
Maybe in the future we will see "fancy fabric" wings taking all the first spots in racing but right now it is not happening (edit: as far as i know).

If you use a harness, you are way more sensitive to loss of draft stability from a blown out canopy.

Arm only riding, is sloppy and imprecise. Can get away with riding sloppy wings without being aware.