Tripping the light fantastic

This just in from Ben Jackson, IKO instructor and founder of KiteCoach.co.uk … Ben’s bee involved in the kite industry since 1993. Read on for his review of the Light XC.

The new Ozone Light XC is already starting to cause a stir in the kite world and I was keen to find out for myself if it would indeed live up to the buzz. I’ve always been a fan of Ozone’s 3-strut concept often choosing my trusty 9m lite from ‘07 as my sole traveling companion when facing up to the rigors of greedy airlines and baggage policies drawn up by golfer accountants.

With the wind not forecast to blow in the near future I took the 10m XC out to my local field and pumped her up - no one-pump system but I’m a fan of the simplicity of this set up and Ozone’s non-return stopper balls ensure completely hassle free inflation in a few minutes. The kite takes plenty of pressure and once pumped the smooth shaping of the wing and solidness of the structure of this kite become obvious to the casual eye.  It’s actually a form of mental torture to behold this kite and be denied the pleasure of flying it - I quickly packed it away noting the short simple pulley-less bridle, lolly pop stick detail for easy strut deflation, twin self-rescue handles and above all the absence of any protrusions to interfere with airflow over the top skin of the kite - when did you last see bulky scuff pads on your airplane wing?

Eventually the wind decided to play ball and typically this fell on a sunny Saturday when I was booked to teach all day. Conditions were side shore 10-14mph and the client had been finding plenty of power for body dragging with my old 7m bow, but the kite was refusing to water relaunch from the leading edge down position. I decided to see how he fared on the XC - the kite went up and sat steady as a rock between 12&1, the new pilot immediately managed his first proper cross wind body drag and quickly gained confidence in spite of his initial wariness of flying a double digit sized kite. Leading edge down relaunches were a doddle even by beginners standards, simply pull-in bar and angle left or right, as an instructor you really appreciate the confidence boost this gives and the result is the student immediately starts to be more adventurous in their flying as the nagging worry of spending ages struggling to get the kite back off the water disappears.  At the end of the day with the wind dropping and tide coming in I managed my first 5 minutes on the kite, riding a 138*43cm board and weighing in at around 90kgs I was very impressed to find I could plane and by looping the kite almost hold my course against wind and tide running together.  I had tasted the potential and was left in a state of further mental unrest as I wondered when I’d get my proper chance to put this kite through it’s paces.

The following Saturday dawned fair and by early afternoon the wind had picked up nicely. On the beach plenty of white caps could be seen across a Solent filled with sail, I estimated the easterly wind was around the 20mph mark and probably gusting between 16-23. Self launching the kite on the water Mauritian style worked fine on the second attempt - you just have to been a bit careful how you wrap the leaders due to the toggles on the de-power strap, sadly the beach was too narrow to attempt Ozone’s recommended technique for this often precarious procedure. The next couple of hours passed in complete ecstasy with the smooth handling of the XC ironing out the inconsistency in the wind and the chop that might have made for an uncomfortable experience on a less accomplished kite. This is genuinely a remarkable piece of aerodynamics with every nuance of flight and power delivered faithfully to a bar that offers a sweet range rather than the sweet spot that was often hard to maintain on the older Lite series kites. The XC may not be a big air machine but it is undoubtedly a massive confidence booster with a range and subtly that can do justice to the concept of a one kite quiver, sheet out and the power just disappears while edge position is held steady and ready for a quick whip round. Kite loops are a joy to perform and the power delivery always predictable, progressive and devoid of any nasty surprises. There’s no mourning the old span line bridle to 5-line bar configuration and the kite just does everything it should and more. Looks like my old 9m has been well and truly superseded - nice work Robbie!

In summary Ozone have nailed it with the 10m Lite XC, a massive wind range, pleasure to fly and an apparent dedication to quality in every aspect of the kite’s design and manufacture. On top of this it has to be one of the most affordable kites in the current budget conscious market and a choice I’d recommend to anyone serious about getting the maximum value out of their precious kitesurf time.

Ben
www.kitecoach.co.uk