Ozone Kitesurf

Johnny Heineken >> La Ventana Classic

Ozone Kitesurf — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:30:25 +0000

The La Ventana Classic

A busy 4 day event including course racing, big air/old school, and “The Crossing” from Ceralvo Island back to the town of La Ventana. On top of this there are parties every night, raffles, clinics, and fundraisers all to benefit the local schools. This event raised over $23,000 for the local kids, thanks to all the organizers for working so hard to get this done!

The Classic started out with the famous “Crossing” from Ceralvo Island. 99 kiters and windsurfers packed into pongas at 7:30 am to get across the channel before the wind filled in. After that it was a waiting game until the wind filled all the way across the 9 mile channel. After hours of huddling by a camp fire and sleeping under kites, I found myself on the starting line on my race board weaving my 9m Edge though a bee hive of kites. Knowing I had such a long race ahead my only goal was to get off the line clear, with my kite still flying and my board on my feet. I did this, and halfway across the channel I had extended from the other kiters, and was a few hundred meters directly upwind of Tyson Poor, the lead windsurfer. We were both having flashbacks of the double-cross two weeks earlier, in which we literally finished overlapped at the beach after 40 minutes of quad burning reaching to the island and back. I got him that on that one, but this time he was showing that he had a little bit of speed on me. The course takes us to a buoy along shore, with a short downwind leg ending in a sprint reach to the finish line at the beach. I rounded the first mark about 40 seconds behind him and put the hammer down. Kites have a huge advantage downwind because we can point so much lower than windsurfers. I gybed right behind him just before the last mark, and we had a drag race along the reach to the finish. Although I had the speed to get through him, he played great defense, staying in front of me preventing me from getting overlapped before the finish mark. I crossed the line doing a tail walk to try and keep from running him over. This was definitely one of the most exciting races I’ve been in, both because it was so close and because racing with the windsurfers adds another level of excitement. We each have our advantages, but it works out to be amazingly close racing that really comes down to the rider. On top of that, my sister Erika was the first woman across the channel. Heineken sweep on the kite results!

The next three days were filled with course racing. This was Adam’s time to shine. He excelled at the short courses and lighter air of the first 2 days, somehow finding a way to get consistently good starts on a small line in a great fleet. I managed to pick up the pace on the last day and get a few bullets, but he made the top of the podium. Congrats buddy!

The women raced with the men, and it was fun hearing lots of guys on the beach saying “I almost got Erika that time!”. She was in the mix, not only racing against the other women, but regularly breaking into the top 10 overall. That’s my sister! Watch out for her this year guys…

Huge thanks to Ozone for the support throughout this trip, especially to Rob for taking 2 weeks to come work on kites. I think you’ve gotten the race board bug…time for a board and some time on the water. See you at the worlds!

Johnny

Final Course Racing results:
1 Adam Koch Ozone
2 Johnny Heineken Ozone
3 Bryan Lake

Women:
1 Erika Heineken Ozone
2 Alexis Aguera
3 Colleen Carrol

Crossing Results, overall:
1 Tyson Poor             22:30
2 Johnny Heineken   22:32
3 Bryan Lake       23:00

Women
1 Erika Heineken 28:21
2 Marie LeClerc 29:23
3 Rachel Callahan 29:54

Nathan Ducker >> WA Summer Cruis’n

Ozone Kitesurf — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:08:36 +0000

In a recent trip we chased good conditions to a reputable spot on the south coast. Although we had often explored some of the places nearby, this particular break was a new one for us. The only way to get there is via four wheel drive along soft sand tracks with fairly steep climbs.

As we drove over the dunes we could see the swell lines reeling in. The final ramp onto the beach left us wondering if we’d ever get back out (it claimed its first victims the first night we were there and we were woken to a plea for help from a couple of girls who had stranded themselves on the beach).

The wave was a decent size, pitching to about 4m (height of a windsurfer mast). The wind was extremely gusty yet thankfully smoothed by an 8m Reo. We camped and kited at this new location and hit up a few other nearby locations to get best conditions.

We scored some great wave and flat water sessions as we cruised around the coast via Margaret River on the way home.

Hope everyone is getting great waves and wind, here are some pictures to share the stoke

Ozone Kites Germany - Sanja Wiegmann >> Ireland 2011

Ozone Kitesurf — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:51:28 +0000

Wintertime in Germany is THE time for extended kitesurfing journeys if you work in the kitesurfing branch. So I’ve been packing my stuff and spent all of October and November 2011 in Ireland wave hunting.

The chances to try and ride bigger than waist-high waves here in Germany are slim and always involve several hours of driving. Plus we never get nice, peeling waves but the messy, choppy stuff. So the chance to basically fall out of the door into one of the greatest and safest wave spots on this planet sounded so tempting that even the 2 days trip to get there felt like a walk in the park.

The long drive was well worth it. In October I literally scored great kitesurfing days in nice size waves almost everyday. Mossies worked a couple of days too and I really got to know and love my 6 and 8m Reos and learned loads. November was calmer so I had the chance to go surfing quite a bit.

Ireland is my favorite among all the countries I have visited so far. I have yet to find a place where you are welcomed in such a amazing warm and helpful way. Apart from that the landscape is simply stunning and the riding is amazing. And you’ve got to love the pubs!

I was staying with Ozone team rider and wave charger Ryan of www.kitesurfireland.ie last year already and was very happy to be invited to stay with him and his family consisting of his girlfriend Clodagh, three great dogs and at the time five puppies! I felt very welcome, thanks a lot again, Ryan & Clodagh!

Have a look at the small videos we created and if you feel like it look at more pictures here:
http://www.ozonekites.de/2011/11/10/wv-in-ireland/
http://www.ozonekites.de/2011/10/22/ireland-once-more/

Tom McGregor >> Christmas Waves

Ozone Kitesurf — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:24:56 +0000

Christmas has just passed and the swell of the year has also just passed!

About one week ago I saw the best swell of the year coming. A solid 3-4m swell with a 20knt southerly coming, I was getting my froth on. It was just my luck that I had to go to Townsville for Christmas with no wind and stingers in the water.

The drive up to Townsville was the worst, sitting in a car for 12hrs and knowing all my friends are getting pumping waves and lots of wind! It was nice to see all the family but I couldn’t wait to leave the place. Very hot weather and not a lot to do there.

The week of Christmas ended and I finally got home with the last of the swell and still lucky enough to catch some of the wind.

Stephan Kleinlein was on the sunny coast picking up his brand new Ozone Reo’s so we went out to Caloundra for a session. The waves had dropped right off but we had a fun little inside wave to try some new moves.

We got some great shots and had a lot of fun. Here are some shots we got from out session!

Tom

Photos: Stephan Kleinlein

Tamatoa Gillot >> Merry Christmas with the Edge

Ozone Kitesurf — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:33:39 +0000

Hello everyone,

It’s been a fantastic year in 2011 with the Ozone gear and especially for me with the Edge. I had so much fun with the emergence of this kite created by Rob Whittall.

The perfect kite for every kiteboarder that wants to make a difference with higher and longer jumps, aggressive with fluidity, smooth and easy, race and upwind reach, mastering kiteloops, hooked or unhooked and soft landings…

The Edge is an easy kite for advanced level riding, with instant handling sensations which means bigger smiles. The impossible becomes possible…forget everything else, it’s an obsession after all.

Ozone santa has brought to us the new Edge for christmas and for 2012 we are going to have more and more fun. I woke up Sunday morning with the superb 2012 Edges under my Christmas tree.

No breakfast and no time to loose, hot like a pistol I had to head to kite beach with all my family and make santa happy he brought the right present for me. Here is a small video and photos of my life style in Moorea with family and the Edge 11m in 16knots in Moorea.

Thanks and Merry Christmas to all of you, the Ozone staff and especially to Rob Whittall, the designer of our fun…

Long live the Edge and viva la vida…yeeeppppaaa!!!

Cheers
Tamatoa Gillot

Ozone Kitesurf Safety Notice Update >> Replacement Red Male Valve Plugs Shipped

Ozone Kitesurf — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:23:37 +0000

Hi everyone,

This is a safety notice for customers of our Inflatable Kites with black coloured Boston Valves to replace the Male valve plug part as shown in this PDF.

The replacement RED male valve plugs (screw in part) have been shipped worldwide to all dealers. Please contact the dealer you purchased your Ozone inflatable kite(s) from to organise your free replacement valve(s).

To contact your countries Ozone distributor / importer use this link on our website: http://www.flyozone.com/kitesurf/en/contact/distributors/

Check the video below or the PDF for instructions on how to fit your new plug. This is a very simple procedure.

Ozone is committed to safety hence our decision to release the “Valves Leaking Air Safety Notice” (announced 11/10/2011) due to a small percentage of defective valves from the supplier/manufacturer of the Boston valves.

Ozone wants all customers to be able to enjoy our products and would therefore like to apologise for any inconvenience.

Best regards
Team Ozone

Ozone’s Yo places 2nd at the 25th Anniversary Kings Cup Regatta Thailand

Ozone Kitesurf — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 06:11:27 +0000

Double Asian Champion and Ozone rider Yo Narapichit Pudla from Thailand takes second place overall in kiteboarding’s first ever appearance at one of the world’s top sailing regatta’s.

It was a record entry for the Kings Cup Regatta in its 25th Anniversary year with more than 120 craft taking part and amongst them for the first time ever was kiteboarding giving a new edge to a week of multiclass racing in Phuket Thailand.

Inaugurated in 1987 to celebrate the 60th birthday of His Majesty the King of Thailand, the event has been held every year since during the first week of December. The Regatta began with a mixture of keelboats, catamarans, Lasers and even windsurfers, but more recently the Regatta has become a big boat event, attracting keelboats and ocean-going catamaran teams from around the globe. The Phuket Kings Cup is considered internationally as one of the top sailing events in the World and is Asia’s largest regatta, so quite something for the KTA and kiteboarding to be invited into.

The Kings Cup Regatta takes place on the offshore side of Phuket, good for the yachts as this gives them a sheltered anchorage at nights but tricky of course for the kiters when it comes to leaving the beach. In the end race days wise, two days gave us the wind to go and two days not, but great action when things did slot into place, though challenging for the riders for sure.

With the wind up to around 20kts in Karon Bay, the area the kiters were located for the regatta, the riders at last had their chance on day three to show all the other sailors what kiters can do and blasted around the courses, with some well overpowered from earlier light wind kite choices to put kiteboarding in a world class sailing regatta for the first time. Pro-rider Olivier Dansin from France took the two races of the day with Ozone’s Yo battling him all the way for his second places. Ken Nacor from the Philippines and Turkey’s Salih Alexander fought it out for third slot with Hong Kong’s Jay Chau having some great race action to take the fifth place in the end.

Stubbornly though the wind kept its distance for the next two days, one of which was a reserve day for the regatta in any case, but thankfully the final day was to give us what we wanted and allow us to finish the week in style. With the wind strength again getting up to around 20kts the riders made their way from the beach for the first race of the day. With a triangle course set the riders put out some stylish racing with more battles at the top of the fleet between Yo, Olivier, Salih and Ken. The day also saw a number of the sailors joining us at Karon Beach and loving what they saw unfolding, with many of them seeing kite racing for the first time. Key moments mentioned by them where the perfectly timed start run by Salih, Yo and Olivier to all hit the line together as class flag fell for race three, and the outright speed which at one point saw the riders pulling away from one of the safety Ribs when it was chasing them at 32kts.

At the end though the day belonged once again to Olivier Dansin, although Yo did take one race from him which pleased him no end as well as having an impressive recovery back into the top end of the race after being wiped out in a particularly evil gust hit. Also showing well and worth a mention was Britons Dave Barnes who as one of the fleets least experienced racers was to pull through into overall 5th position by the end. Li Peng from China also turned in three great races to come right back up the rankings after some harsh errors that cost him on the first day.

So kiteboarding at a major sailing regatta a success? Well lessons were learned for sure and a different approach was already being discussed for 2012, so looks like kite racing will be back. For now though this year has shown what both the Kings Cup and the KTA had set out to do and that was to prove that kite racing can operate as part of a multi-class sailing event.

Top Five Riders for the 25th Anniversary Kings Cup Kiteboard Exhibition Race Class
1. Oliver Dansin - France
2. Yo Naraprichit Pudla - Ozone - Thailand
3. Salih Alaxander - Turkey
4. Ken Nacor - Philippines
5. Dave Barnes - UK

For more go to –
www.kingscup.com
www.kiteboardtour.asia

Mike Holland >> Zephyr in Bali

Ozone Kitesurf — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:16:04 +0000

Hi Everyone,

I’ve just arrived home from a great 3 month stint in Bali. It was so nice to get away from another cold Queenstown, New Zealand winter. I camped out the first month with Queenstown ex pat Luca Soulos in Pettitenget and had some superb sideshore riding up the coast to Changu which is where all the strapless surf kiters hang out.

The next two months I stayed in a nice but noisy Hotel on Padma St in Kuta. Not bad for costing $50 a week, and I managed on local food everyday for around $6 a day without getting ill once!

My plan for this trip was to hang out on the flatwater lagoon in Sanur and enjoy some freestyle in smooth trades. As most people know the trades on Bali can be light at times so I chose to pack a 17m Zephyr.

So many of the amazing days I had riding just wouldn’t have been possible without the power of the Zephyr. I often felt sorry for other riders who’d show up to the beach with a 12m and spend the day groveling around underpowered. The Zephyr kite has such an unbelievable range - if it was possible to fly the kite on the beach, it was on to ride!

I rode it in many days over 20knots as well and it was just as much fun. The kite feels more like a cable - you just set it where you want and it’ll still be there when you come out of the move. This gave some really cool training for some unhooked tricks.

Mike Holland

Kari Schibevaag >> Home Sweet Home video

Ozone Kitesurf — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:16:03 +0000

I love Norway and the conditions we have here. I know I am from Norway and I can’t say bad stuff about this place, but when we have nice waves and wind almost all winter, for me it’s a paradise.

I was looking at Windguru every day and the wind & waves never stopped. I had to take a break from kiting just because my muscles were sore.

Morten Gjerstad is a really good kiter from Norway (Norwegian champion in waves) but also a good “Movie maker”, I was enjoying the waves with him for weeks. One day we decided to make a small movie from some of the days we had at home. He helped me to film and edit the movie and I was happy riding the waves.

In the movie you will see some wave riding in cold hard core conditions. I had full power on my 6m and 4m Reo kites. I love to ride with power and speed so for me this is perfect to practice and have fun out there.. You feel alive

The Reo is the new wave kite from Ozone. It’s an amazing kite for waves. It turns fast, it has nice power and when you are riding the waves it will follow you down the line.

Morten was riding another brand, but when he tested my Reo’s he ordered some straight away. I am really happy for this, now we have the Norwegian champion on the Reo and he is ripping the waves.

I hope you will enjoy the movie, and if you want to come to Norway tell me and I can try to help you there (If I am at home then hehe)

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Kariland.com

Kari Schibevaag

Johnny Heineken nominated for 2011 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year!

Ozone Kitesurf — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 20:13:38 +0000

Ozone Team rider Johnny Heineken has been nominated for the 2011 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year! Huge congratulations from Team Ozone!

Here are a few words from Johnny;

“The finalists for the 2011 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year are published, and I am honored to have made the list. It’s an amazing feeling to be considered for the most prestigious award in American sailing, and even more incredible to see kite racing recognized at the highest possibly level by the sailing community. Thanks to Ozone and all who have supported me throughout the year, I couldn’t have done this alone!”

Check this link for more information: http://about.ussailing.org/Awards/Rolex.htm

Also check out Johnny’s website: http://www.heinekenracing.com/blog/