I have been kiting a lot with Morten Gjerstad from Norway and it’s nice to have another person out there when I am riding waves. Morten has also been testing the Reo wave kite and he likes them a lot. I think it will not be long before we have him in the Ozone family Morten is a good wave rider and he is also the Norwegian champion in waves. He is a real Viking always out there whatever the conditions and temperature.

Like I told you guys I’ve had some amazing days lately riding my Reo kites. I had better days at home that what I had in Peru last year.

I have been filming a bit also together with Morten and soon there will be a movie showing you how good Norway can be Here you can see my home spot and also a bit of what it looks like in beautiful Norway in October

I am now off to a girl camp in Greece. There are 40 girls who have signed in and I think it will be a lot of fun down there Also the Ozone dealer from Greece will come with the new C4 kites, and I can’t wait to test them out

It will also be fun to do some freestyle again. I’ve had a lot of wave riding after the Reo kite came out, so now it’s time to take the C4 and my twin tip for a ride.

One more thing…Help me in the competition, vote for me

Most influential Girl kitesurfer
http://www.inmotionkitesurfing.com/vote-girl-kitesurfer-2011

Thanks a lot
Kari

The Ozone 2012 Waterkite range is now available!

Check out the interactive online brochure HERE. Flip through pages and watch videos all from within your browser.

For more details and product photos check out the product pages HERE

Also be sure to check out the Accessories range, including a new kite compression bag and new look backpacks and board bags!

Enjoy the ride…

Cheers
Team Ozone

I’m sure most kiters can relate to the popular thought of getting ‘one more wave’ or ‘one more trick’ before heading in to pack up. I would usually stop at a point where I knew my body would be able to recover before the next kite session. This wisdom went out the window this week as we scored one of the most enjoyable weeks of kitesurfing ever.

Refinements in kiting equipment has made a huge difference. Wave kiting is now at a point where the focus can be almost purely placed on surfing the power from the wave with a boost from the kite when needed to enhance the ride or get you out of a tricky situation.

With the latest equipment there is no longer any need to concentrate heavily on the kite to keep it in the air or tow you down the line as you replicate flat water turns on the wave. We’re getting so much closer to surfing and I’d say avid surfing fanatics will really appreciate the closeness to surfing that is transpiring.

Of course the equipment I’m referring to includes the REOs. They drift swiftly down the line, with no pulleys have direct and responsive control and they crank you back up wind for the next wave. I shared the waves with one of the world’s most accomplished watermen yesterday.

I felt temporarily guilty as I caught two or three good waves for every wave he caught. The REOs seem to comfortably outperform even the most talked about or expensive wave specific kites on the market.

I’ve included some photos to share the stoke. Best wishes to everyone for epic fun filled kite sessions!

Nathan Ducker

I’ve come back from the first KSP event with a feeling of having attended yet another milestone in our sport. Even though there was only little riding that I have not previously seen, the event carried a special vibe that I haven’t experienced since the early days when comps helped towards creating our sport. It was great for the waveriding discipline to finally be given a venue that was able to showcase the real deal - it was a dream come true for the sport and great to see to what level riding waves has been taken up to, especially riding strapless in the kind of conditions we’ve had at One Eye.

I believe it was just a glimpse of what we’ll see in a couple of years and I hope it might help open some doors that have not yet been available. Even though I have spent an increasing time riding strapless before, I decided not to take them off for the event because I didn’t feel like I had enough practice. This was a risky thing to do since the judges were definitely going to reward strapless riding as much as they could. This meant that you really had to step it up with straps in order to win against somebody without.

I had a great first heat, getting some good waverides in and I think it must have been the most fun heat I’ve ever had in 12 years of competing - just three guys out at One Eye on fire. I got given the highest heat score of the first round, which it later turns out would only be beaten by Mitu and Airton riding strapless, both the finalists of the event. Unfortunately that’s not how the ranking is made…

The reality was that I had to win a couple of other heats to actually make the podium. Sadly I didn’t really get a fair shot in the next heat which was held in non suitable conditions - very offshore and gusty winds made it a lottery whether you would catch a good wave with the right puff of air. It was frustrating to get kicked out of the comp like that. I really only got eliminated in the following heat against Mitu but that’s easier to accept since he would have won the event hadn’t he injured his knee in the semi-final. He really stepped it up riding front and backhand on the same wave, trying to pull big strapless airs etc. He and his protégé Airton were actually the only ones preparing properly and riding at the spot long enough before the event. It takes a while to get to know a wave and to be able to read it in order to pick the right ones in order to get the best out of it.

I got to Mauritius five days before the event and since it was my first time I needed the time to get familiar. What a great wave One Eye is - with so many facets. We’ve had it all - from sideshore small to huge and scarily gusty/offshore. I’ve been amazed to what point the REO can deal with nasty conditions and still make it work out to actually be able to ride the waves. I was out on the 8m most of the time.

Keep following the KSP world tour on their next two tour stops. They have a great setup to follow the action live at www.kspworldtour.com/live.

Marc Ramseier

This is a safety notice for customers of our Inflatable Kites to check the Valve as shown in the PDF Ozone Kitesurf Safety Notice - Valves Leaking Air. The Boston valve was introduced October 2010 on our 2011 range. (2011 models: Catalyst, C4, Edge, Zephyr and Reo).

We have received feedback that some valves may leak. After further research our design team have found that one cavity on a valve plug tool was not molding a correctly formed thread.

This was only on a small batch of valves we were supplied. We have since informed our valve supplier of this discrepency and ensured that all valves will be molded correctly from now on. Our production team has also checked every valve in stock and removed the poorly formed valves.

As a safety precaution, your valve plug must be wrapped using PTFE plumber tape. Wrap the plug four times as shown in the PDF (link above). PTFE (Teflon Tape 0.075mm thick x 12mm) tape can be found in hardware stores.

This is a temporary solution until we replace this part for all customers. We will advise you as soon as this part is available with updates posted on http://www.flyozone.com/kitesurf/en/

The new male plug will be manufactured in red to distinguish it from the current black plug.

Ozone is committed to safety hence our decision to announce this safety notice 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

Meet the Ozone U.S. Race Team / Team Fluid - Johnny Heineken (2011 Course Racing World Champion), Adam Koch, Andrew Koch and Chip Wasson. Interviews with the team sharing experiences and their thoughts on the future of kite course racing.

Cheers
Team Ozone

]]> http://www.flyozone.com/kitesurf/pt/news/headlines/5138?source=rssfeed Tue, 11 Oct 2011 03:13:30 +0000 Ozone Kitesurf http://www.flyozone.com/kitesurf/pt/news/headlines/5138?source=rssfeed Hi everyone,

This is a safety notice for customers of our 2011 Inflatable Kites to check the serial number found on the leading edge as shown in the following PDF: Ozone Kitesurf Safety Notice - Bladder Valve Detaching

It has come to our attention that there is a manufacturing defect on an early batch of Ozone 2011 water-kite leading edge bladders. There have been cases of the valves detaching from the bladder causing instant deflation of the kite.

As a precaution we will be replacing all customers with a new leading edge bladder for all kites with affected serial numbers.

Please go to the website (see below), input your serial number and automatically check if your kite is affected:

http://www.flyozone.com/kitesurf/en/products/bladder-safety-notice/

If your serial number is affected, please contact the dealer you purchased your 2011 Ozone inflatable kite(s) from to organise your replacement bladder(s).

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

Ozone is committed to safety hence our decision to announce this safety notice due to a small percentage of defective 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

]]> http://www.flyozone.com/kitesurf/pt/news/headlines/5131?source=rssfeed Sun, 02 Oct 2011 23:57:28 +0000 Ozone Kitesurf http://www.flyozone.com/kitesurf/pt/news/headlines/5131?source=rssfeed Yepaaaa I finally did it, after 12 years of kitesurfing in French Polynesia, driving over the bridge between the two islands, on a day with the biggest swell ever, the current was I guess 15 knots and the wind about 10 knots. The conditions were perfect to ride around that little spot then jump from the bridge on my Ozone 15m Edge.

We managed to not forget the go pro and Titaua shot a few jumps. What a rememberable session, it was so perfect, all the tourists were stopping by of course, a few locals on the side of the bridge watching that crazy french dude flying in such a strong current. Of course we checked the south but the wind was way to light to ride near the pass, and too crazy. The waves were like 8m + outside, something that we have never seen before.

A few days later we used the 13m Edge and 11m C4 to ride the south island in some of the most perfect conditions for kitesurfing. I finally rode again my surfboard on the high tide. Then as lucky as I am, we had two days of north easterly wind and yesterday we got some waves out the front. So that’s pretty cool, because the spot is very close then we launched direct from the boat so we can get some close shots.

I hope you all have had a good summer time, now it’s time to think about the winter coming, but let’s go surfing before.

Yepaaaaaaa
Ciao
Chasta

]]> http://www.flyozone.com/kitesurf/pt/news/headlines/5128?source=rssfeed Mon, 26 Sep 2011 01:39:12 +0000 Ozone Kitesurf http://www.flyozone.com/kitesurf/pt/news/headlines/5128?source=rssfeed Hi everyone,

Today is the second day of the Mauritius One Eye Pro 2011, the kickoff event of the KSP wave world championship tour. It’s the first of a series of 3 events that are taking place this year and that are purely concentrating on riding waves. It’s great to see the KSP appear and finally take the initiative to also give a competitive platform to riding quality waves at the best locations there are for that. The sport has been waiting too long for this kind of opportunity and it came down to a group of riders to organize it and set it all up. There’s a lot of passion and volunteer work involved, so already a big thanks to Kristin, Sky, Guilly and Mitu for making it all happen.

I was able to secure a wild card invitation and I am excited to be taking a part in yet another launch just like having competed 11 years ago in the first kiteboarding events. I have never been to Mauritius before and in retrospect I have to say that 5 days is cut a bid short for getting accustomed to a wave like One Eye. It has so many different characters and it can be very heavy and tricky in combination with at times very gusty and offshore winds. There were 15 foot faces on the first day I rode it and I have to say it was pretty intimidating to say the least.

It will be of great importance to know the spot as good as possible to pick the right waves in the heat to be able to showcase your surfing in the best light. In terms of dealing with the rather difficult wind conditions I’m very confident to have the best possible kite to take it on since the Ozone REO will especially in these kind of conditions help me a great deal to perform at my best. It’s been very windy and I’ve been only using my 8m which I really love so I’m looking forward to the week to come. The waves were rather small yesterday so the day was called off with no competition. Today we’re having a 3.1 meter swell at 16 seconds hitting the reefs and it’s looking promising for a great start into the comp.

The action is being broadcasted live on the internet and you can tune in on www.kspworldtour.com/live

Cheers
Marc

Photos: kspworldtour.com

]]> http://www.flyozone.com/kitesurf/pt/news/headlines/5127?source=rssfeed Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:50:00 +0000 Ozone Kitesurf http://www.flyozone.com/kitesurf/pt/news/headlines/5127?source=rssfeed Hi everyone,

The wind finally got a little stronger today, so I thought it would be perfect to play with my 9m Ozone Edge, we got around 25 knots all day. The sun was shining on the Edge and on the pretty ladies taking in the sun at the beach, coconut trees where dancing in the hot warm pacific wind…

For sure pretty girls watching is a good source of motivation, the lungs get bigger and the brain starts to tickle, muscles are ready for anything and smiling is suddenly there, isn’t that magic? All we think is go out and play with the magic Edge to show the girls how much fun we can have and how high we can go…

Yes it is natural for men to impress, even if they do not want to, it’s just the way we are made…man made! But don’t worry girls are just like us, it works both way yeeepeee!!! Girls also can grab the Edge and show their techniques, hehehehe…

This game gets real funny with the Edge in your hands, and the magic it works, the impressive session is a success and all the girls and the boys are watching, you have care full attention and it fells good!

I only look back to my pretty wife and my kids, but I keep smiling to everyone and I know… why, it’s because I choose the Edge and it was good today…

Thanks Robert Whittall, you design the Edge with all your love and it’s magic…

Here is a little video with playing with the 9m Edge in the blue lagoon.

Cheers
Tamatoa

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