Ozone Instinct Light XC 12m Review part 2

Sorry for the long delay in completing the second part of my review on the 12m Ozone Light XC, I’ve had the kite now since they were first released in the UK receiving mine at the end of February (4 months ago now).

The 2009 Ozone bar and lines can only be described as nice, there is nothing wrong with them but everything is right with them.  4 straight, one piece 25m lines making the setup incredibly quick.  A pet hate of mine is when manufacturers provide a 21m lines with 4m extensions, whenever i’ve had these in the past the lines always seem to get knotted and my setup time is unnecessarily extended.  A lot of folks will say they like the idea of the extensions as it allows them to tailor the line length to suit the conditions… my response is that whilst theoretically nice 98% of flyers will never ever ever utilise this ability.

Once in the air the first thing I noticed was the light bar pressure, coming from C-kites I was used to really feeling the kite through the bar so this change has taken a while to get used to.  Once attained however I found myself flying upwind and generally being a lot more powered up than originally thought.  The 12m delivers power akin to other 12m bow/sle’s and is I similar to a 10m Bandit Dos but is just as quick in the turn.

A really nice feature of the kite is that when you need to pull in on the bar the canopy slightly flutters notifying you of the fact, for a beginner this will save many a kite just falling from the sky.

Stability of this kite can not be understated, its the most stable kite I have ever encountered except for a Peter Lynn Venom 2 I used to own.  This is the first non-C kite I have encountered with which you can sit the kite above your head, let go of the bar and it will just sit there for an age before slowly moving to one side of the window.  There is no quick fall from the sky, it just sits there   Fantastic.  This kite never misbehaves or at least has not for me.  Because of the incredible light weight and the balanced distribution of this across the wing should the wind drop to next to nothing the kite does not hindenberg as most (all?) others do, this kite floats down to earth.  Its only when its dropped over 1/2 way to the ground/sea that it starts to tip over onto its leading edge.

De-power is large enough through just the throw on the bar, the distance of the throw is comfortable and at no point are your hands stretched way out in front of you.  I’ve only needed to use the de-power strap when it was blowing 25knots gusting 27knots and I wanted to feel a little bit more comfortable.  What needs to be mentioned is the smooth nature of the de-power, it provides a silky smooth power tap which is in stark contrast to the behaviour of many kites on the market.

Jumping… well not much to say really other than when you pop you go up and float…. its not a huge float but very respectable nonetheless.  Certainly its favourable compared to the vast majority of riders and will more than meet their requirements.  I’ve lost count of the number of Fuel riders I see all attempting to be another Len10, only problem is they are not… and it would not matter whether they were flying Fuels or a beginner kite… they just will never get the HUGE JUMPS.

Wave riding is where I feel this kite excels; its quick turning and through the window, grunty when required and due to its light weight has a fantastic drift ability for when you are chasing the kite downwind on the wave.

 

Not much else to say about this kite other than try one, and if you can not try one then just buy one for you will not be disappointed.  Its the perfect kite for beginners and intermediates but is also essential for all wave riders.  For the price you will not find a better kite on the market, its on a par with those that retail at twice its price so go grab yourself a bargain and possibly one of the best kept secrets in the kite surfing world.