Nobby in Jersey

I thought I'd see what all the fuss is about...So, after a failed delivery, I shot up the airport and collected my new Turbo bar... Got home, unpacked it and wasn't suprised to find what looks like a regular Ozone depower bar...Exact same megatron chicken loop and virtually indestructible Beal loop line, Amsteel leaders with 3 of the usual Ronstan stainless pulleys, and nice non-slip rubber grip zones with 2 safety releases.... If you're thinking that 115 quid's a lot of money to part company with when it comes to a fixed bridle control bar, maybe it is, but if you get your mitts on one you'll soon see why. It's a top quality piece of kit. Off to the beach we go... Guess what? No beach, just brine! Gotta have a fly on our new bars...Turbulent 12 mph winds rolling over the sand dunes across the road,(I ordered one for my mate at the same time, and we were both keen to have a go!), Sonic hooked up his 3.5 Blurr and I flew my 4m Flow...We got set up, hooked in and launched...I can only say that I've not seen my Flow fly as fast and precise on handles before today...When Ozone say "Supercharge your fixed bridle kite" they mean it!!! I'm finding it hard to believe the difference the Turbo bar makes...In low winds on handles the 4m Flow can be a bit of a slouch, taking it's time to travel across the window...Not on the bar though,It's like having a new kite all over again!!! Soooo much quicker and more responsive with what seems like heaps more pulling power... Setting up? Easy if you know what you're doing...Our bars came with no instructions whatsoever, so maybe not so newbie friendly, which I'd count as probably the only negative thing I can say about this bar...But all that needs to be done is larks head the brake lines to the 2 outer knots and hook up the power lines to the 2 inner knots. I found that I needed to add a couple of knots on the brake leaders to take up some of the slack in the lines and reduce some of the parasitic drag, but that was the only adjustment required. There are also 2 adjustable webbing straps incorporated, and these are for adjusting bar pressure. Operation is pretty much the same as any other bar, except that when you want to apply the brakes you need to pull the bar towards you, bar out = full power , which is the reverse of a regular depower bar. Would I recommend the Turbo bar?... HELL YEAH!!!!!! I've never been a fan of control bars but this thing is THE mutt's nuts!!!! Turns out we both said at exactly the same time " I don't think I'm gonna be using handles again! *** UPDATE *** Where to start? Sonic and I have been flying our fixed bridles on Turbo bars for the past 2 weekends...That includes all my Flows, my 4m Samurai and my 3m Beamer...Sonic's had his 4.7m Rage and 2.5m and 3.5m Blurrs out in all kinds of winds...No doubt there, the Turbo bar's versatile... I hasten to add, that I made a boo-boo in my first review...My apologies...Launch the kite with the bar out and it'll fly like it would on handles,just faster...Needs a bit of trial and error to get it set up right, but when you do...Bum headed towards buggy-ville..."Pull the bar in once you've got the kite parked" said I..."That puts the brakes on" said Sonic..."Not when you're moving" Said I...And there's no doubt there either...Pull on the bar in against a good apparent wind and off you go...Faster than I've ever been on my fixed bridles flying with handles anyways, Sonic says the same to boot......I got nigh on 32 mph working my 2m Flow in 20 mph winds and I'm now very much looking forward to some late 20's ... Can't say much more really...Awesome...Money well wasted IMHO... By : Nobby in Jersey

As I write this review, it should be borne in mind that the Ozone Flow range has not long been on the market, and that I'm still green when it comes to kiting... As such, I'm still feeling that it (the review) just may be a little premature,I'm at an advantage whereby I fly on the beach all the time, and the wind's usually pretty clean and constant, but here goes... Having two sets of Ozone 25 metre lines and a set of 30 metre lines, I opted for kite only. The recommended line length for the whole Flow range is 20 metres. I find that on a lazy day the 4 metre flies beautifully in a huge window on the 30m lines, the 2 and 3 metre kites fly perfectly well on the 25's...Shorter lines would undoubtedly make for a faster kite, but, with what sacrifice? I have yet to experiment... I fly my Flows on HQ ultra handles, simply because I like them, I got a set of the posh Ozone handles with my Samurai and although they're very nice, I just like the fact that I've not got a leader line between my fingers... The Kites.. In a nutshell?... Just what we've come to expect from Ozone really. Solid, well built kites. All of the seams are double stitched, meshed air inlets, Mylar reinforced leading and trailing edges, internally reinforced with a rather nifty trailing edge dirt evacuation system. The bridles are minimal, and ,therefore simple, yet strong, with fool-proof numbered tags for hooking up the lines. The kite only package comes in a backpack with a manual,repair kit, packing strap, keyfob, loads of stickers and the all important warranty card... How do they fly? Nicely...It's been written somewhere that Flows are what I'd call "Input sensitive", in that the harder you fly them,the faster and harder they go and this is certainly the case for the 2 metre, which makes enough grunt to pull me and my buggy up and down the beach in 20 mph+ winds...So far I've only flown the 3 and 4 metre kites in 4 - 12 mph. It's winter here on the rock, and the wind's either full bore or naff all at this time of year. But they both feel slick in the air nonetheless...For my part, I feel that the 3 metre will make for a cool buggy/board power plant in 15-20 mph winds. On a different note, it's also been written that the Flow lacks upwind ability. As someone who's only just venturing into the world of wheels, I'm in no real position to pass comment. But I can quite happily (makes me laugh anyway...) zoom up and down the beach flying across the wind...I get the feeling that I'm not going very fast in comparison to the likes of Mr Fandango (AKA Popeyethewelder) and his chums, who can quite happily notch up doughnut twitching speeds of + 50mph!!! At the same time, I've gotten myself back to where I started with my "Little Flo"... Minor triumphs an' all that... I feel I should add that I felt somewhat "beguiled" upon reading the initial comments surrounding the Flow...Personally, I feel that the proof is in the pudding...I'm no whizz at this aspect ratio lark, but if your kite's skinny over the chord, it'll go fast...Drag co-efficients and physics...Compared to a Blurr or a Blade or any other race kite for that matter, the Flow's a bit of a fatty, but, they were designed to be so. Designed for a balance of traction, stability and speed...I think it was Mr. Pirelli who said "power is nothing without control"... From 4 - 38 mph winds, my Flows cover an overlapping wind range for my weight. At 11 stone I'm pretty sure I'd have no need for a 5 metre... To conclude, In my humble opinion, money well spent. £ 330:00 quid will buy the 2, 3 and 4 metre kites...For that kinda money I could buy a Blurr I couldn't fly...The RTF package is obviously more than the HQ Beamer equivalent, but you certainly gets what ya pays for... If you get a Flow/ get to fly one and you'd like to pass comment, search, here on Racekites for "Nobby's Flow thread"... Happy flying folks! By : Nobby in Jersey

I got this kite for my better half for xmas and today was the first time we found the time to go out and play together. So, off to the beach we went, 17mph winds gusting to 28-ish.....Can't really say too much about the little package the kite comes in, it's certainly like a "finger of fudge" (you need to be old to appreciate that.....) in that it's very small and neat ! The kite comes RTF with 30 meter lines on a winder, 2 loop handles and the dreaded "destruction manual"...Perfect for a noobie!!!! The kite itself is very well made, HQ means High Quality in my book.....Well stitched Ripstop nylon.....My missus tried pile driving with the poor little kite this afternoon on numerous occasions,with lots of noisy impacts I hasten to add....So, it's a tough little blighter, 'cos once my ever loving got the knack of tugging on the lines to get the kite the right way up, it re-launched itself and just laughed off the abuse! My turn.....Little indestructible kite turns into a VERY fast little screamer! To be honest, I was totally shocked at the amount of power this teeny weeny little kite makes.....The Symphony had my 11 stone frame scudding with ease in the power, and my 8 stone missus was nearly wetting herself laughing as the kite yanked her around! In conclusion....Pure bang for your buck! This kite costs around 40 quid and I reckon it'd be a great starting point for new pilots, in that it's simple and usable in winds from 4 mph up to 30 mph....If you just want a fun,learner friendly kite that you can fly static in high winds, has a bit of grunt , and looks nice in the air too,get a 2.1 metre HQ Symphony Beach.... By : Nobby in Jersey

Today saw me use a harness for the first time... I got my "Bru-Nappy" last thursday but had to wait until today to try out my new bum warmer ! Being my first harness, I can't really say stuff about build quality too much....I did load it up in a F3 this afternoon with my Samurai and I didn't hear anything groan or snap,so in my book that's a result. I actually got this harness for half it's RRP at 35 quid, so for a piece of kit that costs 70 usually, I'd say I got pretty good deal really.... Is it comfy? Well, yeah, it is! I wandered about the beach for 2 hours today and hardly noticed that my ass was in a sling !! Once I'd got the spreader bar adjusted so that it didn't move, the kite felt very natural on the strop line, again,actually being "hooked in" was a little strange at first but once I got the hang of it.....One of those " Hey ma!!! Look!!! One hand!!!" moments....At last....Scratching my itchy nose is no longer a problem.... For some strange reason I was a little wary of using a harness, in that I felt that I'd not be able to ditch my kite in an emergency. Not the case. I found it was quite easy to kill my kite while hooked in, so that instilled my confidence in that a harness is now good thing....You can certainly battle it out with "Ol' Ma Nature" when your ass is in a sling and your arms ain't tired!!!! Some say a waist harness is better for landboarding, I dunno why....I think I'll feel quite at home on my ATB in my "Bru-Nappy"..... By : Nobby in Jersey

I got a Beamer 3 as my first kite about a month ago. Did the newbie thing and took it out in a fresh F5 wind.Big mistake! It nearly ripped my arms off while I was being dragged down the beach on my knees....I know, I should have just let go of the handles and let the kite killers do what they do.....I've since flown her in winds from F2 -F5 and as I'm only 11 stone the kite has plenty of grunt and will drag me over the sand in F3 winds flying in the power zone(on my feet now I hasten to add!). I was well impressed with the package,the comedy zip on the backpack makes me smile everytime I look at it and the included ground stake is a godsend,makes life so much easier while setting the kite up or just having a rest. Same goes for the kite killers, I've only used them once,just see if they work,which they do,so I have peace of mind in that if it goes tits up,I can just let go. Living on an island where the windspeed can change quite dramatically,kite killers are shiny! I nearly split my sides laughing at my friend with his 4.7mtr Flexifoil Rage nearly being dragged up and over a 15ft high seawall in a F4 'cos he's "too tough" for kite killers! The quad handles are comfy,especially as they now have indents where my fingers grip after flying for 6 hours one sunny afternoon!I was a bit miffed to find that the Beamer has no dirt-outs, but apart from that, it's a tough,stable,well built kite that's not too fast for a newbie like me. £104:00 well spent in my humble opinion! I haven't tried it with my land board yet but I reckon it'll do it's job admirably. -Nobby