U-Turn Oxigen 3.2M

This review is written from the point of view of someone who has always flown inland - being in the "Heart of England" at Rugby. My more serious kites are a 3m PKD Buster, a Rad Pro II 5m and a 4.5m Little devil.

I ride a "home-built" buggy which was made for me by a friend with an engineering set-up - the design is basically like a Libre Special with a full race seat which I bought to suit.

I have had fun with all three of the kites in different conditions and they all have pros and cons. My preferred kite was the 4.5 Little Devil because of its stability and good upwind performance. The 3.0m Buster, although a great little kite, just couldn't deliver the performance I wanted in the Buggy so I wanted to replace it with a comparable size wing - but which one? The market is growing all the time.

Someone advised me to look at "U-turn" - the natural contender being the 3.2 Oxigen - and what a surprise when I started to read the reviews. I couldn't find a duff one - quite the opposite in fact. Everything I read praised these wings very highly.

U-turn have produced two levels of build in some of their kites, the Standard and the Pro - but if you want to read about the design and build differences it's well worth taking a look at the u-turn web pages (u-turn-kites.co.uk) where they explain it all much clearer than I could in a few words.

I decided to go for an ex-demo kite and called U-turn. The obvious choice for me was the "Pro" so I talked to their VERY helpful Bill Williamson who advised me that the Pro and Standard builds are identical except for the lighter, stronger materials used for the Pro. Performance wise, for what I wanted to do and in the kind of winds that I'd be flying in, the Standard would probably be everything I needed and unless I was going to go bigger than the 3.2 it wasn't likely that I would benefit by going to the Pro.

So done-deal - I ordered an ex-demo 3.2 Oxigen which arrived in double quick time! Thanks to Bill for your advice and efficiency! The kite came well packed and in a stuff-sack without lines and handles (as expected) so I used some Flexifoil handles and although I had some 20m Ozone lines I decided I'd try some 25m SK75 lines I have had spare for a while, just to see what they are like. (Incidentally, they may not be the top of the range lines available - but I have come to quite like these lines!)

I would say that the build of the kite is very akin to that of Ozone - in other words it is excellent quality! I examined it very closely and couldn't find anything about the construction and finishing with which I was not perfectly happy.

I took it out in relatively gentle winds at first (because that's all there was!) and, although it seemed ever so slightly reluctant to get airborne, with a couple of gentle arcs - it was up and away - and so pleasant to fly. I haven't gone in for flying bigger kites - the largest being a Blade 6.9m (for the lift) and a lovely Rebble 5m and my 5m Rad ProII- but (and I know this is just personal opinion) this little 3.2 seemed "bigger than its size". What I mean by this is that it was producing more traction power than I expected for a kite of its size. I weigh 85 kilos and although I have had some OBE's (for the uninitiated - Out of Buggy Experiences) with other kites I have never been threatened by any undue tendancy to lift me out of the Bug. I've now had this kite a couple of months - long enough to have flown it in all sorts of wind conditions inland and I can only say that, as I heve gone past folks in my buggy, I have been heard muttering "This is an awesome little kite!"

I took the bug and bag down to France this summer and spent some fantastic hours in the stronger and more steady winds on the beaches - and the Oxigen has become my preferred kite. It is fast, stable and I can't recall it luffing or compromising me once! Although, as hard as I tried to miss it, I did hit a rock-pool at a vast rate of knots and found myself slowing down using my nose and toes as brakes after getting complacent and losing concentration for a few seconds. My fault - not the kite's! (Body armour was very helpful - wear it even if you think the conditions are "safe"!)

I am not into tricks in the Bug so I can't a really comment on how it would perform in that area - but as a reliable engine for the buggy I just couldn't fault it.

It was very fast downwind and it didn't take much work for it to produce really s-w-e-e-t upwind performance too. It is classed as an Intermediate kite and I suppose that is what it is - but I am sure that someone with very little experience could fly it without any major headaches.

All in all, I think as my kite bag gets bigger I will definitely be revisiting U-Turn! Maybe a Nitro if I really want the adrenalin rush?

By : Sozone