ninjasasin - 6-12-2020 at 05:31 PM
Hi everyone, I'm new here. Brief background; I am a landboarder. A couple of decades ago I was flying a stack of fexifoils with a skateboard that had
2" risers and 105mm XT Wheels.This was before it was really a thing. During lockdown (March) I decided to get back into it. Got myself an MBS board
and PLK Uniq 3.5 single skin, just because it was all that was available locally, but tbh its kind of meh. Getting to the point though, I just
ordered a race kite. One seller had a 4m Ozone Yakuza (very old stock), another had a 4m Ozone Quantum on clearance. I went with the Quantum being
that it's the Yakuza's successor and their marketing calls it an improvement. What I'm wondering is does anyone here have experience with both models
and have an opinion on whether the Quantum is actually much of an improvement? Why I ask is I'll probably grab a smaller one next for high wind days,
and the guy selling the Yakuzas also has smaller ones left in stock (2.2m), or alternatively a Blurr 2.5. The place I got the Quantum only had 4m
left though.
ColinW - 6-12-2020 at 05:46 PM
I don't know which is better.
But if you got to kiteoregon.com on Facebook and ask Eli Anderson he will have your answer. He is an OZONE guy, and has, I am sure, flown them all.
I have a 3.5m Blurr. It doesn't look like its a fast kite, but on the playa it just kept building and building speed with the apparent wind. Not sure
I found that kites limits that day, but I sure found mine. Having said that, I'm not overly experienced. I had PLENTY of room and decided to keep the
kite low so I didn't get yanked, and run with it. Felt like it took miles to head upwind and slow down. I'll never forget it.
abkayak - 7-12-2020 at 07:10 AM
imo...
you need to go on to a depower kite its way more enjoyable w/ a board
B-Roc - 7-12-2020 at 08:37 AM
I agree with abkayak. I've been landboarding since 2006. Started on high profile FB kites like the JOJO RM and Begos. Ultimately moved to depower
and never looked back. Race kites were great for speed, upwind performance and jumping but were a bit too punchy for me in the long run. I think
Dean or Dan flew Yaks and maybe they will chime in but they are buggy riders.
jeffnyc - 7-12-2020 at 10:37 AM
Agree with both above, get a depower. Biggest question is where are you? If super gusty, maybe think about an arc (I'm partial to Phantom 1, but you
would probably like Charger 2-3) or single surface like FS Peak or Gin. FS Speed 3 and above also handle gusts fairly well and are more high
performance than single skins. Ozone Chrono, FS Soul would be in same camp. FS Sonic 2-3 are high aspect and need some skill to use, but are very fast
and great jumpers. Do not take those out into gusts or you will end up with a ball of yarn. I would not recommend those (or the race variants) as a
first kite. There are other kite brands worth looking at, but FlySurfer and Ozone are the 2 main ones making foils. Ask here if you find something you
like, and give us your location/conditions.
BTW - my Blurrs are my favorite FB kites - as Colin states above, they are mid/high aspect, fly very forward in the wind window and once you get going
they rip. But FB on landboard can be difficult to eject, depower is much safer.
ninjasasin - 7-12-2020 at 07:21 PM
I do have an old Arc 630 here from the late 90s. I'm not really using it because I haven't kitesurfed in forever, not sure where my seat harness
disappeared to, and from memory it got me a bit more airbourne than I'd like to be over solid land. Guess Im a bit heavier now though. I feel like it
was a pretty fine line between enough wind to keep it up and too much wind to handle it. As for ejecting from the ATB, I took the F1 bindings off mine
and replaced them with some Freebord bindings. Way easier to step out of if I need too, and I wasnt planning on jumping it much anyway. Prefer to just
go fast.
Also, Im in New Zealand.
jeffnyc - 8-12-2020 at 01:24 AM
Arcs (and all kites) improved in a huge way past the 630, completely different animals. Phantom in particular are very docile landboard kites.
The ejection I was talking about wasn't from the land board, but from the kite. F1 bindings are great, just keep them a bit loose if you feel like you
need to bail a lot. Modern depower kites have quick release systems that let you flag out the kite immediately, and a back up full release of the kite
if you need to eject everything. Fixed bridles - if you have a strop can sometimes be hard to get out of your hook, and if you're just holding on with
no strop will tire out your arms pretty quickly. Depower kites also handle bigger high and low wind limits than fixed bridles, so you need fewer kites
to handle every situation.
Having said all that... you're asking about Yaks, Quantums and Blurrs, I know Yaks were great kites, no experience with Quantum and Blurrs are great.
What are your conditions, where do you ride (beach, pavement, grass etc...). I know Plummet and Kamikuza are in NZ, but it's a big country, not sure
if they're near you, but if so, you should definitely get in touch with them.
ninjasasin - 8-12-2020 at 06:51 AM
Thanks for the replys guys. All very helpful info.
I had already heard great things about the Blurr, so that helps make my mind up. I'll grab the 2.5 from our one good kite store here. I plan on using
it on grass when the wind picks up around 20mph.
My 4m Quantum has arrived from Oz, sort of. Convinced my wife to get it for me for Christmas. Its going to be a couple of weeks til I can actually fly
it.