Ocean Rodeo Flight | to Aluula or Not to Aluula

Ocean Rodeo Flight | to Aluula or Not to Aluula

 

Everywhere I go the question comes up, “is Aluula really worth the extra cost?” Well, cost aside, let's focus on the performance and then you make the call.

I got the chance to test two of my favorite kites the other day, the 14.5m Ocean Rodeo Flight. What’s that you say, “wait, he said two of his favorite kites.” To clarify I did test two kites, both were the 14.5m Ocean Rodeo Flight, but I got to pit the A-Series (Aluula) directly against its brother from the same mother, the HL Series (Hybrid-light).

Ocean Rodeo touts the Flight HL Series as “the next level in light wind performance, second only to Ocean Rodeo’s A-Series.” Challenge accepted – let’s see how these two kites matched up in performance.

Ocean Rodeo Flight A-Series

Pumped up the Flight A-Series and was first struck by the extremely low-profile leading edge. It is amazing, about the size of an ordinary strut, and super quick to inflate.

Self-launch was super easy and was up and riding on my twin with no hesitation. The wind was light and I was powered up. I quickly noticed I was the only 14.5m in a crew of 17m kites and having no issues hanging with the bigger kites (but, I had way more maneuverability).

The kite was amazingly quick – turned like it was an 11m. It almost felt like the turns were so quick and easy that the kite just pivoted around itself – this also made boosting super fun. Where most of the kites out were getting little pops here and there the Flight A-Series boosted up and with a nice lofty hang-time. I was even able to do super-fast loops on my transitions and as most of us have experienced, this isn’t always “quick” on a bigger kite.

Of course, I had to push it a bit and did drop the kite a few times – this kite was super easy to re-launch which made it a pleasure to push your limits without worrying about having to self-rescue in the light wind.

A-Series smooth operator. The wind got a bit gusty in the afternoon and the kite stayed really stable in the wind overall - felt like velvet moving through the gusts; almost like it self-adjusted to the conditions. Toward the end of the day, I got a chance to test the upper range of the kite a bit – winds picked up to around 19-22knts. The A-Series held true and performed great in the higher winds – and boosted like a pro!!!

Ocean Rodeo Flight HL-Series

So, I came in mid-day and as most of you may know, Steve from MACkite was already riding the Flight HL and asked if I wanted to give it a spin to compare with the A-Series. He handed it off to me (he also said he had to run, so I could just pack it up the kite and bring it back to the shop – well-played, Steve), and I got the first taste of the hybrid Aluula and Dacron construction.

My first impression was wow – this kite is so stable in the air. It instantly felt like a natural extension of me, but weirdly I could feel the difference. Because of the low-profile leading edge on the A-Series, it felt smooth, but ready to jump into action.

The HL felt more traditional (leading edge is 3x the circumference of the A-Series), super smooth, but just a tiny bit slower on the turns. Overall, I loved the maneuverability of the kite. Ocean Rodeo’s commitment to innovation was felt with how well the kite handled in a range of winds with insane stability (almost felt like the added weight, all-be-it minimal really made the kite even smoother than the A-Series in the conditions.

Boosting made easy, but not as easy as the A-Series. Again, the HL-Series was very maneuverable, but just a bit slower than the A-series so loading and popping was just a little adjustment after riding the super quick A-Series. Just like the A-Series, the kite handled very well in the air and I loved how lofty the Flight is overall. Just boost and hang for a bit – oooooh yeah! You know the feeling.

I didn’t have to self-launch so this re-launch was my first real test-launching the kite. Super easy re-launch, but a bit slower than the A-Series (where the A-series launched, pivoted, and went straight up; the HL-Series did more of a traditional bigger kite launch).

As far as range, this kite handled itself very well in the gusty conditions and was super smooth in the air. I felt that both kites were very similar in this area.

Comparing the Flight A and HL-Series Kites

There was definitely a difference between the two kites – both 14.5m, both in the same up and downwind conditions, and both with me riding my twin tip. To summarize, the feeling I walked away with was that Ocean Rodeo took the elements of both kites that performed super well and carried them across the line.

The differences seem to stem from the kites profile (leading edge) and the lighter stronger materials. I loved both kites! Honestly, if you want a kite that turns on a dime and boosts like a champ in lighter winds go with the A-Series. If you still like to boost in lighter winds and want more traditional maneuverability in one of the most stable kites out right now take Flight with the HL-Series.

Thank you, and good winds,

Brian

Highlights and Takeaways:

  • Leading-edge diameters
  • Lighter materials
  • Loved them both

Related Links:

Subscription Links:

Click Below to Contact Us:

What's in Brian's Head This Week?

1st Feb 2022 Brian Scott

Recent Posts