Rider: 82kg (average season for wind, good season for home brew)
Style: Race, Ridden kite with Raceboard North 69' on 43cm fins and Vanhunks Manakel 137cm TT
Weather: 10-16
Build Quality: 9/10
Satisfaction: 9/10
Disclosure: School/Shop owner
I got the 13m Ozone Edge out of the bag yesterday and tried the kite briefly on the twintip to see how it jumps. Jumping compared to the 2012 model feels slightly easier. I felt like you can zap the kite back past 12 quicker an get a bit more height.
The 2012 Edge has great hangtime but i never got the height that i get from a Rebel or Switchblade.
It feels like Ozone has improved this- stronger wind days on 9m will tell..
I only use the Edge for Racing so i set up two bars- 50cm with 25m lines and 55cm bar with 27m lines. I tried the 25m lines first. The kite felt good out of the bag well balanced, responsive and fast sitting on the raceboard fins.
Downlooping the kite seems to turn in a slightly smaller radius so less constant power when i gybe it.
The new racebar is awesome you can depower the kite so much that you sometimes dont really know where to set the trim. Even fully depowered the kite still flies decent. It handles gusts well and you got a lot of range holding the power which is nice when you get hit with a bullet.
You can point super high upwind and thats where i felt the Edge 2013 has more power. I also found there was less canopy flap than its older models especially when depowering. However, i felt like the drag downwards was a bit more than last years model especially on the longer lines. Maybe the 55cm bar is too big for the 13m!? I had to give quite a lot of back hand pressure to keep kite on upwards and open.
The '13 Edge is fast and sits rock solid in the sky. It feels like the 2012 just got super charged. The power development is smooth keeps building progressive as your board speed increases. The 2013 is less prone to over-sheeting compared to the 2012 model.
I also think that the kite is a bit snappier when steering which i liked especially going downwind.
downwind performance has definitely improved lots of grunt on dial and as i didnt need to work the kite as much.
I really like the bar pressure and the big range of power available on the bar which allows you to push hard into your harness and on your fins.
I did not get the chance to relaunch the kite. I hope there has been an improvement as i found it hard and time consuming to relaunch the 2012 Edges, especially in light winds.
Overall a good first riding impression. I felt comfi straight away and I am stoked on the 2013 Ozone Edge - a very balanced and super fast, powerful and fun kite to fly and the new graphics look fresh :)
Here are few more photos from the 'testing' session. Note the super thin bridal lines in photo DSC00778
www.intheloopkiteboarding.com/2013-ozone-edge-review
