Just when you thought performance kites couldn't get any higher performing, Ocean Rodeo are continuing to push the boundaries even further with Aluula Graflyte and Aeris-X.
Aeris-X canopy material is being advertised as 10 times more tear resistant than ripstop, 3 times more UV resistant, no stretch, and 40% lighter.
The Aluula Graflyte is measured as 20% lighter than Aluula gold.
The company has a goal of creating a 1 Kg, inflatable kite, and they are well and truly on their way.
I can't wait for the first production Kite using these new exotic materials to come out, and abolish the light wind market.
We will need pegs to keep thte kites on the beach !
I really like to see those innovations. Light kites do make a difference, especially in low winds. I have a quiver of 4x Airush Ultra Team kites which are absolutely amazing for light wind foiling. I can only imagine with stiffer and ligther canopy that it can only be better!
The biggest problem is cost to the average consumer. I believe only about 1% of kiters would be able to afford these sort of kites, which I believe will cost at least $4k for a 10m kite.
As a retailer, in the current economy, it's hard enough to sell kites at $2k, imagine selling them at $4k or $5k!
I like the new tech too and are impressed by the innovations OR brings out. Saying that I can't emphasize enough what cbulota writes. Being a family father of two, even standard 2k$ per kite is too expensive for me so I opt for closeout sales on previous years models. I can only see tech nerds spending even more money on kites than the Aluula kites costs.
Finally....hilarious that the stoneage comment....the 12 will have the power of the 17 is used again.....
OR won't make a proper light kite till they make a 1 strut. Currently feels like they have great materials which were definitely game-changing, being held back slightly by good design (not amazing design).
I've flow A-roam 8m & 10m and A-flite 14.5m and reckon the Ultra Team fly better, just quietly. While the Roams are light in the sky and light on the bar, and make deceptively more power than they feel, they do have some shortcomings to me. Hunt around rather than flying straight, get lost at the edges of the wind window, etc.
Meanwhile ive had a 19m twin skin that weighs 1.9kgs for 4 years now .... dominico 10 cloth (including the many many lines)
I listened to a podcast a while back and it was mentioned that they are working on a more affordable budget aluula version. Has anyone heard some news about that?
Ill give you a clue steve, they even put little tiny loops on leading edge extrados to put golf tees into the hole so that it doesnt slide down the snowy mountain face
Nice stats which aren't always easy to collect (Naish - looking at you) but you got the wrong Airush, the Ultra Team is the light one with their Hookipa fabric.. Which is the only real competitor using their own next gen fabric. Until Duotone makes a Dlab Mono, there' s nothing else worth talking about really, without going to zero struts. Or Core/SS or some of the others flirting with Aluula start producing with it, which might not be far off.
So
A-Roam 12m : 2.17kg vs Ultra Team 12m: 2.39kg
A-Roam 9m: 1.76kg vs Ultra Team 9m : 1.98kgs
Yes there's ~200g there, bit over half a can of coke, but having flown both quite a bit I'm of the opinion that the OR doesn't have quite the same sorted and eager feeling in the sky as the Airush, and therefore those 2 extra struts aren't helping performance in any meaningful way. Add another kilo, sure, there would be a huge difference. I also have a 9m mono and agree with your feelings on it. But when weights are ballpark then all the other factors have an influence - flying characteristics across whole wind range and window, durability, cost, etc I don't boost on a foil yet so I can't compare those factors.
Weight is only really critical in super light wind, which this discussion isn't really about (personally I'm done with sub 8kt kiting, too much hassle too little payoff, winds too variable). I own a 10m foil kite (PLKB U/L Nova) which weighs in at 1.48kgs. Previously I had a 13m Peak 4 which weighs 1.64kgs. Does that make one of those the best if weight is king? Well, at staying in the air when it lulls to 3kts, you need "sail area vs weight" ratio, full stop. Peak first, Twin skin foil 2nd, inflatable a very distant 3rd. However there's more to light wind kiting than that, and for me I have more fun with the responsiveness of inflatables even though they are much heavier.
While the Roams are a great kite, light on the bar and in the sky, I still think a/ they could fly just a little better in some situations and b/ they could shed another 200g by dropping the 2 unneccessary struts. And unless OR gets ahead of these 2 factors, their first mover advantage with Aluula will be eaten away any day now when someone comes along with a 1.5kg 9m single strut aluula (or equiv) inflatable. Anyway just my 2c.
Is that a misprint about the peaks?
Meanwhile a new lighter version of Aluula appears that is apparently suitable for both canopy and frame.
aluula.com/aluula-composites-inc-announces-second-quarter-results/
kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2416062
I would happily sacrifice weight for more reasonable price, resistance to bagging, and resistance to foil tears.
Yeah, Ocean Rodeo did say it was now possible to build a 1kg kite recently
... :)
Setting the bar very high!