Ocean Rodeo The One 12M

OCEAN RODEO THE "1" 12M


INTRO

I decided to take up kitesurfing after seeing it done at West Sands,St Andrews and being blown away by the tricks they were pulling off. I've only been kiting for 6 months now.........My name is Dawson Michie.......and I am addicted to kites!!!!

After lengthy research into kitesurfing,I decided I was looking for a cross between safety and performance and the new "bow" style kites seemed to fit the bill. I went for the Ocean Rodeo out of all the choices of "bow" out there as their kites are renowned for being bombproof........nothing to do with the fact it's also one of the cheapest "bows" out there.......honest!!!!

So there you have it, my reasons for choosing the Ocean Rodeo The "1". Perfomance,safety,durability,price.....the "1" scores highly on all these points, you just choose your size according to your weight and typical wind conditions.

"One kite,all conditions" is the claim.......can it deliver?


THE KITE

I managed to pick this kite up for £670 complete from Airbossworld. First thoughts on setting up for the first time were pretty much amazement at the scale of the thing( the biggest kite I'd flown previously was my 4.9 BladeIII). My first issue soon arose however....the instructions are next to useless. I was actually sent the booklet for the Bronco which is a standard C shape and nothing like setting up the "bow" which resulted in me attaching the power lines to the bar and the brake lines to my harness.....which I now know could have been very nasty!! But a quick visit to their website and the instruction manuals are there for the bar and the kite. Please download both of these before setting up.


THE BAR

The bar supplied is the Ocean Rodeo "Punch up" bar and to the complete newbie is like nothing you've ever seen before. But it's all pretty intuitive stuff and before you know it you'll be hooking into your chicken loop using your donkey dick,trimming the power line using your cam-cleat and riding "hard against the stopper"

Again I've had a couple of issues with this. During one very frustrating session the trim line slipped through the cam-cleat,ripping the bar out of my hands and gashing the foam covering on the bar. There are two solutions to this.1-Ocean Rodeo have taken steps to resolve this so if you've purchased a newer kite,there should be a stopper ball that will stop this happening. 2- If there's no stopper ball, before flying, unravel the existing overhand knot and replace it with a figure of eight knot. And secondly, if you buy this kite,do not keep the stopper screwed into the same place.....I've found that this has started to go through my rigging line and I now can't move the stopper down to the furthest seeting from the kite.


THE BAG

Once you actually work out how to open the bloody thing it's a pretty standard affair by LEI accounts(apart from the fact there are bloody zips everywhere!!!!). Good size, with expander pouches should you wish to leave your struts inflated. Side straps to attach your bar and pump and........eh,that's about it

and finally you're supplied with a double action steel shafted pump.......does exactly as it says on the tin!!!!!

SETTING UP

Once you manage to get a hold of the proper instructions this is a doddle....still very time consuming.....but a doddle nonetheless. you have a choice of knots to attach your power lines and your brake lines to. choose the longest power lines/shortest brake lines for maximum power and shortest power lines/longest brake lines for minimum power. To give you an idea of the depower available to you just in the initial set up without even touching the cam-cleat....I had this kite out in 25mph winds and thought I'd better put it on the minimum setting as I'm still a beginner. now bear in mind I was having a hard time with a friends 3m Radsail......I ended up vastly underpowered for the afternoon and had my worst ever session

This amount of depower was what was crucial to me choosing the "bow" style in the first place. Okay, it may take me a few months,a year even,to know what settings to use in what winds automatically....but it's good to know that I have almost complete control over the power generated by this potential monster


LAUNCHING

"You can't lauch an LEI on your own", "certainly not down the centre of the wind window"

HA!!!!set the kite down on its back,leading edge pointing downwind,sand down the trailing edge,pump it up,attach your lines. Now trim the power lines right in using the cam-cleat and pull on the front lines.....WATCH OUT KSURFER COMI....................EH??? You will not even have to walk forward......it's unbelievable!!!!! If you have no friends whatsoever,this is the kite for you!!!!!!again, I launched this solo on 25mph winds day and just stood there as it reached the zenith


PERFORMANCE

Let's get the downside of the "1"s performance out of the way shall we?

You WILL need a clean wind.No bones about it. Sitting at the zenith the "1" will luff at almost the slightest switch off of the wind. I imagine this is because of the flatter profile and it sometimes can be rescued....but when it's gone.......it's gone......which can mean big trouble on a crowded beach as I nearly found out to my cost. Thankfully I hit noone but it was close enough to teach me a very valuable lesson. And,as if by magic,this brings me onto the next part of performance.........

Relaunching...........Awesome!!! as long as you have enough wind, just pull on a back line,flip the kite,let out the bar and the kite will start to climb.....I don't kmow what all the fuss over relaunching is all about......it's easy!!!!!!!!

Once the kite is in the air it is an absolute joy to fly.Power does not come on until about halfway up the side of the wind window which means the kite has to be flown higher than the classic C shaped LEI but this is no problem at all. The "1" will generate power by picking your spot in the wind window and sitting it there a la fixed bridle stylee.....wind picks up and you're starting to feel overpowered??? just let that bar out and you can breathe easy again. It really is like an accellerator, pull it in....go faster,let it out......go slower. wind still getting a bit too high??? that's what the cam-cleat's there for

The amount of depower available to you is, quite frankly, astounding!!! I had the"1" out in 15mph winds and was surfing really nicely on the maximum power setting. The wind picked up to about 23mph and all I had to do was trim the cam-cleat and performance wise, it felt like the wind hadn't picked up at all


ON DRY LAND

I have used the "1" for landboarding and it left me smiling for days. Again I would urge you to use it with a nice steady onshore wind. Get this right and you're laughing. Same rules apply a la Ksurfing but I'm confident enough to try jumps on land and Oh Boy! does the "1" deliver!!!!!!

very long,fairly high but VERY floaty jumps will be yours in only 10-15mph winds.....you will be grinning from ear to ear!!!!!!! I even learned how to switch stance after my first attempt and I really felt like king of the Board!!!!

And the thing that you will never forget????

If you get in any trouble whatsoever.......just push the bar out!!!! power gone!!!!

On the one occasion where the kite got caught round the wrong way and the depower bar wasn't working I just pulled the chicken loop safety and all power was gone......It really is that safe!!!!!!!!


SUMMARY

again I'll start off with the bad points. I've had a couple of issues with this kite. I had a bladder valve that let out air before I could get the stopper valve back on. The two bar issues and the aftersales results have always been the same.......promises,promises,promises!!!! I was promised new bladders by Airbossworld which I've still to receive......Just as well I was able to work out the problem on my own then!!

With the bar/trim line problem I contacted Ocean Rodeo direct(at their request when you validate your warranty) and I was put in touch with the UKs "leading" Ocean Rodeo distributer, Twist and Turn Sports in Edinburgh with the promise of a new bar without the rigging.....cue a phone call in which I was told he "didn't want to be left short of a bar" and "would a tube of Aquasure glue not fix the problem?"


Despite these difficulties(I really am the worlds unluckiest person)I would definitely recommend the "1" to any level of kiter. It has all the attributes that make a great kite. Safety,performance,build quality and price

Enjoy your Ocean Rodeo The "1"

Dawson

By : DawsonCreaks