U-turn Oxigen 3.2M

My brief for a new 3m kite was very specific: it had to be less scarifying than my Blade II, with slightly less lift and acceleration, but more exciting than the mk1 Samurai with which was hoping to replace it . Oh, and it had to cost less than £200

This is a harder task than first imagined: Manufacturers blurb and even user reviews tend to be subjective to say the least - last year's model isn't as good as this year's (unless you have last year's model in which case it's the mutts nuts and much better than the new one!). I don't know how I came across U-turn, they seem a fairly small operation in UK - at least compared to Flexifoil and Ozone - but a trawl through reviews on t'internet, including this esteemed site and I couldn't find a bad word about them.

So when a 3.2 Oxigen came up for sale secon hand I just had to have it.

The kite came in a plain white stuff sack with a handwritten serial number, no rucksack. Build-quality is excellent - straight seams, reinforcement throughout, sewn bridles, easily as good as Ozone. This kite came with comfy handles, not unlike Flexis but without the neoprene hoods over the power lines leader. Mine has Ozone lines, don't know if that's standard or not but very welcome.

Wind was about 16mph gusting 20, Getting off the ground is an interesting experience, they're designed to kind of stall on take off; to quote the U-Turn website blurb:

"The UTurn Oxigen has an unusual but very safe take off characteristic. The kite can be raised a few meters off the ground and gradually coaxed to the top of the window with gentle S-turns before powering up."

These characteristics mean that you can make the kite sit absolutely anywhere in the window - useful for getting in your buggy, for instance.

When you finally get it into the air it leaps into life, it's lithe and sparky rather than brutal and punishing, i moved it a few metres and it generated enough power to lift me (at 17st) off my feet, but not in that scary way that a Blade does, just pure, stable power, a low revving big torquey turbo diesel to the blade's nitrous-fuelled screamer, and unlike a blade you feel you know where it's going to be in the next instant.

Gods it's exactly what I've been looking for, it's so stable and predictable, yet with enough lift to make things very exciting. I can imagine it's stability would make it a great buggy kite, but in the meantime I'm more than happy flying it static, after an hour's workout I feel exhilerated (and hurt) like I did on my first outing with - guess what - my blade of course, except I'm not so scared to take it out again!

After my afternoon of flying I was truly in love; my thoughts ran thus: "how much could I buy a 4 and 5 metre for?" and i thought my quiver had stabilised. How fickle this obsession. Oh well, off to sell my soul...again!

By : mikeymustard