I don't think Ozone put anything in the instructions saying that the kite can be flown without the 5th line. But I'd be interested if you could find the quote.
The 5th should be in tension when the kite is powered, it holds the flatter SLE profile of the kite, instead of arch bridling on the front lines like most other bows/SLE's.
Re adjustment, the Ozone bar is designed to auto adjust the 5th, when you pull in the trimmer you pull twice as much 5th as front lines.
I wouldn't worry about wrapping the 5th, mine have seen a few rinses over the last couple of years and no probs so far. The anti invert lines should stop that happening anyway.
15 is a big kite for the surf.....9 or less for me....if there was any kn wind.....skunked

The Instinct's are designed to have the fifth line in tension when powered as Tobes said.
I can say that they will fly without the fifth as i had mine snap at the end of a session last season (had no option but to come in when it snapped), but it lost all of it's nice Instinct feel and just became a wobbly mess of a kite.

The fifth line on Ozone Instinct's is important for the kite more than on other 5-liners as the fifth is an integral part of the bridle for the kite. It's also designed to change the angle of attack of the kite to depower it, whilst retaining much more manouverability and potential power if you pull the bar back in. That's why it's important to check the length of the fifth line during a season as if it's slackened off then you'll need to make adjustments on the attachment line on the kite.

Glennno said...

Hi all,

Fitted my new bladder to my ozone instinct sport 15 and all good now - no leaks!

I see a few Ozone kiters here so I've got a couple of questions:

I remember reading in the instructions that you can fly this kite without the 5th line - does anyone here have any experience doing this? Just that I do a bit of surf kiting and I'd hate to wrap the 5th line round the kite.

Also a noob question - what exactly does the 5th line do? Reason I ask is it's usually quite slack and there is no adjustment on it.

I don't fly this kite too much as I'm pretty stoked with my 07 12 meter naish 4 line - I've flown it about a dozen times but my boxer hundreds.

Cheers

Hi Glennno,

I'm pretty sure the Ozones will NOT fly WELL without the 5th line. They will probably let you limp home but I wouldn't try flying it without the 5th in place.

The 5th is the structural support for the whole leading edge and the key to the kites stability and narrow leading edges in out of control winds, they ALWAYS sit so calmly and fly smoothly regardless of wind strength or gustiness.

Wrapping the 5th around the kite is a non issue; firstly the anti invert lines help the 5th slide off the trailing edge and over the wingtip, secondly, if it did stay wrapped, the 5 points of contact run into three lines which spread the point loading well across the TE of the canopy, its just not an issue.

The only adjustment on the 5th is the attach point where you have two knots the end knot which is factory setting and the midway knot back 2 inches from the end knot. The second knot will depower the kite a bit more and will increase turning speed.

Hope this helps,

Good winds,