Bump. Good question. Any in Oz yet?

In their haste to get the kites out before Chinese New year, we got some sample kite today but only 4 bars.
One demo sport 11M is on its way to SOS in Perth, another to ARSA in Townsville, and a 9M will go to Kitepower Geelong.
Have one other demo 9M Sport or Edge to spare, dealers only for now.
Will have 11M Sport and Edge as well as lights on demo at Kitepower Sans Souci, from tomorrow.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

Well I forced myself to stop work around 11.00 am yesterday and head over to the beach, because a nice 15-22 knots Southerly was blowing, and I had the new Insticts to test.

Took an 11M Edge and an 11M Sport to try. We got 4 bars from Ozone before the factory shuts for Chinese New year, used the 06 bar as shipped and fitted with all the 07 trim. The rear lines and the front lines can be trimmed on the fly, rears are plastic buckles backed up by the rear leader line so you cannot lose a rear line even if the solid looking buckle breaks. Fronts/fifth are trimmed with a cleat, which has a strap that attaches to the centre line so it is always easy to reach. There is a swivel on the front lines, and this year they have fitted flagging rings so that you can flag the kite out for emergencys and self landing, to either front line.
A leash can be fitted to one of these flagging rings and you can also rig a line to go down through the centre hole in the bar so that the leash can spin.

Ozone have put enormous effort into making every single part of the bar exrtremely high quality and functional right down to the bungees to hold your lines on.

Centre line is plastic covered for long life and the chicken loop safety release is a Eurpoean standard pull away system.

The kites are superbly built, the Sport is one pump (licenced to Slingshot), the Edge is 7 strut and is not one pump. Leading edges and struts are small diameter and inflation time on both is easy due to the one way valves on all bladders. I used approx 6PSI in the struts and bladders.

In flight the kites are similar, in that they both give a very direct, light C kite feel, but with excellent wind range and gust absorption. The edge is extremely lifty, I got some great sized jumps, bigger than I expected when I timed my jump well with a gust. Both kites are easy to jump, you can feel them in the air, no pulleys at all on these kites so the feedback to the rider is direct.
Upwind ability on both kite was amazing, I was able to ride up to the bridge from Dolls in a few tacks, chasing a mate on an 11M 07 Waroo! Turning on both kites is amazingly quick, but controllable, the Sport turns a bit tighter than the Edge but the edge still turns tight and fast. Both kites can be ridden as fast as you can hang on, or you can edge more and ride them slower and absolutely truck upwind!
I gave 2 other riders turns on the 11M edge both were very impressed, and I was impressed because they were both entrenched in other brands. Both were amazed at the light feel, that increases slightly with speed and wind, and the upwind and jumping ability of the Edge, we were only using the Edge then.

I think the most popular kite will be the more low aspect, one pump Sport, because it will suit a wider range of riding styles, including unhooked, and wave riding. The Edge will be the choice for those that want to go very, very big, ride waves, ride fast, and have a slightly heavier bar feel.

I'm sitting here this morning with a blasted body still remembering the awesome smooth power and easy turning and positioning of these 2 kites, overall my favourite is the Sport. I spent approx 4 hrs riding both.

Demo's will be sent out soon, we need to get some bags and bars before we can begin shipping kites to customers, but they are showing as in stock at the factory and will only be a couple of weeks away.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve
www.kitepower.com.au (Instincts are on the site now)

hows the turning speed of the light compared to an 06 instinct?

Macca needs a smaller kite ;) soon

Im waiting to get my 11m back from the sail shop, just getting the mod done on mine ;)

11m edge,06 50cm bar used, new bars not yet available
6yrs on wipi,rhino's,flexi storms,windwings,slingy,flx 128/39, srt5,11.Sth coast NSW Shoalhaven Heads home base.75kgs, old school
Purchased 7m instinct when first released 06.Love it,didn't purchase 11m at time heard it a little slow on turning confirmed for self on borrowed unit.
Wind range over about 5-6 days 10 to 20 knts(flx only)
11m edge even on smaller bar(50 instead of 60)turns fine.Kite develops lots of energy when flying, bar pressure fine, I fly one-handed a lot(the fugitive)Put the kite where u want it and it stays ,very stable,lift and hang time unreal.No surge or untoward behaviour in gusts just plenty of acceleration if u want.Winds are generally very clean here.Have not had to change trim settings over wind range other than experimentation so can't say how kite feels at higher wind ranges however prefer my kites used in "sweet spot" range.
Construction can not be faulted, above bar initially seems a little cluttered due to proliferation of lines and trim strap but after a bit of use u don't notice.
Sail here a lot solo(only 2 of us kite)so launch and land critical.
Landing no problem and just slide launch as per ozone video.
So impressed that I've just picked up a 9m edge to round out kitbag.