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Aluula
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Post new topic   Reply to topic    Northwest Kiteboarding -> Gorge / Portland / Oregon Coast
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lewmt

Since 04 Aug 2010
182 Posts
MT
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PostTue Jul 02, 19 6:21 am    Aluula Reply with quote

Anyone in the Gorge had a chance to play with these prototypes yet? Super curious about the weight differences & performance. Seems like so much potential if all true, but ultimately it'll be about flight performance. Just thought since OR is so close there may have been a few around that folks could comment on 1st hand.

https://youtu.be/UFaoGIsOJhY

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Jonpnw

Since 22 Jul 2010
1322 Posts
Pacific Northwest
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PostTue Jul 02, 19 6:49 am    Windance Demo Reply with quote

The Ocean Rodeo team had a prototype kite at the Windance demo this weekend. Very interesting new material , it makes the kite very light . It may be available as an upgrade option like selecting a carbon fiber mountain bike.
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Join the Columbia Gorge Water Sports Association. http://gorgewindsurfing.org/

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stringy

Since 23 Jun 2006
1724 Posts
vancouver
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PostTue Jul 02, 19 8:52 am     Reply with quote

I flew the 12m in almost no wind up at jetty island a couple weeks ago. I was very impressed with how the kite would fly in such light winds. I flew it back to back with another lightwind kite and also my 13.5m cloud. I thought the OR kite flew the best in light winds, but it still wasn't enough to get me up foiling. it was pretty light. only one kiter out with a 17m and foil when I tried to make it work on a pocket board
not only did this kite stay in the air, it never once back stalled or hindenberged. those are two traits for most kites in lighter winds and this kite passed that test. OR may be on to something!

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wylieflyote

Since 30 Jun 2006
1634 Posts
Puget Sound & Wa. Coast
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PostTue Jul 02, 19 12:31 pm     Reply with quote

stringy wrote:
OR may be on to something!


I hope we see these at Nitinat since that is the OR home base.

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Kip Wylie

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Jonpnw

Since 22 Jul 2010
1322 Posts
Pacific Northwest
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PostTue Jul 02, 19 3:46 pm     Reply with quote

wylieflyote wrote:
stringy wrote:
OR may be on to something!


I hope we see these at Nitinat since that is the OR home base.


You go to Nitinat ? Tell us more ! We are always talking about making the trek ! How many hours of travel from Tacoma ?

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stringy

Since 23 Jun 2006
1724 Posts
vancouver
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PostTue Jul 02, 19 4:45 pm     Reply with quote

Jonpnw wrote:

You go to Nitinat ? Tell us more !

hey jon, we are headed up there first week of august. last summer we were there for the windfest weekend and it was pretty fun (but very crowded so campsites were packed). wind is steady (mostly 10m and TT wind conditions when we were there) and a very cool vibe. its totally off grid, not a lot of services once you're there. to get there, I took 101 up to pt angeles. it was a pretty scenic drive up through the hood canal region. do it during the day so you can take in the scenery. you'll need to reserve your ferry pass online in advance or you'll be waiting for the next boat! once across, its an hour up to duncan then you head west towards lake cowichan and onto the logging roads (which aren't really that bad) its about 2 hours west of duncan. tough to make this a weekend trip, but if you got a week, I highly recommend it.
there is a huge ocean rodeo following at the lake. when we were driving in on the log road, we got passed by this car, then it stopped right in front of us. we were a bit unnerved but when the person got out, it was the wife of OR president just wanting to say hi!

I took some images from last year's windfest, so feel free to browse through to see what it's about. mostly kite action shots, but there's a couple that show the beach and area

https://jimstringfellow.smugmug.com/Windfest-2018/

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ldhr

Since 21 Jul 2009
1470 Posts
Hood River
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PostWed Jul 03, 19 3:44 pm     Reply with quote

TT's are so 1998.... how's the foiling?

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wylieflyote

Since 30 Jun 2006
1634 Posts
Puget Sound & Wa. Coast
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PostWed Jul 03, 19 5:25 pm     Reply with quote

ldhr wrote:
TT's are so 1998.... how's the foiling?


Foil action is great. It's not gonna give you your Rufus or Green Buoy Swell, but it's uber steady and all day long. Good place to work on your duck tack.... or your Tak Boost.

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Nak

Since 19 May 2005
4199 Posts
Camas
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PostFri Aug 23, 19 4:57 pm     Reply with quote

I spoke to the Ocean Rodeo guys at AWSI, and according to the guys I spoke to, OR does not have an exclusive on the Aluula material. It'll be interesting to see if/when others in the industry produce Aluula kites...

I played with a piece of the Aluula, and DAMN. it is really, really strong. It seems much stronger than dacron, and way lighter.

It also sounded like the Aluula bladders are not doing so good. Apparently there is a problem with nipples/valves sticking to the material. Plus, it sounds like there is no such thing as a pinhole that can be repaired. Instead of just being a pinhole, the bladder catastrophically self destructs. Still, replacing the Dacron in a kite with Aluula should make a huge difference even if you used conventional bladders. (Which sounds like the right approach...)

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Nak

Since 19 May 2005
4199 Posts
Camas
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PostFri Aug 23, 19 5:02 pm     Reply with quote

From the specs, seems like a no brainer to replace dacron...

   Aluula (Custom).jpg 

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ldhr

Since 21 Jul 2009
1470 Posts
Hood River
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PostSat Aug 24, 19 8:57 am     Reply with quote

$2300 retail for the OR 10m.... so there's that.

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lineman

Since 05 Feb 2009
170 Posts

Stoked



PostSat Aug 24, 19 11:06 am     Reply with quote

[quote]
$2300 retail for the OR 10m.... so there's that.

Ouch, you would have to hang on to it for a while at that price. It will be interesting to see if this catches on.

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Nak

Since 19 May 2005
4199 Posts
Camas
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PostSat Aug 24, 19 4:41 pm     Reply with quote

ldhr wrote:
$2300 retail for the OR 10m.... so there's that.
Shocked Ouch. Maybe once there's some competition the price will come down... I can't imagine a 10m being worth that much... Maybe a 12 that you could foil with in 5mph winds might be worth that. Once the wind picks up I don't see the price difference being worth the weight savings. Who knows though, I haven't flown one yet.

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oliver19

Since 25 Jun 2019
77 Posts

 



PostSun Aug 25, 19 3:41 am     Reply with quote

The price is a tough one. It does look like they will be able to produce 3 strut kites that weigh less than BRM Clouds so potentially a lot of the advantages of no strut without the downsides.

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shred_da_gorge

Since 12 Nov 2008
1251 Posts
Local, not Low Cal
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PostSun Aug 25, 19 6:29 pm     Reply with quote

Sticky nipples... that's always a problem.

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lewmt

Since 04 Aug 2010
182 Posts
MT
Stoked



PostSun Aug 25, 19 6:41 pm     Reply with quote

Quote:
$2300 retail for the OR 10m.... so there's that.


If a kite stays light durable and crispy for 3-5 yrs & doesn't lose performance due to material stretch or degradation $2300 is relatively inexpensive. Especially if there's some gain in flight performance from dacron material kites

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tonyg

Since 27 May 2006
20 Posts

 



PostMon Aug 26, 19 6:58 am     Reply with quote

lewmt wrote:
Quote:
$2300 retail for the OR 10m.... so there's that.


If a kite stays light durable and crispy for 3-5 yrs & doesn't lose performance due to material stretch or degradation $2300 is relatively inexpensive. Especially if there's some gain in flight performance from dacron material kites


I don't think the canopy material is changing, only the leading edge and struts.

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Post new topic   Reply to topic    Northwest Kiteboarding -> Gorge / Portland / Oregon Coast All times are GMT - 8 Hours
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