TESTED BY: CHRIS BULL AND JIM GAUNT. FIND THEIR DETAILS AND TEST SCORE BREAKDOWNS HERE.

TEST TEAM NOTES:

The Ozone Edge’s legacy actually spans more than the ten years its V10 model title might lead you to presume. Ozone don’t release a new model each year; only when there are suitably emphatic improvements. In fact, in this swept back, high- aspect design’s long standing history as a real big air / hangtime machine, the solid respect its garnered is probably why we see more and more kites like this back on the market.

So, at this time of year (very windy autumn in the UK) we were a bit disappointed when an 11 metre rather than a nine metre arrived at the office. We usually feel that there’s an optimum size for getting the biggest jumps possible, and an 11 metre usually isn’t it. The Edge has always been a dependable rocket to the moon when you’re on an eight or nine metre in 30 – 40 knots. Just boom. But anyway, it’s good to try other things and open our minds… and perhaps Ozone wanted to send us a message and make a statement, because in fact this 11 metre delivers hangtime for days!

We tested the 11 metre in regular 15 – 18 knot winds, but then also during a session where the wind really ramped up close to 30. Everyone else was on eight and nine metre kites and yet we were able to hold on to the 11 without having to pull on lots of depower. Yes, it needed some good board handling skills, but because the Edge loves racing through the window and is high-aspect it handled the stronger gusts with great poise.

We’ve always enjoyed the Edge because it shoots you upwind and lets you ride super fast but also hold your board’s edge with control for a long time. Getting just the right amount of tension in your lines is easy so that when you send the kite up and sheet in you exit the water very cleanly. That edge control / take-off relationship works really well because the kite delivers such a refined management of power with lots of very fine sheeting control.

The bar pressure is medium, just where it should be, making it hard to oversteer and yet still isn’t tiring to use for long sessions in light or strong winds.  Going into the test our premonition was that the kite would feel relatively slow (we’ve been testing eights and nines most of the autumn), but in fact the 11 works very nicely because there is a lot of on-demand sheeting power, so when you crank the bar in, you really power up. Although it’s not as quick as a nine metre, it’s not far off and feels much quicker than your average 12 metre. The extra canopy overhead probably also gifted us such lengthy and stable hangtime distances.

It takes very little skill to sheet in and get up to high speed very quickly. But what really takes the Edge up a notch and sits it amongst the most modern high-aspect freeride kites is that, although you have a lot of power, the aerodynamics are so clean that it always drives forward without yanking you and allows you the best chance to engage your board’s rail very cleanly. Plus, you never have those moments where you’ve overtaken the kite because its dropped back in the window during a gust and then powers up brutally, pulling you hard. Good kites like the Edge allow you to essentially hold down more power and still ride smoothly. If you like to boost, this is the recipe for getting the biggest jumps.

The turn is very predictable, so when you pull on the back of the bar to send the kite up the whole kite turns, you sheet in and whoooop, up you go. The hangtime goes on forever but what’s nice is that it’s in good proportion with your boost, so the jump has a nice arc to it. What’s also nice is that what we’ve found in several of the best hangtime kites, like the Switchblade this issue, what gives good hangtime seems to also provide good stability and lift. The Edge in particular creates so much lift that you never feel as though you’re suddenly falling out of the sky. Once you do start falling, you fall slower than on other kites. The Edge is nimble and heli-loops with ease and each heli-loop gives you more lift, so it’s a win-win situation. You can dump the power whenever you want, but in general the Edge holds on for up to 30% longer. It’s got a great grip and is king of the pull-ups!

Three kites have really made the big air headlines in this focussed high-aspect marketplace in recent years. The Edge hangs with the Core XR6 and the Duotone Rebel (our last test was the 2019 Rebel), but is even a bit quicker. The XR6 is the easiest and most comfortable of the three and it’s hard not to like the Rebel in windy conditions, but the Edge separates itself in terms of just a shade more stability and surely a bit more top end range. As it’s more high-aspect it’s less physical to fly at its top end, flies higher into the wind and naturally carries a bit more speed. That said, it is a bit more technical to fly at times and requires a little more delicate touch being so high aspect. It’s just a slightly different flavour and will satisfy any existing Edge fan or any rider looking to rule the skies at their home spot.

What also separates Ozone is the manufacturing control they have using their very own factory that also builds all their paragliders. Producing only their gear there, you can feel a unique detail in all their kites. There’s no fat, no extras, just beautifully smooth finishes and just the right amount of materials, which always deliver great aerodynamic performance in the air. Ozone’s V4 Contact water control bar was updated last year, features a smooth trimming cleat (that you rarely ever need to use) and a neat click-in chicken-loop safety. The safety line runs up the middle of the bar outside of the plastic coating that covers the centre lines, so it’s as free as possible to kill the kite should you ever need to pull your release.

SUMMARY:

Hand up: who wants to ride really fast, be able to manage loads of power and boost over the hills and far away with pinpoint control? The Edge offers far more than that though, in terms of great low end drive, real sheet-and-go performance and impressive rock-solid stability whatever the gusts. All that is mixed with swift handling and response to make this a very dynamic big air machine that, although holds a huge amount of power, isn’t overbearing in its delivery.

KW LIKED:Steady height and immense hangtime. You may need your GPS to get back to where you took off.

KW WOULD CHANGE: The Edge turns smoothly and swiftly, but if you’re looking for a big air and kite loop combination, there are kites more suited to that. The Edge will loop, but it turns in on itself rather than really driving round the bottom of the window which the more tailored kite loop kites can do.

EDGE V10 BALANCE POINTS:

Build quality: 9

Full package: 9

Low end: 8.5
Top end: 9

Steering speed: 5

Turning circle: 3

Bar pressure: 5

Water relaunch: 8

Drift: DT

Boost: 9.5

Hang-time: 9.5

Unhooked: 4

Crossover: 4 (Pure performance twin-tip freeriding)

Ease of use: 8

SIZES: 19, 17, 15, 13, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5m

More at ozonekites.com