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Ocean Rodeo Prodigy owners: how are you using it?

Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 10:31 am
by skyhooked
Ciao all,

Dom Moore here, I'm on the payroll at OR and based in the UK, wanted to let you know that first so you don't think this is a sneaker pimp post.

The Ocean Rodeo Prodigy kite was developed for schools and progressing riders, to sit underneath the Razor. I have a quiver of Razors, but soon switched over to the Prodigy full-time as I was surprised to find it excelled in our big, rolling Atlantic waves.

The things I prefer over the Razor are the slack line drift such as when coming down from a big floater in cross on conditions, and the ability to recovery it should you manage to slack line it to the point of no return.

Anyway, it's got me into and out of some pretty good situations this winter in the Eastern Atlantic, a bit more confidence in waves I might have thought twice about.

I'd like to hear from any other OR Prodigy users or folk who have tried it see what you like about it, where it takes you, any surprises it's thrown up for you, and what you'd improve about the kite. If you've got photos to share, so much the sicker.

Here're a few from this winter:

Re: Ocean Rodeo Prodigy owners: how are you using it?

Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 12:17 pm
by Blake
Dom,

I have a 9.5 that I haven't flown yet, bought it for the girlfriend to teach her on. Thing is, I was just down in Hatteras and talked to an instructor from Kittyhawk Kites and he said the Prodigy overflies like crazy and he doesn't like it at all for teaching. I would like to know before I fly this one, or end up selling it as a new, never flown kite, so what gives?

Blake

Re: Ocean Rodeo Prodigy owners: how are you using it?

Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 12:32 pm
by skyhooked
Blake wrote:Dom,

I have a 9.5 that I haven't flown yet, bought it for the girlfriend to teach her on. Thing is, I was just down in Hatteras and talked to an instructor from Kittyhawk Kites and he said the Prodigy overflies like crazy and he doesn't like it at all for teaching. I would like to know before I fly this one, or end up selling it as a new, never flown kite, so what gives?

Blake
Hi Blake;

Wow - that's definitely a new one on me; when I come into the beach in lighter winds and go for a reckless self landing (tug centre lines like crazy, release to get kite to over fly), the thing just sits there like a balloon and I end up just dropping it to 3 o'clock and tugging the top centre line to land it.

Not saying it can't overfly, any kite has that potential of you run downwind at it, but the Prodigy is a deep canopy design that creates a lot of drag. It cannot sit very far forward in the window, and so when a gust does come through it is insulated against nose stalling or overflying.

The Razor I would say has a tendency to overfly if you do not watch it when doing certain things in waves, but that's interesting to hear him say that about the Prodigy for over my winter of flying it, stability and resistance to luffing is once of the qualities I would tell someone about in advance of them flying it.

Well, if your kite is under 30 days old, you get a money back guarantee from Ocean Rodeo if you don't like it and you return it undamaged, so I would say you have nothing to lose from giving it a shot.

My no. 1 tip for using it for teaching - set the rear line connectors to the middle setting, you will find relaunch is much easier than on the fast setting.

Let me know how you get on! :)

Cheers, Dom

Re: Ocean Rodeo Prodigy owners: how are you using it?

Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 4:34 pm
by whabbits
Depending on the OR bar that the instructor was using, this could happen. The Fusion and Freeride bars offer so much throw that if you do not set the stopper down a little, the kite can overfly. This would happen to any kite attached to these OR bars if the stopper was moved up to far. It would not be an issue on the Freestyle bar.

Once I figured out that the Fusion bar needed to use the stopper, I have not had this experience any longer.

For the Prodigy, "Plug and Play" is what I would call it. It takes about 2 minutes to know this kite inside and out. From there you can just go and ride it. I personally like to just boost lofty jumps and land softly, this kite is the easiest one that I have used for doing exactly that.

Re: Ocean Rodeo Prodigy owners: how are you using it?

Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 6:03 pm
by zig zag
I've been kiting less than a year and am very happy with the Prodigy! I have a 7, 9.5 and will be buying a 12 soon! The reviews have all mentioned the stability and easy flying characteristics the kite has but I wanted to mention the confidence the kite gives the rider.
The first few times flying a big kite you react to the kite's movement and hold on to the bar too much and think you need to control it when its out of control... I was guilty of this flying a Razor for lessons... The Prodigy flies itself and reacts to your inputs when your intentions are to dive or boost!
I've flown my 7m in 30+ gusting to over 40 knots in wicked conditions on the rugged west coast of Canada's Vancouver Island (OR's hometown) and I was more concerned about the sea state then what the kite was doing! These conditions are considered for advanced/intermediate riders only but the Prodigy made it easy for me to get out there after only half a year kite boarding!
After flying the Prodigy for a while I had a chance to ride a Razor again and I didn't find it to be an easy ride! It was fun but something that would make me pretty tired after 2 hours of being yanked around.
Get a Prodigy and start taking'er easy eh!! Its still boosts great and floats just as well as a Razor

Re: Ocean Rodeo Prodigy owners: how are you using it?

Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 11:41 pm
by skyhooked
zig zag wrote: I've flown my 7m in 30+ gusting to over 40knots in wicked conditions on the rugged west coast of Canada's Vancouver Island (OR's hometown) and I was more concerned about the sea state then what the kite was doing! These conditions are considered for advanced/intermediate riders only but the Prodigy made it easy for me to get out there after only half a year kiteboarding!
After flying the Prodigy for a while I had a chance to ride a Razor again and I didn't find it to be an easy ride! It was fun but something that would make me pretty tired after 2 hours of being yanked around.
Get a Prodigy and start taking'er easy eh!! Its still boosts great and floats just as well as a Razor
This I totally agree with Zig Zag - the Prodigy is emerging as one of the kites out there that lets you worry about footwork - or sea state (that's a good point you make) while the kite trucks along.

Like you, I used to feel whacked after a two hour sesh on the Razor because it is such an energetic kite, demanding to be thrown around like a Caterham 7 track car. I was talking to Ned at OR about this but interestingly he said the Razor felt more effortless for him to fly, he had a good reason, I can't remember what it was now...

Funny story - I was running a course and was out on my green 9.5m (I have two). Folks were out on 10's and 9's, so it seemed a good choice. Later at the bar we were all chatting about the session and a couple of people said, 'so you went for the 7m today after all?' I was like 'Nope, that's the 9.5', they were 'Well maybe, but it said 7m on the wingtip'. I would describe it as having low end torque, like a good diesel engine.

Re: Ocean Rodeo Prodigy owners: how are you using it?

Posted: Fri May 24, 2013 3:49 pm
by henke
Hi,
Great to hear all this. I have two Prodigy waiting for the first try. 7m and 14m. Between those I have two Razors 8m and 10m. I really love the 10m razor and don't have problem with the yanking aournd thing but sometimes it can get a bit scary when trying tricks.

I'll be using my Prodigy for teaching and also to find out if I can progress a bit more with a slower kite than razor.

I'll try to remeber to write here when I have tried the kites.

/henrik

Re: Ocean Rodeo Prodigy owners: how are you using it?

Posted: Fri May 24, 2013 5:54 pm
by gazxtreme
I have been using the Prodigy since recieving a demo 9.5m in November last year. I now have the 5m, 7m and 12m to go withit. I have yet to teach on the Prodigy but from my many sessions on them I know the reluanch, safety system and wind range will make them perfect for people to use. I do believe they are much more than a beginners kite though, since starting to kitesurf in 2002 I have had many kites including some early 2 line non de-powererable Wipikas :o but it has taken me until now to find a kite and bar that I don't think needs any further improvement, I'm loving the Prodigy. For over 2 months the only kite I had was the 9.5m and I rode out in everything from 12knots to 30knots gusting 40. I found they still handle well and behave even when the back lines are well slack, I am not suggesting that everyone could easily use the kite in that wind range but I am a speed rider and stretch the upper wind range on any kite simply because that's how you go fast. I have also done some back to back testing against other Ocean Rodeo kites and my findings can be found on the OR site in the forum. Regarding the above mentioned over flying I have not had this but I have not had the kite out in light winds, I have however been out when the gusts have been 15 knots above the wind average and experienced no lurching or over flying in fact the Prodigy is from memory the best gust soaking kite I have used and I go out in some shitty, stormy UK weather.

Re: Ocean Rodeo Prodigy owners: how are you using it?

Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 1:22 am
by Kamikuza
How's the Prodigy jump? Especially compared to the Razor?

The reviews I've seen say "average jumping performance"... and I want to fly :) my Crossbows are pretty good when the wind is up!

Re: Ocean Rodeo Prodigy owners: how are you using it?

Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 3:45 pm
by skyhooked
Kamikuza wrote:How's the Prodigy jump? Especially compared to the Razor?

The reviews I've seen say "average jumping performance"... and I want to fly :) my Crossbows are pretty good when the wind is up!
I've seen one review from TKB Magazine that said it had average jumping performance, they also said that it didn't have a sliding stopper when the photo they posted on their website actually shows the sliding stopper...which is fitted to all of our bars 2011 onwards, and is the only one that you can actually adjust the tension of. So make of that review what you will...

Is there a kite that doesn't boost well these days? Everything out there is capable of scaring the bejesus out of you if you send it hard and the wind is up

Here's a little board off pic I got under the 12m - but ask around from people that have flown the kite what they make of the boosting ability. I'd say it's pretty easy to get a damned good leap out of it.

EDIT: Righto mate compared to the Razor it's a bit different. The Razor is like being fired out of a catapult. The Prodigy by comparison is like being lifted by an industrial crane, more sedate - the Razor is more urgent, the velocity is greater. The Prodigy *I think* is easier to get to get a big boost from more of the time because it is so simple to fly and does not require as precise timing to go large. Ultimately the Razor will take you higher, but requires a more deft touch to get you there.

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