First ride of the 12M Chrono, winds were 11 knots to 17knots, and my session ended around 11/12 knots. Board was a Cab Skillet 5'10" no straps, choppy flat water and some parts of the river had a tide assist, others no tide. Tide approx 3 knots, opposing wind at an angle of about 45 degrees to the wind direction, so a bit complex to work out the exact effect it had. My best guess is that it was giving me a 2 knot advantage at best, and I ended the session when I felt the wind was too light in the area where there was no tidal assist and there was a rock groin and no beach downwind of me.
Unrolling the kite and closing the zip I was amazed at how light this wing is, the primary legs of the bridle are the finest/thinnest I've ever seen on a foil kite of this size. The aspect ratio is extreme, the only other kites I've seen and flown with an AR like this have been specialised land kite, race kites. Launching - had a couple of attempts where the tip dragged under, there was not much wind at ground level to pre inflate, but I did pre inflate by standing on one tip and holding the other as you do with FS and other closed cell foils like arcs, but the kite deflated quite quickly. However, once I had the kite at the optimal angle to the wind (mostly downwind) it was an easy launch, just held it on the ground for 30 secs or so, got some air inside it, then launched with tips folding. Kite rose to zenith easily and then a couple of sweeps and it was fully inflated and solid.
Flew it for a few minutes on the beach to get a feel for where it would sit when depowered and to see how stable it was. Sweeping across the top of the window it would life me and hold me off the ground easily so I was confident I had enough to get going so headed to the water and picked up my board on the way, very quickly felt confident in the stability.. Bar pressure is light, but the kite still had solid pull coming down the centre lines. Steering pressure and holding the bar in - this kite falls into the light bar pressure category, but I could feel it all the time and had no trouble knowing where it was in the window or turning it tight enough to gybe and make all my turns without looking at it constantly.
Upwind angles were insane, in the gusts, my board was pointing almost or directly upwind. I tried going off the wind as much as possible and the kite was very stable and confidence inspiring. Kite racers are going to absolutely love this thing, foilers even more so, can't wait to see these Chrono's in the hands of some top kite racers and kite foilers.
Self landed using the stall/brake line, then flagged to one line, too easy. No pumping=awesome, deflate by unzipping, total time on the water approx 1.5 hrs, see the graph attached I was on the water from 4.45 till approx 6.15 This is not a kite for everyone, it is a Ferrari of kites, needs to be flown with a light hand and skill. The construction is typical Ozone solid quality, but it is a light kite and consequently will not take to constant rough use, care needs to be taken ground handling with bridles this fine.
I did not try jumping with is as I was riding strapless, but it was a lot of lift and should jump well with long hang time. Not for waves, not for unhooking, not for beginners, definitely for racing, foiling and I also think it will be enjoyed by old school hooked in freestylers.