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EH Ovando - who still flys these? Who has owned them?

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ed257
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EH Ovando - who still flys these? Who has owned them?

Postby ed257 » Tue Oct 01, 2013 1:24 am

I am curious who is still flying the ground-breaking EH Ovando?

I used to have the 11 and 8. They were amazing kites. Their combination of power, upwind ability combined with good turning ability still goes unmatched in my experience. But they were scary too because they could and did invert and also because they had a limited wind range which when exceeded could quickly get ugly.

Who else had these or has flown them? What was your experience with them?

Ed

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Re: EH Ovando - who still flys these? Who has owned them?

Postby Gpet78 » Tue Oct 01, 2013 1:25 pm

I used the 11m and 7m ovando from 2009 till 2012.
The 7m was practically useless for me since it could not hold its shape and perform well in gusty winds over 28 knots where other 7m kites excell and on the other hand was underpowered in winds less than 20. The kite had an on-off feeling which is very annowing in gusty winds, was not good for waveriding and was very aggresive and unstable for freeride tricks.
The 11m ovando was better for my taste (and weight) and served me well for freeride, big air and basic wakestyle/unhooked tricks in winds from 13-25 knots. But it was not good for waveriding, relaunch was below the average, was slow at kiteloops and I generally did not like the way it looped.
Built quality was very good for the kite and especially the LE is bombproof the bar and safety system was low quality boot worked ok. I still have both the 7m and 11m but all the valves have now failed and I am too bored to fix them. Never got really excited with these kites but I have spent many hours on the water with the 11m and have good memories of some really BIG sessions.
Here is a clip from the old days riding the 11m with low to moderate power:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHxTwQXowKo

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Re: EH Ovando - who still flys these? Who has owned them?

Postby ed257 » Wed Oct 02, 2013 1:26 am

Gpet78 wrote:I used the 11m and 7m ovando from 2009 till 2012.
The 7m was practically useless for me since it could not hold its shape and perform well in gusty winds over 28 knots where other 7m kites excell and on the other hand was underpowered in winds less than 20. The kite had an on-off feeling which is very annowing in gusty winds, was not good for waveriding and was very aggresive and unstable for freeride tricks.
The 11m ovando was better for my taste (and weight) and served me well for freeride, big air and basic wakestyle/unhooked tricks in winds from 13-25 knots. But it was not good for waveriding, relaunch was below the average, was slow at kiteloops and I generally did not like the way it looped.
Built quality was very good for the kite and especially the LE is bombproof the bar and safety system was low quality boot worked ok. I still have both the 7m and 11m but all the valves have now failed and I am too bored to fix them. Never got really excited with these kites but I have spent many hours on the water with the 11m and have good memories of some really BIG sessions.
Here is a clip from the old days riding the 11m with low to moderate power:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHxTwQXowKo
I had the 11 too and in some regards it was quite impressive. With it I could routinely go faster and jump higher than riders of similar size on 13's and 14's.

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Re: EH Ovando - who still flys these? Who has owned them?

Postby tony montana » Wed Oct 02, 2013 2:12 am

I think Top Hat used to fly these,unhooked no chicken loop,maybe no De Power.TONY

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Re: EH Ovando - who still flys these? Who has owned them?

Postby giowind » Thu Oct 03, 2013 9:35 am

I think Top Hat mainly rode and still sometimes rides the EH Rippehr... I think it was an 8m. see him mainly on switch kites now. I think he had an ovando but cannot remember. I had ovandos and sold them right after Eric shut down the company. like all the eh kites the valves peeled off, otherwise no problems and rest of construction was solid. during heavy gusts ovando would deform like previous poster said, otherwise in the right wind range, the kite was fun to ride with great boost. I was glad I was able to ride them for a while. RIppehr was best kite model EH had, low end kind of sucked though.

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Re: EH Ovando - who still flys these? Who has owned them?

Postby ed257 » Sat Oct 05, 2013 4:06 pm

Panchito, are you still riding some Ovandos? How did they work for you?

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Re: EH Ovando - who still flys these? Who has owned them?

Postby knyfe » Mon Oct 07, 2013 12:08 am

I had the 11 for a few years and it was ok but ultimately it had clear issues. Ever had it on the water with LE facing the wrong way? How do you relaunch? Bridles would tangle on the strut and rip the LE - happened twice (never ripped any of my other kites before in 10 years). Oh, and not to forget the QR which didnt work - dangerous !!! Switched to an old C4 and never had a single issue with it.

On the other hand I still own the Ripper 8. My go to kite for high winds and boosty jumps. Initially I dint like the kite but now I really do. Has everything I want for high winds.

G

- oh one other thought, the 11 had h very hard limit upper range. C4 doesnt have, it has a very soft limit.

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Re: EH Ovando - who still flys these? Who has owned them?

Postby droffats » Mon Oct 07, 2013 3:39 am

Was this the original "delta"?

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Re: EH Ovando - who still flys these? Who has owned them?

Postby ed257 » Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:19 am

droffats wrote:Was this the original "delta"?
I would not call it a delta. It was flatter and more high aspect than a delta, but it did have a fairly deep center section. It's an odd kite that I had a very volatile relationship with. I loved it and I hated it. I also feared it at times.

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Re: EH Ovando - who still flys these? Who has owned them?

Postby tswierkocki » Wed Oct 09, 2013 3:27 am

I had a 7M that I really liked in the surf with side shore wind. Went upwind like crazy, turned fast, and was light on the bar unhooked. I remember riding with a friend who was on a 15M with a twin tip and I was on the 7M and a surfboard and I was going upwind a lot better then him. Pretty impressive.

I used to ride it as long as there were white caps.

I never liked the kite for jumping. Always seemed to rip me off the water straight vertical and then drop me like a stone. I really had to fly the kite to get a soft landing.

Due to the shape I could not tether launch it. It would always roll onto it's leading edge. I have to solo launch and land from a grass field a lot so it was a pain to use when I was alone.

I ended up selling it and have been on C4s ever since. The 7M Ovando got me upwind earlier than my 9M C4. I really like the C4s since they are good in waves and also jump very well.


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