Ozone C4 (2010)

Disclosure : I sell Ozone kites

Fact - I sell them because I really like them and they produce amazing quality with exceptional back up service and they listen to feedback.

C4's = amazing kite, so easy to use with really direct feel at the bar, light to medium bar pressure, that rises slightly in higher winds. There is more than enough depower for most riders, but its all done with no pulleys and direct connecting rear lines.

I have been out in very gusty conditions (desperate) and been kiting in 17 -22/23 conditions and have been hit by a gust in the mid 30's, on an 11M C4. I was nicely power in the 17-22/23 stuff but actually got semi t-bagged in the 30+er, no biggy though just did a transition and landed and immediately edged hard and kept the speed down and kited through the gust. What I am saying is that there is a defined limit to the depower, not like some SLE and Bow kites that have a much longer bar throw and higher depower range.

Its not a magic kite that has unlimited wind range, but it has a wide range similar to any other bow and sle except at the very top end, where you will find there is a limit.
Its very easy to self launch (just like bows/sle's) and self land, because of the below the bar flagging and relaunch in the water is quick and easy by pulling one rear line.

Boosting and hang time are huge, and I've now ridden in waves a few times and I really rate them for wave riding, they drift well, can be depowered enough with one arm and steered while toeside.

Hard to find a negative with this kite.

This Kite has a great feel, even power control through the entire throw of the bar. It has that Ozone sensitivity that every Ozone owner knows. It's definately Ozones solution for performance unhooked riding. I can hands down say I like it better than my 2007 fuels for that type of riding. The lighter bar pressure, easy relaunch, and smooth feel win me over. I still think there's a place for my Ozone Edges. It's nice in mountain terrain to have nearly 100% depower and be able to stall the kite at will. The C4 is hard to stall which is normally a good quality, but sometimes in tight trees and steep hills it's nice to intentionally stall the kite. Ultimately this kite is the one kite does all solution, and for unhooked performance a must for the Ozone guys. To unhook without tuning your depower is a Ozone first.

Nice work guys!

My experience in the past has mainly been with bridled kites, Ocean Rodeo, Eclipse and Liquid force. Saying that, I learnt on C kites and spent some time on the 5 line HiFi, which was the best kite I had flown till trying the C4’s recently.

My objective after recent frustratation was to find a 4 line kite with similar characteristics to the HiFi in regards to smoothness and turning capabilities. I got my hands on the 7m C4’s at kitestock and was instantly impressed, weeks later I grabbed a 9m (thanks go to West Oz Kiteboarding) and spent a few hours in the waves. I ended up purchasing a 7m and 10m to cover my conditions best, it was suggested to get 1m bigger than usual as they are a bit light on the bottom end. Which is debateable, but I’m happy with the choice.

So far I have only had a couple of sessions on the 10m, I will add more detail later after getting some more hours in through our winter (hopefully on the 7m). But what I have found so far is that for me in the surf the C4 meets all my requirements. Firstly it’s very fast for a 10m, which is good for me as a majority of my riding is more aggressive flying than park and ride. Saying that though, I did park and ride on a few waves and didn’t experience any stalling or luffing. The kite drifted well and when called upon was ready to resume work again without any silly resistance. I threw in a few kiteloops and downturns during transitions and whilst riding the wave face to get around sections, the kite turns tight with a smooth consistent pull. At no point did the kite give an abrupt pull, even when very low in the power zone. This is important to me for when riding unstrapped, nothing more frustrating than fighting with the kite and getting yanked of your edge when lining up a turn, especially in big surf.

Other things I like is the effortless relaunch capabilities, not only on the water does the C4 just sit waiting for your input but self launching on the beach is as easy as any bow/SLE kite I’ve used. Only downside I can see, but haven’t experienced difficulty yet is self landing. I think the compact bridle might make it a bit harder than a typical bridled kite to self land, no big deal as the front line has a stopper ball, so pulling the safety to land won’t end up with a huge birds nest.
I never had to or needed to heave in much depower like on the SLE’s I’ve used, the kite seemed to absorb gusts well, I’m not a big fan of trimming the kite continually. I found the bar to have just the right amount of throw for me and the bar pressure is medium, but the available settings allow you to modify that as you see fit.

To summarise this kite I would say it’s an all rounder, perfect for any discipline and rider level for that matter. The build construction and materials are right up there, reinforced in all the right places without making it a heavy kite. The usual one pump arrangement with isolating clamps to each strut. The bar is simple, clean and comfortable to use, also equipped with reliable and easy to reset safety system and spinning chicken loop. The trimming arrangement is in easy reach with cleat, none of these straps and plastic buckles flapping everywhere. The lines are 25m, which is fine for a fast kite like this.

The Con’s- looks like they have one size bag for all kites, no big deal with the 7m but the 10m needs to be rolled and packed tight. There is a pointless adjustment buckle on the rear lines, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a leader with knots under float. The bars come larger than required IMO but that’s ok as you can then easily cut it down to your own preference.

So these are my findings so far, I can’t wait for the winter fronts to give the 7m ago and hopefully report back with more for those interested. Look forward to reading others opinions on the C4, or get your own opinion by demoing one from Darren @ AKS or Jason @ West Oz