The Journals - Ocean Rodeo's Weekly Report

Weekend Fun

Hi All, The wind kicked in as forecast, so we had a great weekend of riding with the new gear. Conditions ranged from 15-22 mph, giving everyone from 150-2oo+ a chance to rip it on the new 14m and the Mako Surf. Feedback on the kite was very positive, with testers reporting the same thoughts as I had - much easier relaunch, more direct steering, greater stability, and faster turning vs the 06 One. I also found that the kite sits a little further back in the window when parked, making it a piece of cake to fly in the gusty conditions, yet, when riding and sheeted it out a little, it penetrated far into the wind, allowing us to rip upwind after a nice ride down-the-line. No chance to ride the 16m yet, as the 14 proved to be plenty of kite even for the big boys! Cheers, Evan

The Diego Files

Hi All, Here's my first crack at the Blog. I've never claimed to be much of a writer, so if you find this to be lacking, don't say I didn't warn you....As things progress (and I see that I have this sorted out), I'll be adding photos of both the great riding and wonderful things one happens to accidentally catch with the viewfinder......gotta love Santa Anas, bikinis in November! Oh yeah, 07 gear pics too. Anyway, check the forum for first impressions of the redesigned 07 14m One - I don't think I left anything unsaid. I've thrown in a couple of photos of last Sunday's session, on an 06 9m One and the 07 Mako Surf. Big props to SD team rider John Weston for lending me his kite, without which I would likely have slit my wrists not being able to hit the water....we tore up the point trading waves, Dr. John loving his 16m One. Somehow I managed to drive 1600 miles in much less time than it took UPS to fly my kites here! Props also to Ronan Gray, who took the pics - bummer about that bad cold, dude. Cheers, Evan

The kites are coming!

Those of you with kites already on order for the 2007 season will be happy to hear that the 7, 9 and 12m One kites are expected to arrive here on Monday morning. We will likely need the day to receive them into inventory but should be in a position to start shipping them as of Tuesday AM! All sizes of Diablo will be here as of about 2 weeks Monday, along with the new 07 boards! 14 and 16m Ones will be about 2 weeks later than that, shipping for mid December. Who says Christmas doesn't come early? John Z - OR

Video?

Well, this is my first attempt to get some video action up on this here Blog. Hope it works! If anyone knows the guy in this video get him to get in touch with me and I'll sort him out with a Punch Out bar... John Z - OR

Weekly Update - So this is Friday

What a week!

Phew am I glad this one is over, we have had a very busy week here at OR.

On the news front, I have some updates:

- 07 9 and 12m One kites ship this weekend to us, so we should have them landed and ready to ship to you by about the end of next week, early the week after. The 7m's might be in that shipment too, the 14, 16 and Diablo line of kites are all coming about 2 weeks after that.

- Boards will be here soon too, so get excited, we have all our gear ready to roll in the next few weeks!

- The shipment will include with it the 06 One kite bridle mod kits. If you are not happy <a href="http://www.oceanrodeo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=270"><strong>making your own</strong></a> then you can contact your local dealer and get a pre-made one sent to you!

- Clothing!!! - Contact your local dealer and order up your clothing! I have just put the finishing touches on the dealer / distributor order forms for these new garments so pick your fav's and order them now! We will have clothing available for shipping in just under 3 week's time - just in time to ship with the 07 gear! <a href="http://www.oceanrodeo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=313"><strong>Click here to see the full line of clothing we now have available!</strong></a>

More to come! Hope you all have a great weekend!

John Z - OR

Tuesday Oct 24 R&D Session

Tested new breathable fabric concept for OR drysuits,....still need many more hours of salt water exposure for full evaluation. 15 to 25 knots wind provided nice conditions to try new fin profiles on Mako. Richard M.

What would you do?

Hit the photo studio today with our new pyro drysuit accessories in hand. Original plan was nice product shots with a standard white back ground for use on the website....but we thought our loyal OR crew deserved more than that!

As luck would have it, Kristine S. of Maxxim Magazine, UMM, and soon to be Playboy Magazine fame is a good friend of Ocean Rodeo's very own John Z!
What to do,...being one to not to let this opportunity pass, we suggested to Kristine that a shoot with OR gear would be good for her portfolio!

After the shoot I asked Kristine a few questions:

Q: Where where you born?
A: Norway!

Q: How did you end up in Victoria BC, Canada?
A: My family moved to Seattle where I grew up and came to Victoria for Universtiy.

Q: How did you get started in modeling?
A: Two years ago I entered the Maxxim talent search which went very well. Since then I've done swimsuit calendars, modeled for UMM, and will be off to the Playboy Mansion after winning the Playboy talent search.

Q: Have you ever tried kiteboarding or surfing?
A: No, but I would love to try both! I currently wakeboard and water ski.

Q: How about other sports?
A: I played volleyball in college and practice gymnastics. Ran my first half marathon in Victoria last week!

Q: Steak or Tofu?
A: Steak!

Q: Beer or Wine
A: Wine

Q: Camping on the beach or staying in the Hyatt?
A: I'd stay in the Hyatt,...at the beach!

Q: West Coast or East Coast?
A: West Coast all the way!

You will see much more of Kristine in the new OR drysuit website to be launched in a few weeks!

Monday

Another week and another posting! If you have not caught on yet this is our new Blog and will be a spot all you OR Crew can check in to for somewhat weekly updates on our comings and goings, what's been ticking and what's not been so hot.

In the news today is our most recent posting on the forum: New clothing options for Ocean Rodeo! We are set to make available about 6 different T-Shirt and Sweatshirt design options for around Christmas. This is the first foray into a more aggressive clothing campaign that will ultimately be called the Approach line of clothing from Ocean Rodeo. Up next is a technical hoodie / jacket style garment and most likely some board shorts to work with the Session Harness System.

Other updates include the disappointing news that the 2007 kites will be delayed in their delivery by about 2 week's time. The silver lining on this issue is the fact that the kites will all ship with the newest bar designs and that our manufacturing partners have all agreed to commit to a tighter delivery time line for the balance of the season, so we should have rock solid delivery times the rest of this year and into the future!

Not much else to report from OR HQ. Drop a line via the comments or the forum if you have any thoughts, questions or insights!

John Z - OR

Kite Power!

I have to admit, this has very little direct relevance to Ocean Rodeo but we are a kite company and I saw this on the internet late last night. Apparently a company in Italy has made what they call KiteGen, a kite powered electrical generator that is capable of producing as much energy as a nuclear power plant! Now, I know nobody here would laugh at such an idea but it does sound like this could become a reality shortly. KiteGen apparently convinced the Turin utility company AEM to foot 40% of the prototype expenses and to sign on as a partner in the project. You don't need to convince me that there is a lot of power in the kites we use!