Comments from John Z regarding Ocean Rodeo Rise kite, Mako kiteboard and 09 kitebar.For all ocean rodeo kites and kiteboards please visit www.dckites.com
1) Aspect ratios are all almost exactly the same as 08. As Evan mentioned Ross spent the year tweaking the kites to try to get the smaller kites to be more stable and less edgy and the larger kites to turn even faster. As such, as Paul guessed, some aspects were tweaked but for the most part it was bridle changes to the sizes that made the difference. The result is a rock solid feel across the whole spectrum of Rise kites, allowing a rider to switch sizes with confidence in the feel and performance of their kite.

2) Clear-outs. Unlike some other brands Ocean Rodeo feels strongly that the release date of our new equipment needs to be timed to coincide with the end of the season. This allows riders to buy with confidence that their gear will not be outdated by the middle of June as well as allowing our dealers to stock our equipment with confidence. In September we will be rolling out the 09 samples and expect to have full stock available for October 1st. As such you can expect to see clear out kites available through our dealer network around the beginning to middle of September. It is important to note though that each year we work hard to avoid having excess stock at the end of the season so there is no guarentee that key sizes will be available on clear out.

3) Comparisons of the Mako to the Naish Sol are a bit foolish. The outline is similar but that is where the comparisons stop. No board on the market has the same deep concave of the Mako line up. Further, the first 40 limitted edition (read: experimental) Makos first hit the waters of BC in late 2003 with full production available for the 2004 season. The Mako board is arguably one of the longest running board styles on the market today and still has no competitors in its class as a deep concave board.

4) Ocean Rodeo 09 Bar. For 2009 we have elected to go with 850lb test lines for both front and back, a jump from this years 650lb line set. We have further refined the swivel we are using and have plans to introduce a new moulded chicken loop which features a release similar to our existing bar and an easily replaced (and re-sized) loop for riders to both easily maintain their bar and to decide what size loop they wish to use. This moulded CL has been delayed slightly but I will have photos up as soon as possible, I expect to ship early 2009 kites with a hybrid bar from 08/09 and make the chicken loop available for upgrade once available, hopefully no later than Christmas.

John Z - Ocean Rodeo