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Just got an Ozone Fenzy 7.3 and I flew it a couple of time. On friday when I was trying to launch the kite, I noticed some tangles. I parked the kite, detangled the bridles and tried to relaunch. At this point, I noticed a weird right turn everytime I sheet out. Seemed like the only way to get the kite to turn left was to pull all the way on the left side of the bar. It turns out that a cell on the left side was totally torn from leading to trailing edge. The rip is in the middle of the fabric and not at the seam where I would expect it. Damn!
Anybody ever experienced a ripped cell? Any ideas what would have caused it? I can still fly the kite and catch some air with it. It doesn't seem to hurt the kite anymore, but the controls are a lot harder. Larry is going to try to plead my case with the Ozone guys. Till then, I am kind of grounded.
We were out on Friday riding around after I sold my Toro 12M to Mike on Calhoun.
When we were riding around I noticed that there was somthing "different" about your kite. I noticed that there was one part of your kite that "buldged" out.
I'm not familiar with the construction of the Frenzy so I thought it might be a feature of your kite. It did look kind of weird thought... one cell kind of "bulging".
You did seem to be hitting some nice airs on both tacks! I could not tell that the 'bulge' was too hard to deal with, at least from afar...
I'm thinking about getting a Frenzy, this testimony might change my mind....
The Frenzy is a well built kite. I have to believe that this kite was damaged in some way. Ozone makes paragliders and so their Quality Assurance has to be dead on ( no pun intended).
The forces on these foils are pretty serious. The smallest cut in the fabric could easily turn into a long tear. Be extra careful not to catch the kite in the zipper when putting it into the bag. Be careful of sharp ice and always visually inspect the kite. One small piece of sail tape can save a whole panel.
If there is a factory flaw, I would think that Ozone would stand behind it. If not Alex should be able to repair it, good as new.
Dennis, although I have not damaged a foil yet, I've heard one of the hardest things on them is a direct 'nose first' powered up crash into the ground.
If the kite hits just right and the ground, snow or water close off any of the cell openings the presure inside can rip stuff up.
This doesn't fix your kite but I thought it was worth mentioning.
If possible try to get the kite to hit the surface with a more glancing blow rather than straight down in the middle of the power zone. I know that somtimes this is impossible becuase you have lost control.
One other small thing that I try to teach with my students ( which are usually doing considerable dive bombs with the kite early on) is to just take one or two steps toward the kite if it is going into the ground. It is usually enough to depower it a bit and avoid the fully powered dive into the ground. Obviously you can't take a step if you're on skis though extending your arms may help.
Also if the kite is going into the ground, just pull on either side of the bar hard and you'll avoid the crash. Sometimes it's confusing how to steer when the kite is upside down. For some reason, I've found the most common response is to just pull the entire bar toward you, which does nothing but power up the kite more.
Hey Eric, don't let my expereince drive you away from the Frenzy. It is really a super kite. After talking to Larry and Tighe, it sounds like this is probably a fluke. I am having an awesome time with my 7.3 and I would definitely recommend it. Just make sure you inspect the kite before launching it.
I also agree with you that crashing the kite is really hard on the material. You probably heard a couple of "Thuds!" on Saturday. It was mostly because I was having a hard time steering left doing a figure 8 with that ripped cell. It didn't damage the kite further but it is something to definitely avoid in the future.
I sent an email to the Ozone rep here in Utah. We'll see what happens. I can't wait to get back on the snow with my Frenzy. After catching some air with it, I want more...MORE...MOOOORE!
One other small thing that I try to teach with my students ( which are usually doing considerable dive bombs with the kite early on) is to just take one or two steps toward the kite if it is going into the ground. It is usually enough to depower it a bit and avoid the fully powered dive into the ground. Obviously you can't take a step if you're on skis though extending your arms may help.
Also if the kite is going into the ground, just pull on either side of the bar hard and you'll avoid the crash. Sometimes it's confusing how to steer when the kite is upside down. For some reason, I've found the most common response is to just pull the entire bar toward you, which does nothing but power up the kite more.
The rip is in the middle of the fabric and not at the seam where I would expect it. Damn! 
