Has anyone had any sessions on this kite? Thanks,
Dean

I havn't used any North open-foil kites, but I'm also curious about how they fly... North put a lot of effort into making a quality website for their snowkite range, but I haven't seen them promote too heavily 'on the ground' here in the US... Does anyone here represent North? Where & when can we try these kites?

I was informed by a North rep that they aren't marketing them in the US and i should just get an Ozone!

You heard that from a North Rep? I believe that they're not marketing the snowkites here, but I'm going to have to call BS on that last part, Guest...

(I'm incredulous of the statement, no disrespect to Ozone.)

It does sound hard to believe that they'd pass on a kite sale. Even if they aren't marketing them here I would think they'd be happy to sell one.

There are a lot of snow kite brands out there that don't seem to get any share of the market here. Seems like you mostly just see tubes or Ozone snowkites in most pictures and vids. There are companies like Gin with a full snowkite line but they don't seem to have any market share in the US at all. I guess there isn't much market to share.

Yeah, that's the truth.

Brian & Heather Schenck of Windzup have put in the footwork to build both snowkiting and the Ozone brand in the US. For years they have criss-crossed the US in their van to host snowkite events and meet with people face-on-face. They've also worked closely with passionate people to help them grow their local communities and develop new ideas. Brian & Heather deserve a lot of credit for the progress of the sport here.

Another factor is that Ozone was a snowkite manufacturer before it ever sold inflatables... That means that all of its marketing dollars went toward snowkiting for several years. Companies like North, Slingshot, Cabrinha, Naish, etc. began as kitesufing companies, and so their snowkite programs have been side projects. Also, I've heard that foil kites are more expensive to manufacture and have a lower retail 'margin' than inflatable kites... So if a company is accustomed to selling more profitable gear to an existing market, why would it want to work harder to make less money in a market that's 'under construction'? If that decision is made solely based on a company's desire to make money in the short term, then the result is what we've seen happen with the majority of kitesurf companies dabbling in snowkiting: They launch strong with new snowkite products, quickly realize that the demand isn't what they had imagined, and then withdraw support from their snowkite programs.

For Ozone, on the other hand, it has always been about building the sport. Rob Whittal, one of the founders of Ozone and its current foil kite designer, is extremely passionate about the kites he creates and about the furtherance of the sport/industry. Ozone built the market from scratch in the US, so it's very aware of the true size of demand. Also Ozone is unique in the fact that it owns its own factory and applies the Just-In-Time manufacturing philosophy, which ensures that supply equals demand at all times. Ozone has never liquidated kites & it has maintained an excellent reputation for quality, so the value remains in their product... new and even second-hand.

I'm dying to see more companies succeed with their snowkite programs.

I guess we should get back to the topic... Has anyone who's using this forum, anywhere in the world, used a North foil kite? If so, please tell us about it.

I think there is someone flying a North foil towards the end of the Entropy video. So they do exist!

Rodger that, we have a sighting. Lol.

Its true! I'm not naming names or anything but I'm kind of a shop team rider and all i ride is norths,( water kiting) . But I've snowkited a few times with my inflatable and it works good, but i see what the pros use and it seems much easier to rig a foil. So I guess i'm looking for some one to sell me a manta II now!!!!!

Well there is a guy in Montreal selling them (Gooch). My friend used a solid in his course and I am going out today to buy one... Why North and not Ozone... Same bar, same safety pretty as in the summer much the same range as Ozone. I use my inflatables (Evo 15, Rhino 12 and Rhino 9)in winds up to 20 knots. Anyways North Foils are alive here. I do not ride for anyone, 2 years a go i was all over the place, Ozone Instinct sport, Eclipse nano 9m last year I was North Rebels 14 and 10 and now Rhinos and Evo, i seem to like what they do but i could be F-One next year. But i like the 5 line safety for the foil kite, winter winds are something else... Thick air, gusty cuz the filds are surrounded by forests, Snow is very abrasive, Icing rain joins in sometimes and you get to ride in 6-7 knots with a 9 meter inflatable...I guess I will go for a 6 meter, apparently it works up to 50KMH. Below 20 KMH I will be using inflatables. Above 50 I will be having hot chocolate in the shack. Pumping in -30 is a drag...