Tkb Review: 2022 OZONE Alpha V2

Sizes Available: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16m
Sizes Tested: 8m

Ozone Says:

The Alpha V2 offers amazing free ride and hydro-foiling performance for intermediate to advanced riders while the lightweight single strut design is perfect for travelers looking to save on excess weight and packing volume. As the performance single strut design in the Ozone line, the Alpha V2 offers incredible light weight with our new Continuous Curve Leading Edge construction, each segment is now curved to form a perfect smooth arc from tip to tip as opposed to straight segments with angled joints. Our new rip-stop canopy material has an advanced ultra flex coating improving feedback in gustier conditions making for a smoother ride.

In the surf the Alpha is perfect for drift style wave riding as it floats with you. The handling is direct and responsive which allows you to put the kite where you need it. The lightweight design translates to incredible low-end performance making the Alpha V2 a very competitive choice for light wind free riding and foiling. The power to de-power stroke is progressive and dynamic enough to provide smooth lift for transitions and jibes with a foil board. For high wind foiling in chop or waves, take a small size with shorter lines for loads of fun drifting the kite while carving swells across the wind. For those that spend their kiteboarding sessions on the go, the Alpha V2 is incredibly lightweight, packs small and can do anything you want to do on any given day.

Visit for more info: www.ozonekites.com/kites/kitesurf/alpha-v2/

TKB Says:

The Alpha brings a solid mix of freeride and surf attributes to the table that continuously amazed testers with the versatility of what a well-designed single strut can do. The big story for the Alpha V2 is the leading edge’s new curved segments that manage to create a rounded arc that supports the canopy rather than a series of straight panels. No more angled joints, just clean curved surfaces that enhance the Alpha’s already impressive and versatile freeride handling.

Inflation Valve: Boston valve / nozzle attachment required
Attachments: Center bridle: Lark’s head loop / Wingtip bridle: Knots (reversible)
Centerline Split: Low-V
Front Bridle Options: Single setting / fixed with no pulleys

Design and Features
The Alpha V2 features a single-strut airframe that supports a low-aspect canopy shape and utilizes a medium diameter leading edge with a solid-sized strut. When you compare the new continuous curve construction with the Alpha V1, the difference is quite striking. The Alpha V2 features a dual setting fixed front bridle that doesn’t use any sliders to change the angle of attack. The front bridle attachment pigtail ends in a knot while the single wingtip attachment ends in a lark’s head loop and does not have any tuning options. The Alpha inflates with Ozone’s large diameter Boston valve which requires a standard hose attachment that is included with most pumps and makes inflation fairly quick for its size. If you insert the nozzle hard enough into the valve, the hose will remain connected through to the end of pumping and upon deflation the nozzle unscrews and allows for insanely fast deflation. With the introduction of the Alpha V2, Ozone has increased the diameter of the distribution hose to the strut to make deflation extra quick and aid in even tighter pack-up jobs.

As the original kite that maximized performance while minimizing the use of heavier materials, this version of the Alpha uses a new ripstop and Dacron material that boast extra durability and coatings that are designed to translate to the feel of the kite. As we experienced with the Alpha V1, the Alpha V2 is impressively light and packs up into a very small package, particularly when you use the compression bag that comes with. It’s easy to think of the Alpha as just a traveler’s kite because you could fit multiple sizes in a fraction of the space for air travel, but as we have learned, the Alpha is such a capable crossover kite between freeride, hydro and surfing, that it covers a lot of the everyday kiteboarding territory.

Impressions
When it comes to tuning, the Alpha V2 is gifted with a front bridle setting that allows you to choose between two tow point options. This variable bridle geometry option allows you to gear the Alpha between its ”˜freeride’ setting which moves the bridle’s balance point forward and the other setting which is geared for ”˜freestyle/onshore’ riding. These two settings allow you to shift between onshore wave/freestyle or offshore wave/freeride tuning.

We started riding with the ”˜freeride’ setting and found that the bar feel lands at a solid middle of the road bar pressure that gives you really good feedback into the bar while not feeling too heavy on your arms. The power delivery along the throw of the bar feels amazingly progressive with the Alpha’s minimal airframe delivering a crisp feedback in most riding conditions. Only when we were riding super over-powered, well outside of the kite’s ideal range, did the bar feel begin to exhibit any canopy flutter. While we were testing the Alpha with a twintip, we were impressed with its sheet and go power delivery and ability to feel direct and stable while we boosted some healthy-sized airs. While single-struts are not normally the ideal big boosting kites, the Alpha was intuitive and super easy to handle for fun-sized jumps and hangtime. Jumping was the one area of riding that testers across the board were surprised by the Alpha’s performance.

While the Alpha really shines by combining a light weight canopy that feels dreamy for low-power applications (kitefoiling/surf), it still works quite well for powered twintip riding and cruising. The steering response feels good with fast turning initiation and solid turning speed that allows you to place the kite wherever you need it in the window. The testing team was impressed with the Alpha’s power delivery with good on-demand pulling power that was balanced by really solid depower at the end of the bar’s throw. The Alpha earned high marks for its canopy stability during depower, with almost no flutter except in the most over-powered conditions.

The drift on the Alpha is excellent with its light airframe floating back into line tension on hard carves and when riding waves. The Alpha feels super stable in the sky. Even on one of our gustiest days, the Alpha could park up top at zenith and stay seated in the window through gusts and lulls. When we swapped the variable geometry knot to the ”˜freestyle’ setting, the bridle balance moved back and the nose didn’t pitch quite as far forward when sheeting out the bar. We found the bar impulse to be slightly heavier with the kite remaining a little deeper in the window. This may slightly improve the drift abilities but is probably a better setting for someone who likes to fly the kite more aggressively with harder bar feel leading to bigger inputs into the kite. If you’re riding straight onshore conditions it’s worth giving it a try, but most riders will probably want to start on the freeride setting where we found the sweet spot between response, bar feel and depower.

If flutter has been the most common complaint by people who have tried single-strut kites for the first time, the Alpha V2 succeeds in helping you forget that you are flying a single-strut and instead feels like a sporty freeride kite with a super light airframe and amazing pack-down skills. Throw in its super zenith stability, drift and excellent depower and you have an amazing hydrofoil kite that will stay aloft in almost no wind. In that sense, the Alpha is the perfect travel or single kite quiver option; it lends perfectly to kite foiling in the lightest winds, continues to perform for twintip freeride when the wind is strong, and with its agility and power control, it will keep you ripping in the surf whenever the waves are good.

We rode the Alpha with the Contact Water V4 Bar. Read the review here.