Rider: 88kg beginner
Style: Freeriding, but interested in freestyle and wave down the track

I've had a few lessons and I'm looking at picking up my first set of gear. My local has recommended the North Evo 12m, but I was hoping to get some other opinions. The Ozone Catalyst looks like it's in the same sort of category - beginner-friendly all-rounder, but I got warned off Ozone.

I guess I'm looking at winds in the teens and twenties - 12m seems to be a pretty popular size at Sandgate. It'd be nice to find a kite that'll be suitable for hitting the surf once I'm more comfortable, too.

zarb said...
Any particular reason you were warned off Ozones?

I have 2 Ozones as my first kites. Catalyst and a C4. Definitely no complaints. You can do a lot worse than a Catalyst as your first kite...

Not sure, my instructor said he doesn't recommend Ozone (might just be a preference thing?) but he said to definitely stay away from Cabrinha/

Go F-one bandit 3 and newer and you cant go wrong - and a whole heap of other kites from 2010.

Perhaps your question should of been what kites to AVOID ??

Id put the catalyst ahead of the edge as an allwind, beginner kite,the edge is fine in the correct winds but would be a bit of a handful if the wind picked up with an beginner on the end, the catalyst depowers superbly in strong winds the edge doesnt,

Rophuine said...

zarb said...
Any particular reason you were warned off Ozones?

I have 2 Ozones as my first kites. Catalyst and a C4. Definitely no complaints. You can do a lot worse than a Catalyst as your first kite...

Not sure, my instructor said he doesn't recommend Ozone (might just be a preference thing?) but he said to definitely stay away from Cabrinha/

To be blunt, your instructor is a biased fool. Have a look around your area, what are the kites you see the most, talk to their owners. See whats being said here, in this thread. There is nothing wrong with Ozone and Cabrinha, except the shop your instructor works with does not sell them, which for me puts a real negative on any buying advice from that person/school/shop.
Perhaps just drop over to the shop (Kitepower) that does sell Ozone and Cabrinha, you will find the staff there honest and unbiased (they do lessons too).

Good kites for a begginer are ones that have a simple and very effective safety system that depowers the kite, and simple easy relaunch. Cabrinha Vector, Switchblade/Siren/Drifter or Ozone Catalyst/Reo are perfect, but are not going to hold you back, they are not begginner kites, they are just really good kites that are easy to use and learn on.
There are many others that fit the description above too.
Look for durability built into the kite and control system design, things to avoid are control bars with uncovered centre lines for example. (they wear quickly and are difficult and expensive to replace)

Yep forgot the bandit as well

The edge is not a beginners kite.

Yes the Evo is a genuine option, but to say stay away from the brands mentioned is plainly ignorant and incorrect. That's the issue here.

But honestly for a beginner you won't understand the differences until a year or so in.

The advice given in terms of the list above is a good one, although I would say that all the kites mentioned would do well on that list, although even as allrounders they sit on slightly different parts of the spectrum. They all have a certain bias.

North do make tough, durable kites that is for sure.

windtzu said...
Eppo a retailer once told me the Edge was a kite he used to teach beginners on. That's why I mentioned it.

Really an edge? To teach on? Wow, I suppose his students would be on a steep learning curve...lol. I could see an advantage when learning to plane...but that would be it. No a high aspect kite flies to fast across the window and hunts that edge like a dehydrated dingo in a desert looking for water...not attributes you want a beginner to experience...in my most humble opinion...

I was also looking at CrazyFly before I went Ozone, and had similar warnings about the QR. I dug a little deeper and apparently it was a problem with the original version of the bars, but the problems have now been recognised and rectified (according to a few reviews I have read).

finn12 said...
I had heard that the new Crazyfly bar/QR was better, then I saw kitepower start selling the Ozone bar with Crazyfly kite and didn't know what to think.

The updated 2013 CF bar is fine, but we have chosen to not sell it, for some of the reasons I mentioned (has an uncovered center line that wears easily and is difficult to replace). We have an agreement with Crazy Fly that we can sell their kites with Ozone bars until the improve their bar even more than the current version.

@ windtzu - must have been on older version of the Edge, the current one and last years would not be ideal for teaching, they accelerate too quickly for beginners and are less easy to water relaunch than other Ozone models.

@ IanR - The North Evo kite is fine for beginners, the Blade Trigger is too, I'm sure Naish have a model that is as well and etc. There are features on some of those kites that suck, like uncovered center line on the North, battens, weird inflation system, etc. Of course we will recommend what we actually sell to someone who enquires direct with us, but if someone asks me for advice on a particular kite that they have had good experience with and I know flies well, has a good safety system and relaunches well, then of course I'd recommend it. Dissing 2 of the top brands like that instructor did is plain dumb and will always backfire on them.

@ briskites The instructors remarks were quite foolish and to persist with a defense of that opinion is equally so, IMO.
Ozone make awesome kites that fit Rophuine's criteria exactly, the Ozone Catalyst or Cabrinha Drifter, Vector or Switchblade, for example, would all suit.
Beginners do not have the experience to determine the suitability of a kite based on almost any of the 10 points you listed. However, they could reasonably be expected to rely on good sound advice from seasoned and unbiased instructors, other users, shop staff, etc, (but as we can see in the real world that advice is not always easy to get).

Technoforce D2 cloth is a marketing ploy. Double ripstop threads and the coating systems used on that cloth have been in use in the sailing industry for well over a decade. Go to any sail loft and you will see several varieties and brands of double ripstop thread sailcloths. Any sailmaker will tell you that polyester based ripstop cloth is well suited to use in kite canopies (primarily, because it tends to not stretch much when wet), but it is also well known that when polyester rips it tends to rip enough until the load that caused the rip is released, does not matter if it has 2 rows of ripstop threads or not.
We have seen dozens of Technoforce D2 kites in for repair with large LE to TE rips this summer in similar numbers to other brands that use the plain Teijin Technoforce fabric, and this is what I've based this statement on, just facts (and advice from very experienced sailors and sailmakers), not biased opinions.

Been using north kites for the last 6 years , I still occasionally use a 2008 rhino ( still bullet proof with probably 1000 hrs on it) . Since north started using the new cloth I have never seen 1 kite rip in half . Have seen a few driven in to mangrove trees and bounced off concrete bike paths and never seen any badly damaged. I have only seen 1 rip a leading edge when it was driven into sharp rocks.
On the other hand have lost count of the number of b3's and b4's I've seen in pieces.

The older norths did have valve issues , but I've had other brand kites of the same vintage that have also had valve issues.

Kitepower Australia said...


On the Reo recommendation, its a wave kite that is also a freestyle kite because it unhooks well and has predictable behaviour and great stability. There as schools in Oz using Reos for teaching.

Thats like saying u can use a torch in the surf. Totally different piece of pie,imo

I appreciate all the advice guys, lots of good stuff there for me to digest - but ultimately I'm inclined to stick with the initial advice I got and look at the evo. New kite price is a bit steep, but it sounds like the 2013 bar has done a lot to address the power line wear issue and it otherwise sounds like a good fit for me - good beginner kite that will take my through whatever style riding I want a stab at.

Go easy on my instructor - he was telling me what to buy at the end of a 2+ hour lesson with a pretty direct onshore wind, so I had just spent a lot of time slogging through knee-deep+ water to get back up-wind, and was absorbing a lot of new stuff too. He did say I was better with North or Naish and I should avoid Ozone or Cabrinha, but he might have put it as personal preference.

Oh sorry forgot,
Welcome to this fantastic sport of kiteboarding Rophuine.
It's 90% the operator 9% equipment and 1% luck.

Enjoy!

Rophuine said...

Rider: 88kg beginner
Style: Freeriding, but interested in freestyle and wave down the track

I've had a few lessons and I'm looking at picking up my first set of gear. My local has recommended the North Evo 12m, but I was hoping to get some other opinions. The Ozone Catalyst looks like it's in the same sort of category - beginner-friendly all-rounder, but I got warned off Ozone.

I guess I'm looking at winds in the teens and twenties - 12m seems to be a pretty popular size at Sandgate. It'd be nice to find a kite that'll be suitable for hitting the surf once I'm more comfortable, too.

The advice given by Briskites and Kitepower is good advice regarding kite choice. Listen to Eppo too as he gives good kite reviews and can give you some good info. But all that the technical information and arguments may be a little overwhelming for a beginner and you may not understand everything they are talking about.

If you can afford a new kite then buy one of the kites suggested by briskites or kitepower. You cannot go wrong. You probably won't notice all the technical stuff people are arguing about until you're an experienced rider anyway.

Don't forget to look at the Rebel too. The edge is a good kite but it is not for beginners.

If the price of a new kite is too steep then look at a late model second hand kite from the kite shops or on Seabreeze.

At the end of the day you won't truly know what kite suits you best until you have some more experience and have tried other kites at demo days and from other kiters. Everyone has different preferences and the kite that you begin with may not be the kite you are using 2 or 3 years down the track.

BTW 12M is a good size for your weight. But don't forget your board too. The board size makes a big difference when learning if you're using a TT.

Good Luck!!

Hi mate i have been kiting for a few years now and have used Cabrinha,Slingshot and now Griffin . I would suggest having a look at Griffin Argo's
Because your at the learning stage and your going to give your first kite a work out the Griffin is a lot cheaper than the name brands and i have found a bit more durable as well , they are really easy to relaunch in the surf and flat water which helps heaps for beginners and have a really good wind range .
I found that i progressed more on the Griffin Argo than any of my previous kites
Hope this helps you out !!

windtzu said...
Nugs also mentioned the need for good board. At the risk of starting a new string of debate, I'll throw my newbie experience from last year into the ring. Like kites I agree that a beginner really can't really appreciate the nuances of character from different kites and anything that's "beginner friendly" will suffice.

I started early on learning with a Spleene Door. It worked well enough and I sure wasn't couldn't tell the difference. Here's but another "beginner friendly" if not unusual alternative. A buddy of mine recommended I try a 2012 North Skimfish w/ straps. I did and I loved it. Having a bit of volume like a directional, it gave me a few extra seconds of float with my beginner awkward flying skills. This alone can quicken the learning curve for newbies. It has the width to plane up as quickly and easily as the door styled boards. Having twin tip fins on both ends of the board, I could ride it in either direction just like a tt. The straps are centered on the board as well as possible.

At my 72 kg bodyweight the Spleene Door sometimes became a handful, with the edge skittering along like a runaway snowboard down an icy hill. The Skimfish would just slide a bit, gently catch it's rail and then move you forward. It was forgiving. I placed a makeshift handle on it to help position the board for water starts.

Later I took off the straps and it became my strapless learning tool. Now it's my light wind toy and shallow water - low tide small mushy wave toy (tt fins are short vs surfboard). Having a flat bottom it can get bouncy in heavy chop and higher winds, but this may be less of an issue for someone heavier. Since the nose has some scoop to it, I'll ride it tail first. The nose now becomes the tail and gives the board some rocker to smooth out chop and makes it fun to swell ride. It's a versatile beginner board alternative to a twin tip. I progressed faster on this board verses the Spleene. I since sold the Door.

Good angle windtzu on the north skim fish. Never thought of that but I think you make a strong argument for that type of board.