For this essay, I’ve chosen four kitesurfing kites that are widely regarded as some of the finest for novices.
Before I get into each of the above kites in depth, let’s go over some of the most important features to look for in a decent first kite.
Essential characteristics of a beginner kite
Stability
A novice kite should be stable. Drift refers to a kite’s level of stability when parked, such as after depowering and positioning it at 12:0. When your beginner kite is depowered, you want it to drift with you rather than fall out of the window or flap its canopy.
Depower
It’s extremely important that your kite be depowered before you let go of the control bar. Depowering a kite involves pushing or releasing your control bar, particularly in strong winds. Some kites have little depower, which may be difficult for newcomers to overcome.
Upwind capabilities
As a new kite and boater, you’re likely to make numerous errors in maneuvering your kite and board, which usually results in drifting downwind. Because of their shape and configuration, some kites ride upwind with less effort than others. This is an extremely useful talent for novices.
Bar pressure
Some kites have a lot of bar pressure, while others have little or none. Higher bar pressure is important as a beginner since it allows you to feel where your kite is in the window and where it’s going at all times. For a novice kiter, extremely low bar pressure might be an issue.
Turning speed
The faster a kite turns, the greater its control requirements. They feel less stable, making it more difficult to keep in place for riding upwind or jumping. You’ll want to master jumps as a beginner, so you’ll need a kite that doesn’t overreact to mistakes with the controls.
Wind range
As a novice, you’ll probably begin with just one or two kites. As a result, you’ll want a wind range that will allow you to soar in a wide range of winds at your local spot. Some kites include greater low-end and high-end ranges than others, allowing you to fly in more varied wind conditions.
Pull and relaunch
As a novice, you’ll be crashing your kite frequently. Some kites are considerably easier and faster to relaunch in water than others, with less wind. Also, some kites have continuous pull while flying and are thus less likely to suffer a mishap.
Next, let’s take a closer look at our four favorite beginner kites.
1: Cabrinha Switchblade
For a reason, the Switchblade is the most popular kite on the planet. It’s simple to fly, and it’s simple to power up and control for a novice. Few kites are as easy to handle as the Switchblade for beginners. New users who have started with a different kite usually adapt quickly to the Switchblade.
The Switchblade’s stability and predictability make it ideal for waterstarts for novices. This makes the kite extremely forgiving, making novice mistakes less punishing.
Durability
The Cabrinha Switchblade is a 5- strut kite with a durable and robust canopy and airframe. It’s been shown to last for years and be highly resilient. Cabrinha’s Nano Ripstop canopy has shattered performance records with its strength and steering response.
Relaunch
The Switchblade’s fast, reliable relaunches are one of its most appealing characteristics for new kiters. With the kite “face down” in the water, all you have to do is pull on a back line to launch it into flight and send it straight up.
Because of this, the Switchblade is one of the safest kites for novices riding in variable winds since it will almost always be the first to relaunch with little or no wind and the last to collapse when the wind dies down.
Wind range & depower
The Switchblade’s wind range is also well-known. The Switchblade is an attractive choice for learners who can only afford one or two kites at first.
The Switchblade has a very constant and powerful draw all throughout its range. For a Switchblade, I frequently reduce by half to one meter squared.
In light winds, a Switchblade has more pull and power than a comparable Dutotone Neo.
Although the Switchblade’s depower is adequate, its “boostiness” and powerful draw in the low end make it less enjoyable than other kites in its class. With a 180-pound load at 25 knots trimmed, I can fly a 9m2 Switchblade at 180 knots.
Bar pressure
The Switchblade boasts substantial bar pressure, unlike other Cabrinha kites like the Drifter. While this may appear to be a negative for more experienced riders, it is actually a benefit to novices because they are able to feel precisely where the kite sits in the window at all times.
Jumping
The Switchblade is also a wonderful kite for teaching youngsters to jump. It’s highly boosty, allowing you to go higher and faster than before. However, it’s predictable and forgiving in the face of beginner errors, such as steering too hard into the opposite half of the window during a jump.
Progression
Even in strong winds and lulls, the Switchblade endures because it is adaptable and allows riders to work on routines while staying stable and powered-up in the window. This kite has excellent hangtime, which provides newer riders the confidence to push themselves farther.
2: Duotone Evo
The Duotone Evo is also a wonderful starting kite. It’s extremely forgiving, stable, and predictable, with a huge wind range and the ability to help learners develop for a long period of time.
Construction
The Switchblade is a three-strut kite, whereas the Duotone Evo is a three-strut kite. The 2020 9m2 Evo is roughly .6lb lighter than the comparable SB. This is bolstered by Duotone’s new lightweight fabric for the trailing edge and smaller wingtip size.
The Evo has a more responsive kite now, thanks to the new bridle and fewer pulleys, while maintaining depower.
Wind range
The Evo has a broad wind range, which is similar to that of the Switchblade. An average-sized beginner kiter can ride on a 9m kite in 18 knots as well as 30 knots, thanks to the same design characteristics. This allows beginners to start with fewer kites for a given wind range.
The Evo, like the SB, is simple to manage for a novice kiter. The learning of this kite is aided by the stable pull across wind fluctuations. When low-powered, the Evo maintains good turning abilities, which aids in the learning to turn and swap directions.
Bar pressure & depower
Although the Switchblade offers a gentler flight and is easily comparable to the Evo, it has larger bar pressure and feels more hefty in hand due to its 302 carbon fiber construction.
The Evo is considerably more responsive and rapid-turning than the Switchblade because to its 3-strut design and greater aspect ratio. The high end of the wind range has been significantly expanded as a result of significant depower.
Progression
The Evo is a very adaptable and progressive kite that’s suitable for beginners. This kite’s high amount of depower and reactivity makes it ideal for foiling and wavekiting, as well as significant leaps and freeriding – the Evo has a lot of lift and hangtime.
Beginners should be able to ride this kite past the initial learning phases as long as they stick with it.
Relaunch, upwind
The Evo has a fantastic and simple relaunch, making it ideal for novices in strong winds. This is owing in part to the kite’s Delta design, which keeps it from “sticking” to the water.
The Delta design also makes the Evo a strong windsurfer.
3: Slingshot Rally
The Rally, like the Switchblade and Evo, is praised for its stability, predictability, simple relaunch, broad wind range, and smooth power delivery.
It’s also simple to jump and has a long hangtime.
Upwind and turns
The Rally has excellent upwind ability. It’s slower to turn than the Slingshot RPM, which is fantastic for learners – fast kites are more sensitive in steering and overshoot easily.
Wind range & power
The Rally is a 5-strut kite, which makes it more hefty than the Switchblade. Because to this, it needs a greater wind threshold to fly than a lighter kite.
The Rally, on the other hand, has a rather wide operating range. You can propel a 10-meter Rally from 12 to 22 knots, depending on your weight and abilities.
The Rally is simple to power up for a newbie who can simply dip the kite slightly and start riding. In contrast, the RPM requires significant motions in order to generate power.
The Rally is superior in terms of low-end power, as it includes the smaller kites. In underpowered situations, the low-end power comes in handy. Simply moving the Rally across a window can produce significant power boosts for first-timers in wind lulls.
The Rally boasts a good top end and is well-suited for novice riders, with a stable feel in high winds.
Bar pressure
The Slingshot Rally has bar pressure that is comparable to the Switchblade. This again helps the novice know where their kite is, providing them with more immediate feedback than a pulley-based system (e.g., the older Evos).
Pressure bars are not ideal for novice kiteboarders who haven’t yet had the opportunity to develop a feel for where their kite is at any given moment. The lack of immediate feedback frequently causes pilots to make mistakes and land badly.
Relaunch and stability
In light wind, the kite performs extremely well and quickly relaunches. It won’t also fall easily from the window, even with slack in the lines. This is an essential feature for novices who may not keep tension throughout the flight (e.g., during winds lulls or when riding fast towards the kite).
Progression
The Rally is a great all-around kite for wave riding, due to its drifting ability, decent turning, quick relaunch, and sturdy construction that can endure some wave smacking after a fall. The Evo is also an excellent versatile kite that may last you a long time beyond the learning phase.
4: Ozone Catalyst
The Ozone Catalyst is a superb learning kite that emphasizes ease of use rather than pure performance. It’s quite steady and forgiving, making it an excellent choice for different levels of learning.
The Evo is a 3-strut delta-shaped kite with a low aspect, as opposed to the Catalyst. Its main characteristics are dependability and predictability.
Relaunch
The Catalyst has one of the simplest water relaunches. This is another important feature for novice kiteboarders. The re-launch on this kite is far less difficult than other kites, such as the Ozone Edge. The Catalyst launches from the window’s edge rather than in the middle, making for a softer re-launch.
Wind range & depower
The Catalyst can easily withstand strong wind gusts without skidding or losing control. The Catalyst is similarly simple to power up and steer straight, as the Rally.
Bar pressure & turning
The bar pressure of the Catalyst is quite strong, making it an ideal choice for novices who haven’t yet developed a feel for where the kite is in the window. Learners will find it easier to use a bar with greater presence.
The Contact from the Ozone is a simple, beginner-friendly control bar that distinguishes itself for its simplicity of disassembly and reassembly after a release.
The Travato Glider is a relatively steady kite that doesn’t skitter away from the window and requires blunt steering input to start turns, which is great for a beginner since it makes steering more forgiving and encouraging.
Progression
Many people feel the Catalyst is a fair choice that boosts kiter confidence and allows them to advance quicker.
The Catalyst performs well in many wind conditions, including light winds and high-winds. It’s also a fantastic wave surfer and foiler. Although not as boosty as other kites like the Switchblade or Edge, it’s still a good jumper. It’s an excellent kite for practicing your skywriting skills.
Conclusion
The Switchblade, Evo, Rally, and Catalyst were chosen because they all have several features that are ideal for novice riders – namely stability & predictability, wind range, depowering, relaunching the bar pressure.
However, there are several distinctions between these kites. The Switchblade and the Rally are both grunty kites – rather than the Evo and Catalyst, which are more cleanly designed. They’re also heavier 5-strut kites when compared to the 3-strut Evo and Catalyst. Kite weight is a crucial consideration.
The Rally is an excellent choice for heavier riders, such as those who weigh 200 or more pounds. The Switchblade is next in terms of grunt and should be used by riders weighing between 155 and 160 pounds, including smaller kite sizes.
The 3-strut Evo is lighter and is typically preferable for lighter riders. It has excellent wind endurance in lulls. Note that smaller kites have more density (weight per square meter) than bigger ones, so they fall out of the sky sooner in lulls.
The Switchblade and Rally have greater bar pressure than the other two kites. The button on the Evo bar is significantly softer.
The Rally is without a doubt the finest relaunching kite on the market.
