Hey, really want to get into kitesurfing, been kite boarding for about 2 years;

Firstly looking at the new Ozone Catalyst, does anyone have one or used one; would it be a good first time kitesurf kite? how it handles etc? Also would i get funny looks using it on the land or don't people really mind?

And then all the manuals i've read all seem to need you to fly with a buddy to help you launch and land, is there anyway to do it on your own, like you would with a foil kite?

Many Thanks

Hey

I don't know about the Ozone Catalyst, but Ozone makes good stuff. If it,s a newer model kite( guessing it's a new model for 2010) it should be pretty safe. Almost all the newer gear is pretty user friendly these days.
I almost only kite surf and snow kite, but I do have a landboard and use my inflatables with if with no problems. Just don't crash into bushes or stuff but thats the same with a foil.
There are lots of ways to launch an inflatable by yourself. You can hook your chicken loop to something and then flip the kite over and it will sit at the edge of the window for you.
You can also set up your lines behind the kite then drag the kite around until it catches the wind and then you can launch.
There are also a couple of ways to self land depending on the kite. The best way is just to flag the kite out on the safety.
If you try typing this( Self-Launching a Bow Kite on St. Augustine Beach )on youtube you will see how to self launch a bow or hybrid kite. Also there are other videos on landing by your self. I would have posted the links but have no clue how.

Hope that helps
John

Thanks a lot John, really helped clear some stuff up.
One last point; "You can hook your chicken loop to something and then flip the kite over" would it be suitable to use the big orange kite pegs, like you do with a foil?
Will take a look at those videos now.

Thanks again.
Hywel.

Hi Again

When I hook my chicken loop to something And flip the kite, I usually use the bumper of my truck. Most of the time when I do this it's snow kiting so I'm right out in the open and able to get my truck right to where I'm launching.
Different kites will act differently when you do this. My Cabrihnas and best Waroos will usually just sit there, where my Eclipse Thruster will go up in the air 10-15 feet and then land and take off again.
When I grab the chicken loop to hook there is a bit of pressure there, I would guess around 50 lbs of pull. So make sure whatever you hook into is strong enough to hold.
One way to test how much pull your kite will have is to just let the kite down at the edge of the wind window and let go of the bar. The other thing is the pull will increase with the amount of wind as well.

Good Luck
John