I agree with alot of what people are saying on here...

Relaunch shouldn't be a problem... The Sling Shot TD2's relaunch ability is unreal, that kite has a hard time staying down and its extremely fast.

Summer is coming up so you will want a bigger kite for those litewind days. The cabrinha omega HD is another great kite. I have flown this and the bar setup can be ridden a couple different ways. You can also get pretty good deals on the 07's, same with the SS TD2's except you can't convert the bar on the TD2.

I just replaced my 15 and my 12 with Flexifoil Ion 2's. Those kites are sick!

I would just keep talking to people and like Scott said, it will take you a while to really understand what you like and don't like, it will happen the more you ride.

Man, awesome photo, Dave. :)

Very funny Scott... Good advice though... I would even get an 07 kite so I could get an 08 board, but use a reel leash so you dont loose it.

I started in march of last year and had the hardest time cause of my "french fry" board 140x38...I weigh 215lbs btw...

I used to ask so many questions why this and why that...Scott would say "its because of your board man...geez havent we been over this already..."
So get something wide...like by 142-145 at least..I guess it would depend on your weight too...but thats my .02
Good luck...

He meant 42 (not 142, thats length)

Depending on weight of course... I am 180 and ride a 130cmx40cm. 40 is the width. Wider is better when you are starting out, so you could go all the way up to 46 if you wanted but it won't be a good all around board. Something between 40 and 42 wide would be a good all around board.

Flat, no more than 1" of total rocker from center to tip.

Everyone is giving you good advice. The only thing I have a LITTLE bit of a different opinion on is:

I learned from 14 years of windsurfing that MY learning curve moved FASTER with BETTER equipment.

So when I started Kiting.. I basically choked on the bill and bought the best stuff made at the time (everyone's opinion of what's best is different, obviously). It was in May 2007, and I bought an 06 Cabrinha Switchblade 2 16M (it was SUMMERTIME! Got the 12 later) and a Jimmy Lewis Flightdeck.

I've been VERY pleased with my learning curve. I have to give some credit to the equipment.

You will BEAT UP your first kite. Just be prepared for that man!!

Have fun!!!

I haven't seen many other people with the Flightdeck. My friend back home had a kiteshop that went under(not enough interest in Louisiana I guess), but I got all my gear last year when I started from him at his cost. It was the summer when I started, so he set me up with the flightdeck. I'm definitely still by no means a great kiter, but since then I got a smaller board(Crazyfly). I still always grab the flightdeck. You just get up and go on that thing, and it just goes upwind on its own. Probabaly a little heavy for any serious tricks though(its ok cause I'm not even close to jumping). Expensive as hell though if you don't have a friend that'll give you his discount. Sorry, totally off subject, just excited to see I'm not the only one that has one. I got a little pissed though, cause a month ago I was in Venice, and some dude(aka assclown) asked me about my board and then made a smartass remark about the cost. Wish kiters everywhere were as friendly as here.

oops....
 

Yes...by 42-45..wide....not 142-145....yikes....sorry...

I guess in terms of the learning curve and better equipment.
I view SLEs in general as having had a huge impact. Trust me, for most people, learning on a 2000 C kite was pretty hard. It took most people several months just to go upwind.
Some people took nearly a year to easily go upwind. Learning to jump on on that c.rap was very tricky (delay b/n pulling trigger and kite actually moving). Relaunch wasn't all that easy either. Now your average Joe goes upwind in 3 to 10 hours. So, I guess it's relative. Call me jaded. :)

It's my opinion that the board is the make or break(er) in terms of equipment bought.
If it's not the optimum size for the rider and local conditions, it won't matter how good the kite is. Just my opinion. :)

Right on man. I love my flightdeck, was PERFECT for learning in the FL summer!!

You're right though... now that I have a 139 and a 120, the flightdeck seems heavy, but you can certainly catch big freakin' air on the flightdeck even in lighter winds!

fwiw kiteboarding isn't big enough yet for there to be any "BAD" equipment .. they don't sell wallmart kites, or k-mart boards, so as long as you don't buying something from 2004, regardless of how much you pay for it, it's going to be good quality gear.

Do not assume that an expensive kite is better than an inexpensive kite.. Most of the 2007 kites and all of the 2008 kites are excellent. I'd say the Slingshot Rev, the new Cabs, and the new 2008 Best kites are probably the most common in this area. Monkey kites are becoming more common also because they are fairly inexpensive. There are a few eclipse riders too, but they just like to be different I think and there is nothing wrong with that either. Flexifoil makes great freestyle kites (ie: slow but stable) but they are pretty darn expensive.

Just modern gear you can afford.