1 kite is good to start.. really..

as a beginner you will want a medium range kite .. you want to only go out when the conditions are good for your mid-range kite.

i had a 15m yarga to learn on and it was perfect (i weigh 185 or so)..

something in the 12-15 range is perfect to learn on .. if its blowing too much for that kite, please get off the water and just be patient.. you wont learn anything by going out in conditions you are not ready for. if you have a small kite you might be tempted to get back on the water.

once you have a number of sessions under your belt, are riding upwind with ease.. you are set to get your other kites..

if you have different types of kites (bow / c ) etc.. you will need a bar for each. i have one bar for all my c kites (4 of them) and one bar for my waroos (2 of them).

now..... did you take lessons? gotta ask man.. gotta ask.

Thanks for the info.

Im taking lessons with Randy at the skyway. Hoping for wind to finish.

Start with the 16m and buy the next smaller size down whenever you are standing at the beach kicking yourself cause you cant go b/c of too much wind

i second that :D you could get by with just that 16m for a good 2months before we start getting are cold fronts, then get the 12m and your good to go

most 12m kites Wrk good in light winds(12-15mph)
many big kites(16m+)have too much power after 15mph especially for newbies.

15-20mph is the wind you want to learn in.

randy is a great guy no doubt you'll be kiteboarder very soon.
L8r

get a big/wide/flat board too...

i cannot stress how much of difference this made in going from just staying w/ the wind to TEARING upwind.. in one session.

a small, thin board with a lot of rocker will slow your learning down considerably.

if you are handy you can make your own ply board for pretty cheap. once you are ready for performance, you can prob test drive some others boards to help decide....

good luck!

bryan (one of many in the area..)