I have not tried the OR harness, but I've heard several people say that they like it.
Lessons: My advice would be to head to South Padre Island for 2-3 days of lessons. I will be there September thru November if you are interested I cn send you detils on my program. If you want lessons sooner than that, contact Jeff Hoxtell at Air Padre,
http://www.airpadrekiteboarding.com/index.php, a great guy and great instructor. Tell him I say hi. (Jeff may have some OR harnesses in the shop)
I have some used kites and gear for sale... if you are interested, send me a PM with your email address and I will send a list