The first generation of the Apex is an extremely powerful kite with a lot of lift for a beginner kite. It is extremely stable and ideal for a person who wants to learn how to control a larger kite. It will save beginning kitesurfers thousands of dollars in lessons and get you dialed in for flying a bow kite and other kites. The only caveat is you can't use it in the water. The 10 meter open celled foil kite is equivalent to a 13 meter LEI or even a 14 meter LEI in terms of lift.

Open celled foils are ideal for developing power from the wind. Typically, open celled foils have more power than closed cell foils, and closed cell foils have more power than leading edge inflatables.

The Apex has a simple bridle system and is easy to launch. It collapses when it hits the ground, so you do not have to worry about the force of the impact. This is good for beginners because you are likely to crash it when learning. I suggest using this kite in light winds first. You can easily fly the kite in consistent 6 mph winds. I've taken it out and flown it with the leaves barely rustling in the wind. It has a lot of power, and in 15 mph winds, you can easily landboard at 40 mph on hard packed sand.

Familiarize yourself with the quick release system if you are jumping and engaging in tricks. I like to jump without the board first. There is a pic of me jumping with the Apex in Kitty Hawk on a gusty, 15 mph day. If you know how to jump, you can easily get air with the Apex.

The Apex is not a kite designed for tricks, but you will have no problem getting lifted straight up (it tends to pull upwards rather than horizontally when you jump, a surprising characteristic for a beginner kite).

The open celled foil is more forgiving when crashing into the land and does launch in lighter winds than differently designed kites.

The Apex does not move as fast as high performance kites with higher aspect ratios and is more designed for cruising. It also cannot function as a crossover kite.

The benefits of the Apex that it is truly a beginner kite that is still useful for more advanced riders. For instance, when the wind is very gusty, the Apex is a good kite because of its rock hard stability and depower system. Of course, I would not advise any beginner to fly anything more than a 3 meter foil in a strong breeze.

If you are interested in cruising, then the Apex is the kite for you. If you are looking for a more advanced kite, then I would try the Neo if you are interested in HQ. Most of all, the Apex is a well designed kite that can reverse relaunch, and it is also easy to do kite loops with it without fear of the lines getting crossed.