Whats your take?

Who has right of way, starboard tack entering the shore line or the kiter launching?

Seems to me that most kiters are unaware of any such rules be it written or spoken, would like to generate convo to clear the air...

yeah the guy on the water can simply tack out a gain 50m earlier. If he doesn't he's abit of a twat.

note" if the dude coming in is riding a sweet wave then thats ok! the waiting kiter can watch and enjoy until the dude is finished smashing the wave.

biggest pet hate...:

smashing a wave coming in and some the person going out doesn't give way...
what the hell,
how hard is it,
just mowing the lawn through the wave zone.
seriously.

or your both coming in and your in front of someone,
he then jams you right into the shore,
crashes on the transition,
then you wait for him to position his board.

love a good kook
lol.

I hope you aren't suggesting that strapless riders should get right of way because they are "special" .........that would cause this thread to flame on for pages. My take is if someone is learning/struggling, whether a complete newb on a TT, or a better rider learning on a SB, give them some room. If they are somewhat competent on a SB then normal give way rules apply

I always go by 'asses the situation'.

Sometimes even though in theory you have right of way it just make more sense that you give way, be it that the other guy does not show any sign of going downwind or that he just has a better angle on the wind or just because you might think yourself that it would be no problem to get back to the line that you were beforehand.

I'm always quick to give way, I just can't be bothered with any potential issues.

Starboard tack has right of way, wind over right shoulder, on the west coast coming back towards shore into your wAve, guy coming out gives way. Guy going out keeo kite low, guy coming in kite higher. Easy. And some common sense, generally.

If I'm heading out and someone has right of way and we seem to holding a collision course, then I will boost downwind, easy solved then.

Guy at beach waiting to get in, wait until you are clear. You have no right of way as you are not on the water yet and someone is coming into shore to either do a trick, transition or on a wave. The rider coming in is coming at speed, you are still. Be patient and stay the Farq out of people's way who are already on the water. That's my own rule, ha ha .

Well if a windsurfer is coming out to sea at ya I wouldn't try to enforce that rule. best to give way to the bigger craft!! Plus i dont even think they know how fast or slow they will be going once they reach you. Ha ha

But jump over him on the way back out. Ha ha

So if someone is sitting there patiently waiting to come out with their kite up, you come screaming in to do a trick 5m from the shore, you stuff it up and come through onto the beach, cleaning them up in the process, that's their fault?

Uh, yeah-nah... that's not what I was taught by instructors...

If you are coming into shore and you see someone walking off the beach, you keep clear of them. The most dangerous time for a kiteboarder is that 30 seconds from launch to getting into the water and starting. If something goes wrong the person launching will be bouncing down the beach. Don't force someone to stand there waiting on the shore for you to come in 5 m from the beach to do you trick in front of the crowd. You can either do your trick a bit further out or just turn around and come in again 30 seconds later.

Strictly speaking you should only be that close to the beach if you are doing two things, coming off the beach (launching), or intending to walk up onto the beach (landing). Obviously this doesn't really happen in practice.

If you plan to do a trick, then YOU HAVE NO RIGHT OF WAY - it is your responsibility to ensure that you have clear space downwind to complete your trick and also some fudge factor if you don't pull it off and get dragged downwind.

As Rowdy has mentioned there is a "person on the wave has right of way" rule but how many situations are there where someone is riding a properly formed wave that close to shore?

Starboard tack has right of way im general passing circumstances.

Guy riding wave is given right of way in any case.

The rest of situations is common sense and a few manners. If needed just wave someone else in or out.

Rule IS and ALWAYS has been - Rider leaving the shore has right of way. ( meaning entering the water ) This rule was created to ensure that the least amount of time is spent on-land to avoid people being dragged and hitting solid objects etc...

Once on the water Starboard tack has right of way...... If you dont know what starboard and port tacks are.... LEARN IT !!!

On waves - Standard wave riding principles apply to others on wave ie: deeper ( meaning closer to breaking section ) rider has right of way.
Technically a rider heading out on a starboard tack has right of way over the rider on the wave..... but it would be very very poor form ( deserving of a beating to enforce this ) as you should only approach the lineup from the outside and away from the fun zone.

Depends on wind direction

might sound dumb, butt would normal sailing rules apply ? starboard has right of way unless you intend to crash and do a 360.