I will at least give you cred waxman for not hideing behind a fake profile but do not agree with some of your comments. I was at the wakestyle nationals last year and had a ball even though I am not a competition rider. George really did do a good job under a lot of adverse pressure. Anyone who tries to host and hold events like this seem to get boof heads like yourself criticising. Reading between the lines with peoples posts on this thread is starting to concern me. I predicted it two years ago and hoped I would be wrong but unfortunately kiteing seems to be going the way of surfing with beginners being frowned upon and brand snobbs thinking they are better than others. I dont know how many can remember the surf wars through the 80's. It wasnt pleasent and did not do the sport any good at all. Yes there should be a elemant of localism but please dont let kiteing head down this track. I hated pulling teeth out of my knuckles (not a joke). Lets prove me wrong and keep kilteing social and friendly. We have enough wolves stalking our sport like marine safety and some councils. Save your well directed rage for the real fights.
Beginners are more frowned upon because beaches are getting more crowded and instead of 1 or 2 beginner incidents a year we now have 20 which is increasing the risk of banning. Its also not like there aren't qualified schools to go to for help.
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/General/Altona-4-kites-in-4-days-when-will-they-learn/?SearchTerms=altona
In one week last year, I counted 4 incidents in 4 days at Altona, 2 of which resulted in damaged powerlines and resulted in a call out of the electricity guys to fix them. You can say what you want about giving beginners a break, but if that happens again, I'm willing to bet our chances of getting banned at Altona are pretty high. All of the incidents I saw could have been avoided quite easily, riders launching unhooked with no leash attached, riders riding without leashes etc. So please excuse me and/or other riders if we don't have time for beginners who couldn't be bothered to follow basic safety guidelines or who don't listen to you when you say "don't launch mate, the wind's too strong for you" because we can't afford to take chances with our beaches.
The big difference with surfing is that very few surfers endanger bystanders or cut the power to an area when they mess up, kiters do.
I don't have time for brand snobs, that is one area I agree with you on.
I get my lakes all to my self. As long as the ski boats piss off when it's windy. Which they usually do.
No beginner would ever get started here amongst the gum trees
but i had better get that KBV membership done soon.
I don't like the practice of brand bashing, but general brand acceptance and tolerance would be boring as bat **** at bathurst.
Sadly, Bathurst is now all about the brands, a bit about their drivers, and very stuff about the driving skills on display.
Do we want kite brand bashing to dominate kite events? Or would the focus on the kiters and their skills be more desirable?
