Yep, have to agree with what most of the whingers have to say. Please keep in mind thought, it's not just windsurfers that are getting taken out.
Kiting will be banned at most beaches in the future unless something is done about it. Everytime I bring it up though, I get shot down in flames!
It's not kiting in general that is causing the dramas. It's the blokes that buy gear off ebay or the internet and don't have lessons or get their friends to teach them. Unfortunatley the sport also seems to attract a lot guys interested only in showing off...will almost always kite in front of a crowd. I've been kiting breaks up north with the territorial Euro windsurfers (who have seen 1000% worse congestion back home) but by the end of the session are happy to share the water with me. In other words, it's the kitesurfing, it's a few individuals. This can be controlled but there is no institution that can do it.
I am personally hoping that it will evetually go the way of windsurfing where the popularity of the sport died after booming in the 80s (everyone was doing it!)
And for the record...kiting has it over windsurfing for freestyle (without a doubt) but windsurfing owns the waves...but this is/will change!
Yeah - freestyle dragging along the beach - freestyle lack of consideration for other water users and freestyle arrogance - too afraid to lose a bit of ground and stick to the rules of the surf!
There are a few good crew around but theres a s**tload that just seem to want to own the hundred metres around em.
I've had a few experiences at Kent reserve and seacliff with out of control kiters - - they seem to get out of control so easy and its me / windsurfers that has to drop my sail and drop in the water & hope that my heads not taken off by the lethal strings. What response - all smiles like hey I m good at this - who gives a rats I'm a tea bagger so I am cooler so I can do what I want.
That feels better now - I've been watching this thread for a while and just couldn't hold back any longer
It's that attitude that causes bad blood mate. If I quit kiting to help kiting, perhaps you should shoot yourself to help humanity...then we're even?
As I said, it's unfortunate that kiting attracts these crowds. Believe me when I say, there is crew on both sides of the fence that feel the same.
See you on water...instead of these forums.
Looks to me reading all this that the kite crew are a very sensitive bunch of people regarding their chosen sport. So I took a look at the kite forum and my suspicions vindicated when you read the argument style for and against in this topic.
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=34575
There are amateurs on both sides who are still learning, and showoffs who think its cool to be crashing and banging close to other water uses.
We should try to respect the "other" water users one hundred percent of the time.
Regardless of what sport you have chosen, or switched too, good for you, at least your doing something you enjoy.
I think TonyC just went fishing for kiters, and by the looks of it without too much bait[}:)][}:)]
For crying out loud, lets stop this crap, where's the Seabreeze humour we all love 
And as for who's sport is better, I still can't work out why anyone would play golf 
the abuse hurled at kiters on this thread makes me feel too sad to be angry. A whole lot of personal insults flying back and forth.
Unfortunately at least a proportion of the grief directed at us is deserved. I see bad behaviour pretty commonly. But I see it from both sides.
The fact that so much venom towards kiters exists suggests that a few kiters need to take a serious look at some of their behaviour. Obviously a few toes have been trodden on. But do not make the mistake of assuming all kiters are like this - I've been on the receiving end, and it seriously wrecked my day, and left me feeling gutted and angry for a week or so
I think I'm glad I left Perth. Loved the wind, but the bedlam on the river sounds terrifying, and I think I would be spending most of my time worrying when some tosser's bad behaviour is going to result in the banning of my favourite pass-time. Well, if it's gonna happen, make sure it doesn't happen before October, coz I'm coming over for a few weeks.
One of the prevailing attitudes among some windsurfers, evident on this thread is "we were here first". What's with that? That is SO not a rational or defensible argument. A small proportion of windsurfers need to improve their attitutdes. Kiting is a very rapidly growing sport, and the waters will be becoming more congested whether you like it or not (and I know I don't). If bad attitudes keep up, it will gnaw away at you souls, turning your still beating hearts blackened and shrivelled, and ultimately leaving you empty inside.
Of course, that does leave more room for beer, so it can't be all bad!
I just love melodramatic writing!
T
:Edit as I hit the wrong key.
The problem with board kiting, as I have said before is the amount of space it takes up. Spatial inequality is a real issue on crowded beaches and the amount of space board kiting takes up is at the expense of other users of the beach.
Added to this is some kite boarders have a selfish attitude. If we have three beach users. The first, Bill, wants to go for a swim. The second, Jim, wants to go windsurfing. The third, Ian, wants to go kite boarding.
So Bill goes to the beach. He takes up the space his body occupies. He can be selfish and spread out his towel. He can act like an idiot and throw sand at people. However the amount of problems he can cause on his own is small unless he is criminally minded. Chances are he is not going to cause a problem and other beach users will not mind Bill being there.
Jim turns up at the beach. He needs some area to rig up, maybe 20 square meters. He goes out for a sail. He takes up a fair bit more room than Bill the swimmer, with his gear. If he acts like an idiot he might gybe in areas where people are swimming. He might go charging out through the break and back, pissing off people waiting for waves. At worst he will hit someone and cause injury or death. Despite this its probable Jim won't do these bad things and will go sailing responsibly. So Jim might piss some people off because his gear gets in their way on the beach or when he is rigging, but thats about it.
Finally Ian turns up. He gets his kite out. Ian needs a fair bit of room to setup his kite. Then he has to fly it, to get down to the beach. His board is small but his kite is huge. If Ian acts like an idiot he could start doing jumps close to people. Ian's kite might go horizontal, thereby taking up a large amount of space, and creating potential danger to many people on the beach. However chances are Ian will kite responsibly. Despite this some people will get pissed off as they have to get out of the way of Ian and his kite, which takes up so much room.
It doesn't matter how responsible a kite boarder is. The amount of room their kit takes up is the problem.
lets unite and fight against 25+ foot boats with less than 4 people on board from cruising the SE QLD broad-water hour after hour, drinking 30+litres of juice per 100km
never have i seen so much wasted petrol until today
Brothers, the time has come to arm ourselves...
I think I can get a nice deal on some used AK-47s
Lawn Bowls - don't start us on lawn bowlers - hat wearing beer swilling sipping old folks - driving there commodores - disregarding water restrictions so they can chuck some wobbly balls down a bit of grass - using there club staus to sell cheap beer and food - while the women folk sip on sherry and chardie
S**t - think I fit most of the criteria - Where can I sign up
c'mon guys we're all wind driven so let's go after the irresponsible ones[}:)]
It seems to me that this thread represents the same thing as what's happening on the water. In both cases this is our little area to surf and express ourselves but a small handful of kiters just can't keep to their forum or patch of water and feel the need to intrude on our space to stir things up to make themselves feel good without giving a damn about the friction and dangers they cause.
I would like to thank the kiters who respect our space but their the ones who don't visit here as I don't belong there.
Calm down princess, I used to like reading your comments but somethings got your panties in a bunch in this thread long before my post.For one you mention that kites will own the waves, what's more provoking than these kind of comments to wavesailers. Having been one yourself you should know better than most. User, your've changed man, you used to be cool.
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i haven't played for about 12 months but i have won a club championship
