There was thread on this somewhere, but went through 7 pages of threads and couldnt find it, so sorry for the repetition. Hope someone can clarify
My Story: So there there I was this afternoon, sailing my local break, marginal wind, say 12kn, waves prob 3ft on set, not big, but fun.....was out on 6.5 Ezzy Wave and 110litre allround board (I weigh 92kg....so I only get planing when on a wave in these conditions). Out with 3 other kiters, one of which is an ex boarder of 18 years.
Anyway, was coming in from about 150metres out the back, as I was NOT planing on the way out i did end up a little downwind of the peak when coming in. Pick up the swell of the set, pump a few times, get on the plane, pick up some nice speed and start heading upwind to the peak, nobody else on the wave....this baby is mine...or so i thought. Kiter turns on the wave say 30 meters or so upwind of me and starts heading towards the peak too, claims the wave.......( So I think, NO WAY buddy, you guys do this to me WAY TOO OFTEN...this is MY wave.......
So I catch up to him on the wave in no time (ever notice how slow kites are oing upwind on the wave when you are on the same wave as them?), trying to keep a safe distance apart, I get to a point where I want to start my bottom turn to start riding DTL, kiter does the same at the same time, my rig catches his lines as he brought his kite down to power his turn, washing machine here we go together.......lines round board rig.etcetc....Untangle my gear, water start -just, and head back out, he cant start, gets stuck in the shore break and his kite tears in half (unbeknowns to me).
After I have a few more runs, I come in, get approached by a kiter saying, well you wrecked his kite.....i said "WHO wrecked his kite?"......"Well you were the one in the wrong who ran into him" retorted the kiter.
I then said that the tear in the kite was unfortunate, and I apologied (to the damaged kite owner) he ended up in a postion he couldnt get his kite out of, no hard feelings there with the victim. Where the discussion started, (now three kiters v's one boarder), about was who owned the wave ............they all argued that the kiter was closest to the peak (regardless of who was on first) and therfore had the right of way. Said my understanding was the same as surfing, which is the same as sailing and kiting anywhere in the world, and that is: First on the wave owns it, and turning to jcatch a wave upwind with someone already on it heading upwind is a form of snaking. Now dont get me wrong, i dont mind sharing a wave if there is plenty of room between you....when there is only 4-6 on the water at a time causing a fuss doesnt make sense, but there does need to be an understanding of the rules, not only to keep the peace, but also for safety!
Eventually the guy with the damaged kite conceeded he "didnt see me when he turned onto the wave" (those flouro yellow and red ezzy sails are hard to see apparently....remember the sun sets over land here in NSW, so cant blame the late arvo sun!!!!), and thinks that my understanding of the wavesailing rules could be right, but the other two disagree ( and one of the disagreeing kiters was a guy who has wave sailed for 18 years and recently turned to kiting!!). So in my view, this afternoon we had only 25% of people on the water that arvo with, what I am sure is, the correct understanding of the wave riding rules/standards...................someone serve it up to me, am I right or wrong....tell it straight.
Sorry for the long story
Adam
If it went down like you say, sounds like a tool got some karma. Whoever is on the wave first owns the wave, it's only when first catching it that closest to the peak has right of way.
Absolutely right, avoid a crash at any cost is rule number one.
The fact their understanding of the rules is different to mine explains why they always do it to me. For farks sake, there is only 4 -6 on the water at once (bit different to Corros), so it should always be a good sesh if we all sailed the same rules.
Your wave 100% by my view. If you were on the wave from out the back, getting into position to ride the wave and then he gybes onto it, that's pure snaking. Kiters can do this much more readily compared to a windsurfer as they can point hard in lighter winds and can get upwind/turn on a dime very quickly. From my perspective the 'closer to the peak' rule only comes into play when you both catch the same wave at the same time but in different positions in the break.
The collision was unfortunate but if he is upwind of you and looking down the wave to turn there is no way he could not have seen you, hence imo he could have avoided the incident. He was probably just trying to push his weight around and force you off the wave....and failed, epically.
he snaked you, if he didn't see you he needs to open his slinty eyes ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
you guys sound like a bunch of surfers... its a wave there are plenty more of where they come from big deal
I agree. It was your wave. 1st on it owns it.
Only if you cannot ascertain who was on it first, then it is closest to the peak has right of way.
This reminds of what I posted a few weeks ago: part of the agro between kiters and WS'ers is the fact that they do short runs in and out through the break and they turn onto waves about 1 sec before they peak, whereas we pick the waves up 50m - 200m further out. Some of them look like a bl00dy fly in a bottle and you never know what they are going to do next.
It can all be avoided if they rode like we do!! If everyone headed out in a line and gybed onto a swell one at a time (so you don't turn untilt he guys in front of you have) then there is no agro either way.
It is a really big p!ss orf to have 3 or 4 out, everyone takes a swell to themselves and then a kiter turns on to a wave that was taken 30sec ago out the back.
u were saying u had to go upwind alot to get to the peak, but were on the wave from out the back, so I assume he snaked you to get closest to the peak. he snaked you but paid for it 
tell him if he wants to mix on the peak then cop it sweet and move on
His loss. Should have better manners. Learnt the ultiate lesson (gear trashed) If he isnt convinced, be diplomatic and explain as he may not know. If he does and is a co&k - stick and move 
And here is the kicker...........one of the guys disagreeing with my theory of wave riding rules and ethics is a local kite instructor.....hmmmm![}:)]
if your 30 metres from the kite downwind and the peak is another 10 or 20 metres away upwind,your a fair distance from the peak to be calling it yours,guy nearest to the peak should have it.If it was another sailboarder would you feel the same way?
Not if riding it backside (upwind towards the peak) looking for a big backside aerial and he turned on the wave upwind of you?
so to clarify
at south passage,
coming into the wave zone,
i'm on leech's tail,
i slow down let him get the wave,
i wait for the next one, catch the swell and start lining up 4 the peak,
looking good, nice wave, should be in the action in about 10 secs
bloke with RED sail (is there a theme here)
comes flying in from upwind and hops OVER on to the same said bit of swell.
the rest is history and a badly shared wave.
was i wrong to be feeling a bit pissed at him?
or would he have been pissed at me, coz he was the upwind kid, if so...... i've lost count of the amount of times i've backed off to let people get the wave coz there slowing down to line up for it, think it's just 'very rude chopper' to come flying in and take the wave on the upwind rule, specially at SP.
Mr Red Sail is wrong twice there! You had it first AND he should not come over the back of a wave.
Upwind / closest to peak is only ROW if you both got on it at the same time
)
must have been a differenr one leech.
this one i was catching u up directly from behind, not upwind.
u were stalling, to get your self lined up for a nice bit of swell.
I could have put my foot down,pinched upwind, cross'd your bow and jumped on it, but as mentioned before I think thats rude,
i guess what i'm trying to say is, that if you see someone AHEAD of you, lining up for an oncoming wave, dont be selfish and nick it, just coz u can come steamin in from upwind and be "in the wright" coz ur upwind, nearest the peak etc???
yeah bit of a grey area, most times i sail SP, it works like clockwork and everyome takes their turn, but it was busy eh? scrappin for waves...yuk
