first there was kite flying
then there was kite surfing
then came stand up kiting
and finally we progressed to Contemporary Kite Ballet...
his lines are just so fabolous... 
^^ That Leonid Bolshoi he has the kite ballet moves down - booyahh!! 
You should see him bustin out on Swan Lake.
EDIT: Think he is performing the Nutcracker there tho.
back on topic , has anyone spoken to the muppet in person ?
Maybe a visit down to scabs and approach him to not be such a selfish prick might be the best move .
I recognised familiar faces in the vid and am pretty sure the message will (eventually) get thru.
I have also PM'd Ioz (and there is no doubt now that he is the culprit) and made it clear what I (as a kiter) and other punters in the water think of his acts and made it very clear what to expect next time his kite is flapping over my son's head in a swimming area.
No response (he is conspicuously absent from SB at the mo) but can only hope Ioz realises his fkd act(s) of intimadation towards swimmers etc to move is a false economy as far as kiting access goes for all n sundry - himself included.
One day of clearing 'your' area for open riding vs yrs of complete bans on the same area for everyone. Not smart.
Down the track (after a few deep breaths since yesterday's posts
) I would like to have a chat. What I'd like to do is put him in my (and other water punter's) shoes, and stick him in the water with his 7 yr old son, then flap my kite overhead in flaky winds.
Kinda like riding a motorbike makes for a better car driver - perhaps you have to be in the vulnerable posi to really understand the feeling.
Maybe all kiters need to experience this?
I think you've made your point Funky (over and over again).
Insults and threats are probably not the best way to handle any sort of conflict -especially on a public forum.
Stuff happens, have you ever made a mistake or miscalculation?
Ads
Yeh - not trying to bang on really ADS - just responding to the Qs?
Yep - have definately made my point. Not intending to be threatening just spelling out the reality that if my son and I are put in a perilous position again - I will be ready to remove the threat.
I have certainly made mistakes and misclaculations kiting - hence my desire to always stay as far as common sense would dictate, from other water users, coz I have seen what happens when kites n punters come together unplanned.
[}:)]
Just to clear up - there is NO WAY miscalculation is the case here. It appears to be deliberate behaviour motivated by Ioz's individual desire to clear a swathe through public area(s) by way of intimidating behaviour with a kite. The chances of a miscalculation occuring in the pursuit of reacreational area, free of other water users, is extremely high tho.
*Watch the wave comp vid - No kn way did he not see the swimmers.
Take note of the fact that this was before the kite comp (not that WAKSA or any individual have the right to move on public from a public space for private competitions) .
Also take not that there is oodles of space either side of the swimmers, yet Ioz chooses to go extremely close and spray the swimmers in the face.
No doubt it was to clear space for the comp and he probably celebrated his actions with the other lads (none of which I would expect to do the same).
BTW ADS - this thread is about bad behaviour in the metro area, so it's not like I have hhijacked the funni images thread.
Thanks Slacko.
Had to return the soapbox unfortunately.
That's getfunky btw. GetFunky is my dad.
looks like the kiter was pretty surpised to see the dude swimming pop up. doesnt look like he intentionally nearly killed him.
doubt this approach is going to get a very good response. should have just spoken to him on the beach.
. If the guy's behaviour seems ok to you and you don't think it will fk it for ALL of us (or result in an injury to some poor swimmer/punter) then the trough is there but you just ain't thirsty.
I have only just read this thread,
Woh, some of that stuff is toxic ! - and probably a step over the line.
However let me try to address some of the issues ;
The wave comp vid - that was taken by a non kiter and sent to me, i thought I would post it to show people what sort of conditions we had for the wave comp.
Did I see the swimmer – of course not – he dived into the water, went under water and popped up just in front of me. But in the end I did miss him by 1 or 2m - i wish it had of been more.
When I first went out, there was no one kiting, surfing or swimming. It was the middle of winter and I was actually called the test pilot for all the other crew on the beach so they could see what kites to put up before the friendly wave comp. Some swimmers did come into the water after I entered.
Last Sunday down at the amphitheatre. - There were no flags up, winter and once again very few people in the water. I always try to give other water users as wider berth as possible. We are focused on riding wavers however, but sometimes have to give these up when we can see it going to be to close.
It was light winds and tougher than normal to stay away and once or twice I maybe went closer than normal – but only chugging along and hardly on the plane.
I can’t believe another kiter would be right there, be so upset and not even try to talk to me – that is the disappointing part.
I was down the same section of beach yesterday and put my kite down to go and have a chat to the beach life saver (in the car) – to check if there actually was any situation. He told me that all was well with the kiters and there had been no incidents to report, he was there Sunday and could see no special events. We had a very constructive and positive conversation.
The other year at Floreat
Someone has stated that I was coming in and out and constantly spraying a surfer. That is totally BS – I am a lifelong surfer and would never do such a thing.
Certain people have lied and exaggerated a lot of these details blowing it out of all proportion for the act of sensationalism.
There angry words have more chance of getting us banned that anything I have done down there.
I have spent a lot of time on the Perth beaches and most of what is going on is ok, every now and then there is an incident but very few.
To put it in perspective the beach inspector could only name one accident in the 10 years or so he had been down there where a swimmer has actually been hit.
Personally, my closest call from 10 years of kiting has been unsuspectingly caught on camera.
Holy jeebus a mountain has been made of a molehill here don't you think? Surely anyone who knows Ioz can't assume that he meant to get close to the swimmer. Would you try to swim accross the river in heavy boat traffic? The swimmer was clearly at fault. He went out swimming where someone was kiting. Would it be reasonable for me to swim out in the lineup with a bunch of surfers and expect them to move on down the beach? It's not as though Ioz was kiting through a flagged swimming zone. If anyone felt that strongly about what happened they should have said something on the day not come home and started up some rant on the interwebs. Self regulation is the key here people. Surely we are all mature enough to pull someone aside if we feel that they put someone at risk.
Lets all chill a minute and get off the flog Ioz bandwagon here.
i know ioz and he is one of the nicest blokes on the water - super keen and super good attitude.
Many is the time he has told me to "go well"
i have seen him kite and he is not the terroriser that this thread is painting him to be. If there was a close call i cant believe that it would be repeated intentionally.
unfortunately this thread will do 10 x more damage to kiting's image than if the issue was sorted out via some constructive private emails.
This post is a positive for the kiting community. It shows we as kiters need to constantly look out for each other and especially other beach users. Without self regulation we endanger ourselves as well as others.
GF you got your point across and it was needed.
Ioz good to see you were man enough to respond. I hope the message got through!!
to getfunky just read your posts? nice work swimming with your kid in winter..why werent u paddlin boards???i think your attacks on ozi r very wrong and after reading your posts it shows how stupid you r...w.a. is a very small place,i just hope that if i get in to trouble or any of my friends do u r working or as far away from the water as possible..looser
we get better waves in the Bay lol
we get better waves in the Bay lol
If you look carefully through the vid, with a few pauses at the critical points, its plain-as that the swimmer is coming up out of the foam in front of Ioz. The 'spray in the face' is Ioz digging in to get further out of the way and his reaction afterwards is obviously an expression of shock/horror at the swimmer appearing where he did.
No way would Ioz terrorize anyone - or take kiting & safety for granted.
He's way more Clarke Kent than anything like bogan.
we get better waves in the Bay lol
did the near miss happen during a kiting comp?? Was there sign designating the area??If so someone who was running the comp could have said something to alert the swimmer going into danger.
A lot of swimmers don't know the dangers of being near kites. A few times I have advised swimmers at our local kite spot that they were in a very dangerous area and it's in their safety to move a couple of m north or south. They've always appreciated the advise. In saying that it's our responsibility as kiters to know that if something happens it will put a bad light on our sport.
FFS ...
It was in the middle of winter, about 16 degrees, with a howling Westerly.
You wouldn't really expect be kiting with a swimmer now would you ...
Get real girls ...
