Monday 27 December 2010. Balmy evening, wind around 13 knots, beach packed with people trying to cool off after a 40 degree day. I'm down there with a visitor from Germany, swimming in the shallows. Suddenly a barechested show pony kiter on a massive white Cabhrina and surfboard comes flying past him 5 m away, trips, comes off his board, almost dropping the kite into the crowds. My friend nearly sh..t himself...
In and out the obnoxious show pony goes, always in the surf zone, cutting through the bobbing heads of swimmers, kite faltering at times, losing ground walking up the beach with an overbearing swagger, kite over the children and bikini babes, a true exciting ambassador for our sport. Well done, mate, wow, the skill level 
Wonder where your crew of mates were who did the same on boxing day?? 
Time us kiters self policed and agreed on not kiting these popular crowded beaches unless the wind is over 20 knots and the crowds have left. The alternative is that we pretend its all good and then whine like wronged victims when the local beach user association petitions Stirling Council to ban kites at Scarbs/Brighton etc
Its actually the job of the lifeguards .If you see a problem tell them and they will get rid of them just like they do with surfers (that is the best way to self regulate).Our local guys are happy to oblige tho I gottta say that the behaviour of local riders in the newcastle area this year has been impeccable and they haven't had to do anything.
i agree but also think its the sporting peers that inform and educate the knuckle heads when their doing something stupid (in a respectfull and freindly way).
Self policing starts with you...
i.e. I hope you had a word to him, because it's unlikely he's reading this post 
Show pony at Brighton ignoring other punters?
I find that hard to believe. 
Self policing can only do so much. Darwinism is about as relatively effective and a smack in the mush from an angry beach punter probably the most applicable to nongs like this. 
Wish the shark had gobbled the fool.
I believe that we should expect the relevant authorities to deal with this kind of crap. Some people simply just don't like being told. That means if I become a self appointed policeman I may have to deal with a lot of crap when I go to deliver my 2c worth, when all I want to do really is go to my local and enjoy a sess. The type of behaviour on display at Brighton is here to stay, just like the idiots on our roads.
It's up to the authorities to deal with it and dish up fines. If they ( the authorities ) applied themselves with the same degree of zeal on the beaches as they have done in the car park at Pinna's in recent weeks,in dishing up fines for illegal parking , I feel this would go a long way in taking care of the problem, in the way it should be dealt with , is'nt that why I pay rates and taxes ?
License and registration ?, NO WAY !! It has'nt eradicated the dikheads on our roads or powered water craft, it won't stop them on kites, hit them in the pocket !
Good post pelicanpete
I certainly feel that policing of the described idiot should not be the responsiblity of lifeguards, adding extra burden to their duties.
I think we should be presenting ourselves to the community as a proactive lot, and self policing demonstrates this.
Bo, you say the guy was walking upwind a few times, I definately would have taken it upon myself to let him know what a tool he was -in the nicest possible way- and point out all the dangers he is opening himself up to, including losing the spot for everyone because of ignorant show ponies like himself.
Most of the time people will listen to local advice and happily oblige. When they dont, thats when i'd point it out to the lifeguard.
Leaving it solely up to the lifeguards doesnt look great at council meetings. We should be doing all we can to protect our local spots to keep em open.
my 2 cents
ps. happy new year mr float! i was up ur way yesterday, didnt see ya out!
Hmmm. My dear fellow kiters. The same circular arguments and we end up in a hopeless vortex of hardened perspectives. It sucks us in and the beaches get closed down. Not now, but eventually. E.g Mullaloo kiters have now perhaps 5% beach access...
To me it seems us kiters have difficulty sharing and compromising. Usage should be really easy to resolve because we do not need access to a beach when 'normal' people use it.
Imagine this:
WAKSA has pro-actively worked with Stirling Council addressing public safety, resource sharing and council liability i.e submitted a formal best practice proposal with all the public sector jargon etc. and ratified it.
Now, let's call him Dean or Denise (our showponies) full of turkey, sprouts, custard, sucking on a Jagerbomb, dreadlocked like Dre, ready to show Dem Skills, walks down to the beach on a balmy Boxing day arvo. All FIRED UP about the crowds of spectators on the beach and
-wait a minute what's this?-
There's this sign (next to the one about submerged rocks and the snakes!) "Caution: Kitesurfers Frequent this Area When Windy" and below 'Kitesurfing prohibited: Below 20 knots, Fines Apply"
Ego-crushing disappointment for Deano/Denise but I can almost guarantee you that beaches where this is implemented will remain 100% open indefinitely
Win/Win for all but a few ponies 
PS Approaching someone, 'educating them' can only work if you actually have clear, established rules. At the moment there are no rules. Let's stop crying and make some!
" to them is gold . Experienced kiters are not always around when the poo hits the fan or the dud(e) gets too close to the punters . The lifeguards around here now know when to step in and seriously, it doesn't take much time out of their day . It 's like when punter surfers drift inside the blue flags or is stretching their friendship ,the lifeguard knows when to step in and the incident isn't logged and there is no threat to surfing at the local break (even when it is close to the flags )
u guys are a joke..
how hard is it to walk up to some one and tell them they are ****ing up, hell i gota do it daily at the spot i ride at and no saffer no one has met my face with a baseball bat yet 
as for that 20 knot rule thats a bit silly too, what if your out kiting in 23knots and then the wind dies off to 19 and you get smoked by a fine **** son u'd feel pretty rolled then wouldn't you?
none of this would happen if you just walk up n say hey mate what ur doing is a bit silly all you got to do is move 200m down wind where there are no swimmers that can get in the way and youd probably have a better session too.
As much as I hate the idea of a ban,that 20knot rule makes sense, we get enough windy days in WA to sand blast any beach goers out of our way so there is absolutely no escuse for kiting in the midle of a crowd of swimmers.
Completely agree with the self policing comments above and not kiting around swimmers.
However, 20knts is a rediculous level to draw the line, the beach clears out anything over 15 knots - no kiting in X meters of swimmers /flags should be the yard stick not the strength of the wind.
Idiot at Brighton with a huge Flysurfer in the air strolling up the walkway to land on the grass (next to a clearly startled sunbather lady).
I'm fuming - but in a hurry (was conscience of kite-buddy's time limit) but another kite bloke stolls over and informs idiot it's too late for christmas turkey.
Apparently the bloke is a local (had assumed Teuro due to FS gear) and took it with decent grace.
Not a bad result. Better than me fuming and doing fk all.
BTW - good to see most crew paying attention to the flagged swimming area being a LOT further south than normal (co-incidence?) and in the spot most usually land/launch.
Still some peanuts going thru flags 
up n down wind didn't help, but hey you gott ride for the conditions and if that means you are underpowered then leave extra room before going around the flags.
Build the rapport with the lifeguards and with Waterways by all means. But you can't leave it to them.
In Merimbula we had a couple of young blokes kiting in the front lake out the front of the Cafe strip which just happens to be in the flight path for the airport. But looks great to all the people sipping their lattes.
The Waterways bloke had seen them and as I knew him he fronted me about it and said if people continue to kite in the flight path he will seek a ban on kiting in the front lake altogether. You can easily kite in the front lake out of the flight path. Good boosting in a sw.
I waited till I saw one of them in the carpark next time and tore him a new a#@ehole. I told him that I was speaking on behalf of all the local kiters and what the Waterways bloke said and that; "If we get banned from kiting in the front lake then I promise you that you will not have fun kiting around here again."
We then agreed at the next MSC meeting that any douche bag behaviour may result in a ban from the contest, which means sweet fa cause they won't go in the comp now I stuck my beak out with them.
The little deadsh!t gave me some lip back but we have hardly seen them around since.
My 2c worth.
Mr Pelie , I do get involved at my local beach, as recently as Christmas day this year. A Dutch tourist ended up with his kite down near swimmers just around the point where the wind is pretty sketchy. I had had just walked on to the beach when his kite dropped in to the water. Coulda gone ugly, dropped my gear rushed in to the water to grab his kite, he still had the lines taut maybe looking for a relaunch. I waited for him to get out the water and explained that it was a bad spot and he should avoid that area. I explained it very nicely, not in the manner of a condescending , sanctimonious prick if you get my drift. My input was well recieved , he thanked me and a few us all ended up havin a really nice chat. Turned out that he was a really nice guy and an experienced land kiter too.
The point of my post was , that I want to see more done by the powers that be to keep it clean out there.
Dark rooms, closed blinds, warm milk , bags of cement , C.S.I , . . . . , mate , you need a root and who tf are you to tell me to stay off the forum ?
Sincere thanks to those who backed my initial post , to those who thought Pelie's initial one was a good one . . . .well yer, nuff said James
haha funky probably best you didnt give him some of your choice words there and then, but i just had to enquire on your behalf, and for the record he was a local, a good bloke when confronted and was very much aware of the issues at hand. He said the beach was a nightmare with kites/lines/peeps everywhere (which it was) so he decided best to avoid it and hit the grass (right or wrong....we'll never quite know but at least he actually gave it some thought which is encouraged).
was good to see all kiters at brighton had moved gear 100m or so to the south of the usual path spot due to a million kids riding their christmas prezzies further up, was still one or two blokes pushing their/our luck through the crowds tho.
Keep the waves friendly, keep the run open, keep smacking lips...happy days for all
LOL. Onya Bully.
I still don't buy his excuse(s) tho.
He would have had to walk through the crowds (and probably the flagged area) then up the walkway - to avoid walking upwind 50m and landing with the other kites? Think he self landed too. Diff on a doona than an inflato in fairness.
Overall a bit lazy I reckon.
One way to get the laydees attention tho.
Nevermind. Hope the crew continue to keep outta the flags and give the chrissy throngs a w i d e berth.
Pretty sure all forms of authority (and deputy funky ) will be watching closely. 
20 knot rule - this definitely a W.A. discussion because I'd never get to ride if I could only go out in 20 knots plus...........
Drama queens,no need to turn this into an epic.....just tell the dude, its that simple, really!
Nobody is going to meat cleaver your head,most of theses offenders are just ignorant newbies out for a good time or egotistic show ponys with there head so far up there backside they cant see what they are doing is a danger to other beach goers,and when approached in the right manner usually say sorry mate an on there way !! Job done
Instead of a 20kt limit, how about time instead...
"No kiting before 11am". After 11am please share with kiters.
I could live with that...
Actually, better make that 10am, at least 3 days a year get windy early.
Unfortunately you are right Saffer, however even though they tend to break the rules more than most, a very small percentage of all complaints/incidents are caused by them. Most happen to competent but inexperienced riders.
You don't see many torches or fuels stuck in trees or smashing the beach next to other beach users.
We need to figure out what to do with the retards that are ruining this sport. If we carry on the way we're going (head in the sand) and let the authorities determine our fate, we're f**ked. It's easy to pretend that things won't get worse, but they will. It's only a matter of a time before some idiot either seriously injures himself or a beach goer, then it's all over. Period. No debate. We either need to get uber pro-active and aggressive if need be and let these idiots know their behaviour isn't acceptable. What would happen if you rocked up at a local surf spot, started dropping in on people and acting like a tool? You'd lose your teeth. But you'll very quickly change your attitude. And that's what we need in kiting, an understanding that if you act like a moron there are consequences. At the moment there aren't any.
