Another example of why we dislike it.

Yesterday I saw a kiter try and launch his kite on a beach that was packed with heaps of people, little kids included, instead of walking down wind away from the crowd. His mate was doing something to his own kite so this fella decides he will launch the thing without his mates help. Instead of going straight up it dragged sideways along the sand (I think he got an unexpected gust as it looked too powerful for him). The lines would have been 1-3ft above the sand. It was stupidly dangerous. Could of necked kids and adults (who were scrambeling out of the way).

As Willaus said, they take up a lot more room than a windsurfer. Is it for the attention seeking that some do this ****, selfish, oblivious, or just plane stupid? Is it a two man sport?

There are many kiters, older guys out there that are great and don't do this. This particular bloke looked young. Lucky his mate noticed his stupidity and grabbed the kite before harm was done. Once on the water he couldn't do one thing, he was 'strapless' and it looked horribly lame.

I've always said kiteboarders dress sense was lame. Obviously the "little strapless number" should only be worn out late in the evenings.......did he have heels on too???

Well said KIT33R. You should be the Mayor of Kitesurfshire, and if your constituents shared the attitude you claim to have, it would be good for your sport.
I will be the first to admit that when the first kite appeared at our "spot" we were all set to jump on board! But before we had time to get our sh1t together it had attrated a bunch of w4nkers who thought they were Gods gift to water sports! The rest is history!
I am not other representing any other poleys, this is only my 2 cents worth. But if kiters conducted themselves a little differently this forum would be boring.

Well, it's true that his reply brought tears to the eyes.

Problem is that they all have the same discourse - every single last effing one of them. Talk to them - they always say the others are dangerous, those are a minority, etc.

Yet these nice words conflict sharply with observation: very many leaving lines around on the water and you have to sail around (or in my case, plough into). The fair number of them launching dangerously, and the absolute 100% of them taking all the room on the beach while laying the lines.

Nice discourse, same result in the end.

3 spots closed here because of them's dorks in a small area here in the last 2 years alone. One was a behaviour thing (a church parking lot that had been open to windsurfing for 20 years), 2 others for multiple incidents with non-windsurfing beachgoers. I had not heard of a spot closed because of windsurfers alone in the past 20 years. And 1-2 more at risk from local city councils.

Those places aren't closed because of a single individual, but the accumulation of very many of those people and their behaviour.

Again, great speech. I have no doubt he's the exception.

Very sorry to learn of your grandmothers accident(sincerely). (But) I assume she got off the bus and tripped over a kitesurfer's lines! Those prix don't care about anyone when they rig up!

Huh, how is it that trying it will make the lines go away next time I windsurf? I may understand why they're all over, but it doesn't remove the lines for next time.

Actually kiters I talk to claim it was easy to learn. Good on them too. Heck, learning fancy tricks on a seadoo is difficult - yet I still don't appreciate when they drive way close to shore.

To the guy with a grandma that said he hasn't heard of an accident in one summer - firstly, some beaches are way more open, hence much fewer risks - perhaps yours is one. Also: I've seen guys thinking they were safe... when families were runnning around to avoid the downwind area. Actually the very reason of the those places I was mentioning was closed, by the way. Everything was fine until...

As an ex-pat, I live in the Great lakes area. In spite of them's lakes being pretty darn big, all launches are small and few in numbers. A few kiters - and learners or pro don't seem to make a difference, and it can become a nightmare to take off. Both on the beach and on water.

But granted, if the beach is 10 miles long and they launch from a secluded area - no problem there. I was at Hatteras few weeks ago - big place, we were miles away from kiters. No there was no scare or incident with us.

Sorry about the grandma.

Yes, but do they?



Think I'd be happier windsurfing next time I go windsurfing

Actually I believe in this case the kite boarder would be at fault. If you are on the way out and someone is following you just down wind you should never do any jumps that might result in your falling right in front of the person following. Doesn't matter if you kite board or windsurf.



I'd agree re the kiteboarding... It hurst me when I see those tools with their twin tip boards trying to ride a wave. It's like taking a speed board out on a wave.

However, I got a mate from Mauritius (his name is Marcus) who goes up to Gnaraloo sometimes and he is the closest thing I have seen to riding a wave like a surfer...
... he tells me he only uses his kite to get out past the break on to get enough speed to get on the wave... after that he mostly rides the wave with the kite in neutral. Funnily enough he rarely fights people for a wave and I certainly have never seen him drop in on anyone.

Can't say the same for a lot of the other tools riding in Gnaraloo.

Hey Greenroom, I'm envious you bugger.
I think I only had one good day of sailing after seeing you and that was at Lano this Tuesday.

Stating the obvious here...


Funny I've seen precious few cricketers and Leaguers be a physical threat to beachgoers and families and other sports.
Or take up 90% of otherwise public places. Or provoke the closing of public areas.

But you are whinging right now, aren't you?
I'm not whinging - I advocate to ride over the lines.

Yes, there are N-E US fora, IWindsurf.com is one that goes by US regions. You'll find the kite topics just the same.

Do I sail in Oz? Actually, will be doing my Xmas rels pilgrimage soon, will be sailing B-Bay and Wanda I hope. As soon as I winterize my big boat.

Did you have any more questions for me?

Unfortunately it's normal behaviour for people to complain about new things.

Swimmers complained about surfers in the 1920s. Windsurfers complain about kiteboarders. Surfers complain about everybody.

It's also normal for some people to isolate examples of bad behaviour or accidents and hold them up as reasons to hate or fear the new thing.

The reality is that kiteboarding is here to stay. Get used to it. The gear is now excellent and lots of people can do it competently and safely.

The reality is that most people are decent and get along with each other and problems don't happen. I have once downed my kite in a surf zone in over 1000 hours of kiting. In that one occasion a surfer retrieved my board while I relaunched the kite. A potential problem became a minor inconvenience because people acted decently and sensibly.

I have kept an eye on sailboarders in difficulty and rescued one guy after his mast broke. It's all part of normal behaviour for water sports and seamanship in particular.

If you deliberately run over a kiters lines you are more likely to fall flat on your face and possibly damage your fin, your board or yourself. In short, it's ****ing stupid. If you can't share the water sensibly with other craft then get off the water.

No I run into them when they are in the way and stay so all day. On some beaches, it just prevents coming out. There haven't been too many fist things so far - they know they are in the way and won't pull out. Not a problem.

Last time I was at the Airport strip, they were in a different area, and it was not a problem. Might just be there (or Kurnell or whatever) in about a month, as a matter of fact.

That "I can act the way I want because people are averse to new thing" is dumb. Heard skinheads use that in court on TV. Was Yank TV, mind you.

Yes I do know how to roll the sail - you misread. Anyone can just roll up sails. It is that I don't know yet how to prevent the breakage on that very particular material. Spoke to a major sailmaker, and he doesn't know either. Seems the combo Mylar-Dacron hasn't progressed in the last 20 years. More questions ?

Nice one Chuck Norris. Does that come with a round house kick?

"Scotty in Star Trek often says “Ye cannae change the laws of physics.” This is untrue. Stamp can change the laws of physics. With his fists. "

"Contrary to popular belief, the Titanic didn't hit an iceberg. The ship was off course and accidentally ran into Stamp while he was doing the backstroke across the Atlantic."

"Stamp invented his own type of karate. It's called Stamp-Will-Kill."

"When Stamp does a pushup, he isn't lifting himself up, he's pushing the Earth down."

"Stamp invented the Giraffe when he kicked a horse in the chin"

yeah that was a bit of a stupid reaction to post. my bad.

i just hope nobody ever runs through my lines with a skeg on purpose. its the same as if someone said they will deliberately run a knife through your outhaul if you get in their way.