no crowds up on the sunny coast. i always have to do downwinders on my own. at least the mrs gives me a lift.

eppo said...

Bigwavedave said...

Rad Lad said...

This one is open for debate.

I am starting to see signs that mass saturation is taking place. For example, I see unfit people who have no or very little water experience taking up the sport. I see race boards are a growth area in the sport, I see govt authorities trying to regulate the sport around the world, I see more and more kites everywhere I go. I am wondering whether there is any one left to take up kiting except the next generation? Normally after saturation point numbers drop off dramatically. Perhaps this is just wishful thinking.

If it's open for debate, let's actually find out how many council's are trying to regulate the sport. I think you'll find that, apart from a couple in Perth, there are very few councils who really want to restrict our activity.



mmmm I'm sure they had the same thoughts in belguim. When **** hits the fan, it hits quickly, it's not a gradual process, from nothing to everything... but you are right, better to find out rather than imagine. But surely logic dictates a with a reasonable degree of accuracy that it is only time before someone influential gets personally pissed off, then the machine of politics will do the rest.

Can anyone actually find proof that Belgium has restricted kiting??
Everything is anecdotal.

What do they do in Europe. 10 years ago when I started kiting on some learner vids there were a hundred kites out then. How do they deal with probably even bigger crowds now?

Mr float said...

" did you not read this booklet on your way to the beach" and slap him/her across the face with it

hahahahahaha

A tool/noob on a Kite is not much better than some idiot on a Jet-Ski. Jet-skis only got severely restricted because of various incidents/accidents involving innocent beach goers. It's only a matter of time before some dick injures someone and then it's sainara kite surfing. And with the huge amount of people getting into the sport, it only increases the inevitability. I think for popular spots, you must be registered and have a license. That will preclude noobs/tourists and part/time kiters from kiting there.

All zones are colour coded with buoys and once you are 200 metres out it's free ocean to all. The beach is quite a few kilometers long and each car park has one of each zone allocated to it in an un-biased way.

What I liked most was that the beach patrols were as strict with sunbathers/swimmers 'out of zone' as they were with kiters. The reason why kiteboarding is treated this fairly in Tarifa is that the town relies on the sport. If kiteboarding were banned then the town would probably loose 70% of it's economy.

I would love to see this system implemented at many busy beaches, but I can think of no other place in the world where kitesurfing would be treated this fairly

We already have a similar system in Melbourne - New kitboarding and recreational boating zones have been alocated from Port melbourne to St kilda with the rest of the bay beaches following soon. How could a city of 4.5m people not?

St Kilda - the main kiteboarding hub where many of the schools are located can get kaotic to the point of being dangerous.

From a legal standpoint, kitboarders are considered personal water craft - pretty much same as a boat and must obey all boating rules of road and boating zones including the 200m 5kt zone which applies to the majority of beaches on the bay.

Parks victoria have drawn up a plan which designates specific kiteboarding zones scattered around the bay - there's not too many and they are not sizable. So in effect, as a kiteboarder, you are limited to these zones or more than 200m out (and the odd boating zone around marinas) and definitely should steer clear of swimmng only areas.

Kiteboarders are already spilling out well beyond these zones. Altona is an example where people are rigging just west of the pier when the designated zone starts a considerable distance further west. And much the same at st Kilda.

I worry that too few kiters in melbourne are mindful of these regulations and will result in accelerated restrictions. But having said that, the size of the zones are already proving to be inadequate for the expoding kiter population despite the cr*p season we've had here and further restrictions seem inevitable.

It's the price of kiting in a big population center but lets not agrevate the situation with flagrant disregard of rules that are trying to give all beach goers a fair go.

The Parks vic site is here:
http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/3zones.cfm

sebol said...

Any licensing can hardly be enforced.

It will make some greedy people happy as they can delusion themselves into their importance and collect our $50 a year to be steadily increased on an annual basis for good measure.

People will still kite without licence, accident will still occasionaly happen (as with any other activities) and Dikheads will still use it to attempt to ban us outright.

I don't know the solution but licencing is destined to fail.

Are you kidding me? Jump on a jet-ski and go for a cruise, see how long it is before rangers/water police hassle you, wanting to make sure jet-ski is registered and you have your skippers ticket. Trust me, if councils, rangers, cops etc really want to restrict something, they definitely can.

there was dozens upon dozens of kites at scarbs when i first visited there in '04, couldn't possibly be anymore now

but imagine when it does turn into the likes of surfing

swells up on the east coast, winds killing most places round where i live, but down the end of my street there is a little river mouth that only breaks after a big rain and a big easterly swell, surfed it solo or with a couple 'o dudes for years.

today its on, there are well over thirty guys out and a dozen parents lining the shore vantage points armed with video cameras...

will kiting turn into this...?

by the way its about three foot, if you got it with a few mates it'd make a memorable sesh...

with thirty guys out, it looked like a nightmare

I'm glad people are finally realisng the problems we're facing with crowds!!

It's only a matter of time till the 'half taught students' and 'Visitors in vans' will have some of the local spots shut down.

If you get a school move in with a business plan to pump out 100's of new kiters and Big Mouth Fkwits advertising your spot.... it will soon be crowded, dangerous and on the brink of being shut down.

To the kiting community do-gooders - Shear numbers is an issue and you can't educate everyone. It's a big area sport and it's ridiculous to think that you can keep jamming people into these spots and keep all the blow ins and weirdo's in line. (and fk me, kiting has it's fair share of weirdo's) Why try and grow the sport in Oz more & more? You've got investments in it? does it make you feel big?

I just want to ride with my mates, keep our spots open, have a good time, have space to try new tricks and not have cocks drop their kites on me. plus! I'd rather not drive 3, 4, 5 hours each way to try and find an uncrowded beach or unrestricted one if I can help it. Thanks to those that were going to reply with that BS.

We'll be crapping on about crowds & the shutting down of Ozzie spots for years to come. Shut down big mouths I reckon!! Even pull up the naive one's. "Hey mate I ride there and have a great time with my friends! Do you mind not trying to stuff it up for us". thankyou.

It sux alot of damage has been done.

Ashton : "Half taught Newbies"... Valid point that kiters are definitely getting on the water solo before they should but at almost $100h for a lesson i can't blame them. When i first started i was in High school and had a 3h lesson which pretty much broke the budget. one could suggest the idea that an instructor would have to Certify a student to purchase gear like the old IKO cards and how they do it in paragliding etc. But getting all instructors and stores to agreee on the terms would be a nightmare and does not regulate euros and Ebay kiters.

I just recently had my knee reconstructed so im going to be off the water for a while but will be conducting "coaching" (not early beginner) sessions through my local to help combat this problem. Though its a hell of alot to ask of the local associations to offer these sorts of measures.

Joe Cron said...

Reading the posts here, I can't ignore it, I've hit the nostalgic old bloke stage.

Surfing was great years ago, now it's commodified to death, and subsequently overcrowded. My mate once said that the likes of Billabong, Quicksilver etc are like the McDonalds of surfing. I think he's right.

Kiting still has that shared newness where, mostly, everyone helps everyone. It's hard to believe, surfing was like that at one time. Now, it's every man for himself, all fighting to get his little bit of entitlement.

When sufing at home got a little crowded, travel was a viable option. A bit of effort and uncrowded, fun waves could be found.

Now that's hardly possible, anywhere with a wave has teeming crowds, no matter how difficult the trip.

I think it's sadly inevitable that kiting will evolve along a similar path.

As soon as something is named 'cool', everyone wants a piece of it, subsequently it's largely ruined.

I say enjoy the good times now.

You must be miserable what with dangerous climate change, peak oil, world food shortage, plummetting fish stocks, antibiotic resistant super bugs, the spread of Islam, breakdown in community and family, road rage, ADHD children on speed, the mental health crisis, aboriginals living in third world conditions, immigrants eroding the Aussie culture and way of life, world wide deforrestation, the rise of social media.

"golf is the new kiting"

anyone got any clubs for sale? post 2008 preferably.

SUP Golf...thats where its at

Oh the Milky Way has gone a little sour
The leaves dried and the flower fell away
I've been sitting, I've been waiting for a sign
Inhuman beings taking up all of my time

Want to leave but I've got to stay
And I'm wondering more everyday
Montreal to Hong Kong
Where have all the good people gone?
Traffic jam but I'm on the shoulder
Took ten cops to pull me over
Bangkok to Babylon
Where have all the good people gone?

I haven't met a friend in a long long while
They don't shake my hand but they check my style
The modern world is a cold cold world
And all I meet are cold cold girls

Wanna leave but I got to stay
And I'm wondering more every day
Montreal to Hong Kong
Where have all the good people gone?
Traffic jam but I'm on the shoulder
Took ten cops to pull me over
Bangkok to Babylon
Where have all the good people gone?

And it's always the same
We all just turn away
We are stealing from ourselves
We are feeding off ourselves
But we were born in the flames
We need a cool breeze and a summer rain
We are stealing from ourselves
We are feeding off ourselves

Oh the Milky Way has gone a little sour
The leaves dried and the flower fell away

Where Have All the Good People Gone? Lyrics
Artist(Band):Sam Roberts

Answer = they are going kiting

kitelooper1 said...

Joe Cron said...

Reading the posts here, I can't ignore it, I've hit the nostalgic old bloke stage.

Surfing was great years ago, now it's commodified to death, and subsequently overcrowded. My mate once said that the likes of Billabong, Quicksilver etc are like the McDonalds of surfing. I think he's right.

Kiting still has that shared newness where, mostly, everyone helps everyone. It's hard to believe, surfing was like that at one time. Now, it's every man for himself, all fighting to get his little bit of entitlement.

When sufing at home got a little crowded, travel was a viable option. A bit of effort and uncrowded, fun waves could be found.

Now that's hardly possible, anywhere with a wave has teeming crowds, no matter how difficult the trip.

I think it's sadly inevitable that kiting will evolve along a similar path.

As soon as something is named 'cool', everyone wants a piece of it, subsequently it's largely ruined.

I say enjoy the good times now.

You must be miserable what with dangerous climate change, peak oil, world food shortage, plummetting fish stocks, antibiotic resistant super bugs, the spread of Islam, breakdown in community and family, road rage, ADHD children on speed, the mental health crisis, aboriginals living in third world conditions, immigrants eroding the Aussie culture and way of life, world wide deforrestation, the rise of social media.

Certainly I don't see a lot of positive in some of those things .

I'm unsure, however, of the relationship to overcrowded surf and commodified 'lifestyle' pursuits?

No sarcasm intended, seriously, can you explain how you relate these things to my post

Certainly I don't see a lot of positive in some of those things .

I'm unsure, however, of the relationship to overcrowded surf and commodified 'lifestyle' pursuits?

No sarcasm intended, seriously, can you explain how you relate these things to my post

I wanted to draw attention to the notion that things were always better in the old days and I wanted to link this with the sky is falling mindset and the ability of it all to conspire and shape one's perspective on matters in general.

My perspective influences how I relate those things to your words. Some people relate McDonalds to Billabong and probably even 9-11.

Dont worry that you are lonely in your view that things were better in the old days because over time many a wise man espouses that view, I think we are genetically predisposed to this way of thinking.