The influx of travellers, the progression of newbees & intermediates, and the favourable winds of late has resulted in a very crowded and sometimes dangerous playground at Brighton so perhaps it’s time to review some basic kiting courtesy.

There are plenty of forums and sites which advise the ‘rules’ and ‘etiquette’ of kiteboarding so I won’t repeat them. But perhaps considering some of the following will prevent public complaints and council scrutiny.

This beach has already had a fair share of kite entanglement, and confrontation – one kiter punched out by a very irate public. Whatever the reason or cause we have to share or otherwise risk losing this spot so please consider….

• keep a safe distance from swimmers – I think the law is 60 metres. The groyne length is about 30 metres at Brighton so if there are swimmers in the corner don’t even go in beyond the end of the groyne – in any dispute the council will favour the swimmers position.
• kite in an anti-clockwise circuit – and with enough arc to allow incoming riders some room to manoeuvre or trick
• don’t downwind shadow a rider – keep at least 2 line lengths downwind so that if the rider fails in a manoeuvre they won’t hit you – also turning in front of an inward rider and then shadowing so that they can’t do a manoeuvre is inconsiderate
• don’t ride up someone’s a#se
• look around before you jump, turn etc.
• don’t jump within 2 line lengths of the beach
• don’t stand on the beach (chatting) with your kite over the water or above your head
• if you’re a newbee or honing your skills why not ride out of the high traffic zone a little further downwind. The wind is the same, you can body drag for your board in safety and won’t frustrate the more advanced riders – you’ll find that you’ll progress quickly when not being worried about crashing into someone
• and finally for those who insist on doing their trick in 2ml of water between swimmers and other kiters please wear your LOOKATMEE shirt available at the fence in English and many touro languages
I’m not a kite cop or saint just someone interested in keeping our sport OPEN

corduroy said...

......
............and finally for those who insist on doing their trick in 2ml of water between swimmers and other kiters please wear your LOOKATMEE shirt available at the fence in English and many touro languages

His name is fiketto, he has to kite near the shore because he can't swim, he is very small

I'm only beginning in the sport but I've kited a Brighton a couple times, just body dragging and I noticed all the kiters stick to one little section in between a couple groynes... Why is this?

Is it alright to kite upwind of them? That's where I was, in the section one up from the other kiters.

Great crew at Brighton - not a tropical paradise but really special with Sydney skyline in afternoon light, heavy aircraft cruising in on final approach over the bay, plenty of room to rig up on the beach and gorgeious afternoon north easter. 20 mins from the office is brilliant - very convienient.

we need to take care to keep it chilled, safe and friendly because if they ban us its just to far to drive around to Kurnell and Dolls will become mega hectic.

+2

I dropped into Brighton yesterday afternoon (Friday 5pm 3/12/09) for a kite just to see what all the fuss was about. A lot of new faces and thankfully not too crowded with about 10 on the water and 10 on the beach.

I have put in point form what I thought was inappropriate behavior.

1. As I was walking down one guy was being dragged along the beach as his friend inexpertly tried to land his kite.
2. I noticed that many people came right up to the shore to change direction very close to others who were waiting to head out. The guys heading out had to wait for extended periods with their kites at 12 o'clock while others floundered around them.
3. I went way down wind to the middle of the beach to set up. As I was laying out my lines (straight up wind, as you do) this guy with a foil decided to lay his lines at right angles to the wind, cutting off my layout. I moved my lines further down wind because I wanted to see what he was doing. After I'd pumped up, connected my kite and launched, thankfully by someone I knew, this guy was still playing with his lines 10 minutes after I'd been on the water making it impossible for anyone else to lay their lines anywhere near him.
4. I forgot to mention, that while I was laying my lines a guy got dragged over my bar on his face and I had to reset the lines!
5. Once on the water I noticed that not many people knew the rules about passing (port to port) and dropping the downwind kite.
6. I saw many screaming downwind jumping attempts which resulted in crash and burn.
7. One guy, very inexperienced walked the beach many times and each time parked his kite on the water as he walked up wind. Once he got to the corner of the groyne he left it on the water about 30m out and stood at the waters edge for up to 10 minutes, admiring the kite I imagine. I couldn't help myself, I had to speak to him about is actions. He was completely unaware that his actions could cause offence or cause an accident. He apologised and thanked me for pointing it out to him. Hopefully he won't do it again.
8. Many people still launch from the upwind corner making it impossible to do smooth transitions.
9. I had many instances of tailgating making it hard to do a safe transition. I often signalled that I was coming about and then had to down looped the kite into a toeside run to avoid collision.
10. I was cut off downwind many times by people who went right up to the shore and slowly brought the kite over their heads to initiate a transition while I was trying to do a carving transition. These people had snaked a turn below and in front of me while I was heading back in.

All this in 1 hour on an uncrowded Friday afternoon. I can't imaging what a busy sunday would be like with sunbathers on the beach as well!!

I have to ask the question. Sure it's fine to be a newbee, everyone has been there, but do their instructors teach beach and water etiquette? I strongly doubt it. It's going to end in punch ups and misery for all if this continues. Bans will follow if the public continue to be inconvenienced at this site.

I don't want to appear as though I was looking for trouble but this spot can be managed a lot better with some simple education.

One simple thing is - please don't launch in the upwind corner. Go about 2-3 line lengths down wind to launch. This frees up the smooth water behind the groyne for transitions and keeps people moving without getting in each others way. Simple.

The guy who started this thread "corduroy" is dead right.
For those who kite there regularly - if someone does something inappropriate don't just yell at them. They may not realise that they are making fundamental errors of judgement. If you explain the situation to people calmly then this usually initiates a a positive response.

Expect to see and information campaign from NSWKBA. We want to keep this a happy and safe kiting spot.

We've discussed the situation with NSWKBA and are preparing an information leaflet for Brighton kiters to help them self regulate and keep it safe. Two years ago we had similar problems at Dolls and education proved effective. We had people happy to stack kites with rolled up lines, launch 2 line lengths south of the corner in a NE wind and not to hang about close to the waters edge with kites at 12 o'clock.

In peak summer we set up a landing/launching zone with coloured witches hats at 11am on Sunday mornings. This worked very well in keeping the sun bathers out of the zone and provided a clear area for launching and landing. Kites were stacked around the zone.

We're also *polite and while we may think something about something we probably won't tell you.

When a n00b is body dragging one end to another then walking up with the kite over the water, then dragging themselves through the water again and again... stopping...tea bagging... crashing, they take the whole beach out.

So maybe we could all agree on telling n00bs to kite 1 groyne down wind, it's better for them?
And it specially goes for lessons.
n00b:someone who can't stay up wind.

On the community front: 60m away from swimmers sounds good. If your coming in, come in down wind of them or 60m... hitting somebody with your board @ 30kph is going to really fubar your life, and there's.

rule:
1.- Look around before you change direction
2.- If you're downwind and close to somebody passing you KEEP YOUR KITE LOW.
If you're upwind keep it HIGH.

Is there a "Code of Conduct" for Kiting?

Maybe we (NSWKBA ? ) should create a Voluntary Code of Conduct, like other assocications have.

And as part of NSWKBA membership, you would click a box, to agree to abide by this code of conduct ...

I think we should ALL try and make this sport better, and more enjoyable for ALL ...

This may have been discussed in other posts ... apologies if that is the case ...


Z

Would be good if instructors taught this stuff ...

Would be better if their students (and all of us) remembered and
practiced this stuff too ...

Enjoy!
Z

Roll up your lines when you're not riding.

It's common sense.. If you're taking a break or having a chat on the beach, there is no reason why your lines should be out.

Basic beach etiquette.

Courtesy... like the guy, obviously an instructor, who had his boat anchored there on Monday arvo. I'm sure it was convenient for him.

Out of all the spots on B Bay this would be one of the most crowded. The mind boggles.