Hey Get Funky,

The two who ended up tangled were the Euro chicky you mentioned and the guy who crashed his kite onto the Lift Pro as mentioned at the start of this topic somewhere a week or so ago.

He took a lesson with me after that incident and was, as I thought, a much more responsible and safe kiter because of it. I happened to be the dude in the boat returning with a student at the end of a lesson. I went to the rescue when I saw the tangled mess of peeps and kites.

After the incident, once things had returned to normal, I had a quiet talk with the student about keeping an eye on his surroundings and being aware of other riders. Maybe he waskeeping an eye out and he just got collected. He said "she just came out of nowhere". I didn't see the incident and I dont know if there was any gear damage, I dont think so, but both riders were a little shaken up, especially the lass who thought she was going to get sliced and diced by lines.

Alls well ends well. Nobody hurt and hopefully both riders that little bit more aware of others around them. The lass seems to be quite friendly and approachable, maybe you can just rock up and have a "chat" with her if indeed you think it is warranted.

Good winds and PEACE

Sounds like the experiance will help all.
Just so you know she definately has good kite skills, it's the selfish and dangerous attitude that's the prob.
Upwind or downwind, going in or out she sticks to her line regardless of the hazard to ANYONE else! The attitude is definately bad luck for you and getouttamyway. Many times I have had her riding 5m away from me (downwind of all things) while i am desperately trying to control my kite at 12 o'clock so we don't end up in the s**t!
I have not seen anyone even close to as dangerous as this lady and feel sorry for thr fellow noob that had no chance to avoid her I'm sure. Glad no-one was hurt though.

I have had absolutely no probs with anyone else at PP, and so you know this incident happened well downwind of the "superstar" area.
I am surprised no-one else has replied as a quick chat on Sunday to two other peol[ple confirmed that they too thought this lady was very selfish and dangerous (I won't print there exact words).
All I can say is that when coming head on with another kite due to my limited upwind ability, if I think there is any chance I am not going to make it comfortably upwind of them I always make it clear that I am giving them right of way and sacrifice ground. I hate the walk back up the beach but it is safer for everyone.
This lady does not care at all about anyone elses safety and just takes a tack that suits her regardless of right of way, courtesy, her own safety etc etc. Oh she has a habit of "squeezing" them out of spaceon land as well, as I have experiance forcing me to fly my kite over the turbulent dunes. Really it's not a one-off, it is every time!
The only reason I have not had a word is because frankly I have been that p****ed off with her behaviour that I doubt I could remain civil.

Hey Ray,

It can be frustrating at times when learners start upwind of the main area, but it's not too much to ask for experienced kiters to either just keep a bit further off-shore when the learner comes downwind or to keep a bit further upwind out of their way. As the experienced kiter it's much easier for us to avoid the newbies than it is for them to avoid us.

Plus they tend to pass through the "main strip" pretty quickly so it's not too much of a problem.

To be perfectly honest I don't really see that much difference between a newbie body dragging in the main area to a more experienced kiter body dragging in the main area trying to retrieve their board after crashing? We should be giving both the same amount of space.

There has been a big increase in learners down at PP, but I don't think this is just attributed to people being taught there. The sport is getting more popular and more people want to learn to kite. Personally I'd much rather see people having lessons at PP, than just rocking up without having had any lessons.

I know they had similar type problems down at Melville, so now have a few guidelines about launching in one spot, and all other kiters keep that area free. I don't think we need to have anything like that at PP, because there is so much more space and we should be able to cater for everyone with just a bit of give and take.

It's a shame people are starting to feel a bit of animosity towards each other; PP does have a great regular crew that kite there, and since I've been kiting there (just over 2 1/2 years) I've always felt welcomed and able to talk to anyone or ask for advice etc.

Let's try not to lose that vibe.

Well Darren, I didnt start this thread, but you have to admit that there have been two incidents with students of yours allready, and you are right in the middle of the launching area. I was told that you were setting up in the middle of 20 kiters on sunday, is that correct?

Ray

Hey Ray,

I didn't start THIS thread either, what does that have to do with anything? Anyway, The two students you refer to are the same person, and he wasn't a student of mine prior to the first incident.

The second incident would seem likely that he wasn't at fault at all if you read Get Funkys post, and happened, as he put it, "downwind of the superstar area" anyways.

If you were "told" about Sunday, then you obviously weren't even there which means you are acting on heresay and second hand information.

As usual we were at the beach early before most kiters arrived (maybe three on the water and one or two rigging upwind on the beach) and set up in front of the gates down by the water, this was due to me wanting to leave my gear in plain view to stop people from stealing my stuff whilst we would be out in the boat.

Most riders were more up on the point because the wind was still building and cross shore So we were downwind to a safe margin. If it pleases the jury I will go still further downwind. We weren't setting up in the middle of 20 kiters. There werent even 20 kiters there.

We setup the boat and kite and did a huge downwinder to Mullaloo with my student learning water starts, so we weren't even at the point for most of the lesson. Fail to see how we were an inconvenience there.

One guy who couldn't stay upwind came in and crashed dangerously close to my boat which was anchored 15 feet from the shore, before we started the lesson. He asked me to pull the boat up on the beach so it wouldn't be an obstacle, which I did, despite the fact we were about to go out in it.

At the end of the lesson, we assisted the two downed kiters with the boat because they were calling for help and in obvious distress. All this as we were returning to the beach from our downwinder.

Now what's the problem Ray? I was downwind of everyone, helped launch and catch almost a dozen kites on the day, righted a pair of lines that were back to front before launch, saved two tangled kiters from possible injury and retrieved a lost board back to the beach.

This is the sort of stuff a concerned professional instructor does at the beach to help make it safer and more convenient for everyone, it's part of the job and I enjoy doing it!

Like I said, spread the good vibes and peace out. Speak to me at the beach in a civilised tone (when I'm not teaching) and we can have a chat over a beer or something . There really is hardly an issue at all here.
Best winds,

Darren Marshall
Australian Kiteboarding School

You lot need to chill!

svenster - the increase in numbers couldn't be anything other than the lessons being conducted could they..? gee... apart from the massive increase in people everywhere else in perth, let alone australia who are kiting...

rayq - dude... you should probably have a chat to darren... maybe he would even give you a hug man...

locals will always have issues when more people come... everyone who has kited for more than a two year period is having the same issues wherever they kite... don't create more problems and aggression, start coming up with solutions... it's going to work out better for everyone.

don't forget, everyone was a beginner at some point... must be pretty tough for beginners these days who are striving to become as good as guys like rayq and svenster. so if you see someone that is being a pain in the arse, no matter how pissed off you are, have a chat to them and see what you can work out.

Deano

Must say that the only guys that really get in the way are the newbies. Downwind kiter is supposed to keep their kite DOWN! I DONT have an issue just merely stating a point. We all had to go through the learning curve.

COncerning the girl in question-In stead of whingeing behind her back on the forum, why dont you speak to her. I think its a bit unfair to harp on about her on the forum. I agree with Stoff-Get your mums to sort it out for you. Maybe you're all just peed off because shes kicking your sorry arses.

Also keep in mind that overseas kiters dont often have the wide spaces that we do and have to learn and kite in confined spaces> Perhaps this is the norm for her.

This thread leaves the "Bash a Polesurfer" thread for dead!

Keep it up lads - you are doing your sport a great service!

Must get down to Pinnaroo to watch Tuva in action - so this is what the "Bash a Polesurfer" thread meant by an action packed sport.

i can't believe some of the attitudes emerging on this thread.
Couple of points about who should go upwind downnwind etc.

1. Beginners are beginners and do not know any better, or probably don't have the abilty to get out of your way.
2. Advanced kiters are supposedly advanced, so do know better, and should be able to get out of the way.
So from this we should conclude that beginners should be given lots of space.

For this reason ,there is no reason bitching about them getting in your way. instead of complaining, maybe go and help them so they graduate from beginner staus more quickly.

In regards to Kite schools.
Most of the schools in Perth (and by school i mean offical schools with insurances, qualified instructors, council licences and CALM licences and ABN)are doing a great job to introduce lots of newbies into the sport safely. So instead of complaining about Darren setting up in the middle of 20 kites(when it was the other way around) you should applaud him for those cheap rescues(slab of beers sounds an awesome deal) and all the free advice he probably gives out every day.

Just think of the chaos if there were no schools!!!!!!!!!!!!! It would be just like 6 years ago, where no one had a clue what to do, and launched anywhere and every where, with absolutly no control. No wonder kiters had a bad reputation with other water users then.

how did we ever survive without those kiteschools that are there to benefit kiteing out of the goodness of their hearts?

(probably got a mate to teach us for way less than a dollar a minute - I don't remember it being that hard). And i don't remember kiters having any worse a reputation before kiteschools came along then they do now.

I reckon the people who kite at PP for years and do it for fun should be able to sail together there. When i was a newbie (just after the war) I stayed away from the crowded areas until I could control my kite properly. Come on, theres enough deserted areas of beaches around here for those people who are learning and demand a bubble protection zone of 200m around them to go to. Why should they take all the space in the busy areas?

Just got back to Hong Kong from 1 week kiting in Perth, and I am amazed after reading this thread....there is SOOOOO much room in WA for kiting, just go up or down wind, cant uderstand why everyone has to kite right on top of each other. The whole buzz of watersports, windsurfing and Kiting is to get away from rushed, busy, overcrowed life and be at peace on water, not ducking lines, avoiding people, swearing and carrying on. Also places like Hong Kong where space is a premium and there are millions of people (almost 8m) people just get along and do their thing. For "relaxed laid back aussies" we should surely be able to do the same while doing our favourite sports...?

Just got back to Hong Kong from 1 week kiting in Perth, and I am amazed after reading this thread....there is SOOOOO much room in WA for kiting, just go up or down wind, cant uderstand why everyone has to kite right on top of each other. The whole buzz of watersports, windsurfing and Kiting is to get away from rushed, busy, overcrowed life and be at peace on water, not ducking lines, avoiding people, swearing and carrying on. Also places like Hong Kong where space is a premium and there are millions of people (almost 8m) people just get along and do their thing. For "relaxed laid back aussies" we should surely be able to do the same while doing our favourite sports...?

Or you could always:

If theres problems at PP why not get together as a mob, meet in a quiet local pub, have a few beers, discuss the problems, then punch the Pis% outta the main troublemakers Won't solve anything but could be good for a larf