The irony here is I don't think this should be an issue for any of the people here, but maybe it can serve as a warning for some of you out there who may find yourself on the receiving end of this so don't expect people to react the way they are supposed to, because clearly they won't. Its partially a rant.

On Saturday at St Kilda, having fun on the water with the 90 other kiters that headed out, I'm casually cruising along with an oncoming kiter. As is customary within western kiting cultures and the standard right of way, I kept my kite low and beared off slightly downwind to allow another kiter to go past above me. He on the other hand had other ideas, and decided to go above me while keeping his kite almost touching the water. As much as I like the idea of chasing the world speed record and potential becoming a record holder, I don't think they do a record over 50 meters and having to do 40 knots downwind in huge swell and bad chop to get downwind of a kite which is now on a suicide path with my head is not what I consider good fun or perfect conditions to chase speed records. My knees can attest to the fact that I was distinctly close to being on the receiving end of a massive water enema that would have had me chewing on last nights dinner if I had fallen. In this particular case he had no excuse of congestion (no other kiters around) and this was not the first or last case of this behaviour for this particular kiter who seemed oblivious to basic kiting rules (although he was quite a capable kiter), or he is possibly blind (scary), or maybe he thought he was riding 10m lines (see blind). I also noticed a couple of other kiters following similar tactics.

On Sunday another kiter I know was on the receiving end of similar behaviour although in his case of attempted murder, the guilty party wasn't watching and apologised afterwards, but not before he had nosedived his board into the water to prevent himself being decapitated by a set of lines headed in his direction.

I can understand most people don't always look before changing direction but is it that hard to watch in the direction you are going, particularly when the water is busy? In 20 knots the water is too choppy to claim you paused to stare at your Zoolander Blue Steel reflection so I don't see what the excuse is for these things?

"couldnt chat to him, i didn't have my key board with me"

i thought some one was playing chicken with me, not helped by the fact they could pass for brooksy from afar. well i shat myself thinking their kite was going to get me pretty good so retaliated with some well placed spray that would have stung a bit.
n the beach i found out the dude was a 2 weeks in learner who made a mistake, could have ended bloody badly...

trevor1 said...

and what did he say when you approached him on the beach ...?

I don't know. I had to leave fairly soon after I got off the water and didn't feel like trying to find someone inbetween all the kites on the beach.

Hey Fueled/Rob

Don't worry, this wasn't you. You were still a way off, I could almost have touched this guy's kite with my hand.

kitecrazzzy said...

lol, i jinxed myself and crashed into a guy who i thought could hold an edge like 1 hour after posting

It seems Murphy is not without a sense of humor

im glad someone posted this, there was alot of people at pelican point today who had absolutely no idea of the right of way rules!!!

extreme said...

Why wouldn't you bring it up with the person? I'm sure you would notice him again if you saw him. Why make a thread, it seems people bitch without actually trying to solve the problem. If you felt that strongly about it speak to the person involved.

What makes you so sure of that. With 90 kites on the water you expecting me to know each one or what they looked like?

Well Saffer what do you hope to achieve by posting this? Are you hoping they will read it and suddenly come to their senses? I agree with what you're saying but I wouldn't post a bitch about it, what good would it do. In regards to your reply, how would they know who you are? Maybe by reading this? I doubt it!

extreme said...

what do you hope to achieve by posting this?

Good question! I'd suggest that if only one person reads this and adjusts their kite and avoids another rider, the topic has been more than worthwhile.

extreme said...

Well Saffer what do you hope to achieve by posting this? Are you hoping they will read it and suddenly come to their senses? I agree with what you're saying but I wouldn't post a bitch about it, what good would it do. In regards to your reply, how would they know who you are? Maybe by reading this? I doubt it!

Two things.

1) to warn people so they know what to expect or not to expect
2) in the hope that one or two of the guilty parties might realise what they are doing wrong

Foorked, you may be a tosser, but i've kited around you alot, and never had an issue. So highly doubt that he was talking about you

hdp1
So you write a thread because someone hasn't got 'kiting skills'? Sorry Mr Lenten . I think I recall saying I actually agreed with Saffer in regard to the high/low rule.

nah i know hes not talking about me, but dont go paying out people for kite colour? provide some more info. old/young? what he look like? name?
people have the same kites!

thanks, yeah i just dont want to be known as tosser

When starting out i attempted to learn all of the rules so i could keep out of other people's way; but in the end when your learning and concentrating on five things at once, the first thing to be disregarded is usually your surrounds. As dangerous as this may be, it means that more experienced kiters need to be proactive about avoiding potential situations. Whilst this works in theory, in practice on the water it's chaos with you constantly having to evaluate other riders abilities and attempting to guess their actions.

My advice to all the newbie's out there still on the steep edge of the learning curve would be to keep an eye out for whats happening around you. If you see another kiter coming towards you and you don't feel you have the control or understanding of the right of way rules then just depower and park your kite and sink in the the water. Wait for the other rider to pass you, check your surrounds again, then continue on your way.
I know in my last few months of kiting i've had a couple of close calls which were my fault and i'm sure to shout out 'sorry' and atleast give an apologetic wave if i do something stupid. The important thing for a newbie is to learn from this mistake and figure out how to avoid it in the future.

For all you experienced riders out there, try to remember back to when you were completely green and were doing your best to learn to kite. Everyone starts there and it's only with a bit of tolerance and alot of practice that these newbie's will ever be able to ride safely with the rest of you.

koma said...



My advice to all the newbie's out there still on the steep edge of the learning curve would be to keep an eye out for whats happening around you. If you see another kiter coming towards you and you don't feel you have the control or understanding of the right of way rules then just depower and park your kite and sink in the the water. Wait for the other rider to pass you, check your surrounds again, then continue on your way.

That is exactly what I would do, and I think DP may be onto to something there in regards to making it known that you are a newbie.