Mr float said...vishy said...
Hey guys,
Just thought I would raise the issue of Brighton/Scarborough(WA), I know last season there was talk about getting a scarborough beach user group organised. With the approach of Summer and the recent posts I figured it may be time to do something pro-active before **** starts to hit the fan,I hope WAKSA is still happy to help out.
In the past week I have noticed a number of incidents that reflect badly on kiters, both from the public and clubbies point of view. For instance a few days ago, a bloke thought it wise to repeatedly do jumps only 100m or so upwind of the surf club flags, of course the inevitable happened as he crashed his kite and was left being dragged only a few metres behind the surf break, straight through the flags. Today a competent kiter repeatedly kited through swimmers, bodyboards and surfers(some as young as 10), there was some very close calls. He assured me he was completely in control and believed he did not pose a risk, I said I understood that it may be the best break on the beach, but pointed out the risk especially with the light and variable wind, 100m upwind and downwind was clear of swimmers btw.
What I propose is that we do something pro-active, it can be as simple as getting together on a Sunday before the wind comes in for a BBQ and social discussion of how we can improve the situation at Brighton, we can move on from there. Hopefully WAKSA can get involved, it may also be worthwhile getting a representative from the Surf Club to voice their concerns.
There is no need to point the finger, if we could keep this post constructive and heading in a positive direction that would be great.
Regards
Matt
PS If I am out of line I'm sure someone will say so, but personally I believe something needs to be done before action is taken against us.
If it's possible to leave the thread in the general section to get more traffic that would be great, maybe we can move it to WAKSA forum once it starts to head in a positive direction.
Good luck .unfortunately there are always going to bad apples and legitimate accidents that piss the authorities off .There is a group here that insist on risky riding just upwind of flags here and yep once again a kite ended up going into the flagged area (to a beach inspector someone transiting though who has just finished a downwind ride on a wave 100 upwind and some clown repeatedly trying to do freestyle moves in the same spot are the same thing).Organising and trying to do the right thing will stave off the inevitable bans tho .
Personally i have given up (and am sick of being personally abused and threatened by kiters who should know and do better)and am now riding at more remote areas more often where there are no swimmers ,flags or other water users and have found other sources of income as my kite business will inevitably be effected by the bans that WILL come . there is a bit more driving and walking involved to get there but i figure its better to get used to it now .the good thing is that I have found better wind and waves and don't have to fight it out with a bunch of loser poseurs who don't know these rules either .
this is more kiter to kiter related and as already stated, its more about common sense, just because you have priority by the handbook doesn't mean your going to get it that way...
this is basically iko book stuff....
The rider that is leaving the beach has right of way over the rider that is traveling towards the direction of the beach. This is because the rider on the beach is seen more at risk than the inbound rider.
When two kiter's converge the rider who's right hand is forward (starboard) of the direction of travel has right of way over the kiter that who is coming from the other direction (port tack).
When passing each other the kiter upwind must place his kite high and the down wind rider must place his kite low (duh)
The kiter that is riding the wave has right of way over the kiter that is heading out the back. This takes precedence with kiting over starboard and port tack right of way rules.
so in a sw seabreeze in perth at ocean reef if your heading in you have right of way to the person thats heading out unless of course your on the beach about to start, then you have right of way
in a nw direction its the other way around, kiter heading out has right of way (unless other rider is on a wave).
in esperance in a se seabreeze the person heading in has right of way over the person heading out..
) It would be interesting to talk to them, and work out something safer.
One bloke I saw copped it from at least 2 out of the 3 kiters I saw come through at the same time as me. [}:)][}:)]
