Kitesurfing is awesome, I love it, nobody owns the ocean, everyone who wants to has the right to kite. But just lately the numbers of beginners is off the scale, there's that many learners at the suck it and see stage its scary.
Perth's kite shops must be doing a roaring trade, i've never seen so many shiny new kites. Unfortunately I am seeing large numbers of people with board leashes, I was taught these were dangerous. We are not exactly zero harm zero incident in this sport at the best of times.
Whether or not you agree about board leashes, BETTER TRAINED KITERS can only be a good thing. Learning to body drag up wind is not that hard, practicing this will teach better kite control as well as correct technique , which can only be a good thing. If you can't body drag up wind perhaps your not ready to try with the board just yet. Not everyone can be zero to hero, people learn at different speeds, some people need to take smaller steps. The learning period is not that painful if your dedicated, good kite control before moving on to the distraction of the board will help many learners.
Awareness of kite etiquette such as looking before turning, the ability to raise or lower your kite when on opposing tacks is good practice ( granted its hard to raise or lower your kite when first learning )

something needs to change if we carry on as we are the potential for disaster is too high.

CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ONLY PLEASE ( ha ha ) concerned local

Blah blah blah

Wah wah wah

There's too many learners

Ones got ten posts, ones got seven

I bet you're both at the sucky get in the way learner stage and piss off everybody at your local

Don't worrie about the doctor, he's obviously not the sharpest tool in the box

How would you all feel about becoming a registered kiter?
Oh wait….

Sharks?
ACT? Beach?

Fair enough. Bring on the winter, strong winds, decent swells and hopfully empty beaches. Next season is going to be good too, properly the best ever. I can't wait.

theDoctor said...

TurtleHunter said...

tikityboo said...

Don't worrie about the doctor, he's obviously not the sharpest tool in the box

he is the most twisted though

theDoctor is well out of the box

Bring on winter

hamburglar said...


has worked at my local
for years now

Are you sure this is the reason people are scared away from your local where YOU kite

kaleidoscope said...

hamburglar said...


has worked at my local
for years now

Are you sure this is the reason people are scared away from your local where YOU kite

amongst other things yes it is,more than 6 kiters on 20 odd ks of beach
and i feel kiteophobic, like you know all cramped in

grillsy said...

Like it not the sport will continue to become more and more popular. If you would prefer it to remain a bit of an elitist sport accessible to few then you must also be prepared for the inevitable high prices of equipment that come without volume sales. This applies to all products including Kite Gear.....do you remember how much you paid for a plasma TV 10 years ago....
More participants mean more kites and boards sold which means more opportunities for more retailers to come into the market which mean cheaper prices...Get used to it guys

i'd pay twice as much to no have dickhead blowins kiting through the
flags or taking up the surf break mowing the lawn and waving to the
spectators . Just tell them what i said

If you're so much better than them just stay the f$%# away from them and you can't go wrong. I always suss out who I'm not going to stand near whenever I rock up at a beach. Learn a bit of defensive kiting the same way you do on the road and predict what people are going to do. Its not hard.

We were all crap once and we are all crap compared to someone more pro.

Technologic said...

Plenty of people would get into Kitesurfing thinking that they can enjoy the thrill of Snowboarding without having to pay stupid amounts of cash for gear, lift passes, accomodation, travel expenses etc.

Kitesurfing compared with skiing/snowboarding?

Some kids start skiing when 3-4 years old, hooked with a leash to one parent. And doing it from the top of the mountain on the black slope/piste. Hardly any sport can be compared with this:)

Expenses: some do exactly the same for kiting. At the end, takes months to do the same hours on the water compared with skiing in a 7-10 days (8.5hrs kiting for me this month is one single day of snowboarding:)

Even taking a kiting trip sometimes is kite-waiting...

thestig said...

If you're so much better than them just stay the f$%# away from them and you can't go wrong. I always suss out who I'm not going to stand near whenever I rock up at a beach. Learn a bit of defensive kiting the same way you do on the road and predict what people are going to do. Its not hard.

We were all crap once and we are all crap compared to someone more pro.

Not me man!
I was born smokin'
When I rock up, people get out of the water to watch and learn.
It's all about the respect, the dream.....

...Then I wake up...to mow the lawn

Man one day you'll thank me for keeping the beach clear of try hard want to be's
with there "look at me ,look at me" attitude . just check out WA situation every
second thead is wahh wahh this and cry cry that.

10 000ks of shore line with only limited areas suitable for kiting depending on wind directions ,kind of like comparing road stat's to shark attacks, ppffftt.

Competition kiting is usually a well organised controlled event "this is good"

I'm always doing 425ml arm curls any time after 12pm at my local gym

can you "please explain "what i'm doing wrong as i'm at a loss to what you mean?

the Burglar

I kite at Penguin Island and Safety Bay over here, regularly more than 20 kites out there. They don't cause me any problems, even the half dozen learners body taking lessons right in shallows. In fact most people don't have problem with it, otherwise they'd be kiting somewhere else. also makes the post session BBQ's more fun

I suppose I don't mind the crowding, means more people to learn from and if I do want some space I don't mind roadtripping a couple hours to check out a new spot.

The comment about the gym got my goat a bit, none of the sports I've taken up for recreation have required me to go to the gym just to participate (part of the attraction is that they are enough of a work out I don't need to go to a gym to keep fit). Kiting is no different for me, the thought that I'd need to spend at least 5 hours a week at a gym just to be able do something for fun just doesn't seem right to me. Maybe if I was competing regularly i'd be working out to gain that competitive edge, but that's just my thoughts on that.

And there are always going to be people showing off in every sport, kiting just attracts more because it is such a flambouyant activity to start with, it's the nature of the beast. But if you really want to keep the beaches clear of people with the "look at me!, Look at me!" attitude, could you start with Jetskis?

was attempted humor not sarcasm

not my fault Duncan has led a sheltered life

You guys are really good at arguing amongst yourselves