I think there was a very bad accident there last year, ugly.

what the problem wa66? I kite both sides and around the penguin island area. Also getting pole riders around penguin island etc. NO BIG DEAL THERE IS PLENTY OF ROOM FOR EVERYONE

with words like "coming together..." sounds like your trying stir up trouble. be cool dude!

Fellow wind and water lovers, I am merely asking the question as I am concerned there may be a problem in the coming festive month. There will definitely be an increase in number of users on the water, it will get highly congested in the pond area. I don't want to see anyone get hurt.
I was merely enquiring what happened to the gentlemans agreement, it seemed to make sense to me. Unfortunately not all water users are aware of who has right of way. Perhaps a campaign to educate everyone would help, leaflets under car windscreen wipers/bicycle seats (for the young uns). Then hopefully we can all enjoy what we love doing - safely.

Lol stamp

Kiters knowing their port from their starboard? That'll be the day...

Case in point: www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24799

66,
If there was any "unspoken rule" it was that Windsurfers stayed downwind of the weedbank proper and kiters stayed on the weedbank. You guys couldn't even ride there for most of Sunday as it was too shallow. As far as the pond goes it was all sand for the best part of Sunday.
I think most, if not all, of the kiters there on Sunday did a great job of staying out of the way of your races and if someone does not realise there is a race on just tell them.
It is not realistic to expect kiters to stay off the weedbank, so why not just stay downwind where you can ride without hitting the bottom/weeds or upwind in the open bay.
If someone had posted in the kiter's forum that there was a race on on Sunday I would have kited elsewhere. Think about doing so next time.

If you insist on kiters and Windsurfers having differnt sides I am sure we'd be happy to take the east bay and you can have the western one...... didn't think so

wow guys we got a spot here were the "local wind surfer rule" is actually different to the boat rules. Talk about difficuilt. I asked around and got a bit of an education from one of the 'original kiters' from these parts

In the end the kiters have got to manage themselves and we have to educate new guys to the sport. You simply must make room for the polies and sit back and wait for your turn at the run. I am a kiter but the sad fact is you probably have newbies jumping when they should and not leaving enough room with there lines for the poles.

We have arrived and it because dangerous for them to ride when they have probably been riding the spot safely for 20 or 30 years. Get it sorted because i will give ya the nod, if they complain or a bad accident gets publicity. i do not think it will be the windsurfers that get banned.

good luck

sounds sweet. You guys must have a pretty good understanding with the windsurfers. I heard that it all came to a head on the goldy about three years ago. But there are all new guys coming through and some older riders returning, so it has become an issue for us again. I am pretty worried that a windsurfer may try to get us banned.

It would be very nasty. I have been assurred that the powers that be will more than likely side with the polies. We self regulate pretty well and as long as we are seen to be taking turns it should work out all right. I hope.

hey dudes stop winging we ktie there almost every day yes if you want to come and find me after this im this kid in the shorts with short hair im down there everyday and as for windsurfers showing respect pffft i had one absolute d%*&head the other day almost run me over he was telling me to f off and in the end hit me in the back of the head with the clue of his sail. i talk to alot of the windsurfers down there forinstance eddie stewie they all dont care we mess around together as for in the week when me and some crew had the kicker out and the windsurfers winged it was on ankle deep water yes i would happily move it if you had 2 inch fins but YOU DONT that are is so shallo and you ussualy launch from up the beach so why i ask do you have to ait there and talk just show us some respect we are all good guys who would be up for a laugh and talk but you dont allow us to talk you assume since we kite we r fools

bradley

quote:

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Originally posted by Spacemonkey!


To put it plain, priority and give way to the person going for tricks within sensible limits. Give way to poleys if its a close call. Indicate y lowering or putting your kite high early so the other kiters can see you intentions early.

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i dont agree, priority should not be given just because someone is doing a trick. Sure if a certain spot is super flat a thats where pulling trickes is working the best then fine you try and allow those doing trickes their to have some space, no stress, but lets not start this as a rule of thumb. I do agree its usually fairly easy to play nice with other water users, and the good old kite high kite low seems to work a treat. I think unless you are a prick the only time you are going to crash with someone else is when the "**** happens" rule comes in. Or thirdly when you are not aware of the kite high rule, which does happen alot, but usually an "OI" and then a pleasent explination later about this respectful way of kiting sorts things out.

In the end can we not just try our best to respect each other out on the water? With all the bull**** on the roads at the moment (melb is road rage central) I would hope that doing this chilled out sport would inspire you to have fun.

quote:

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Originally posted by ran
i dont agree, priority should not be given just because someone is doing a trick. Sure if a certain spot is super flat a thats where pulling trickes is working the best then fine you try and allow those doing trickes their to have some space, no stress, but lets not start this as a rule of thumb.

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I don't mean go out of your way to make sure your dodging tricksters but simple things like not tacking downwind in front of them and if they are coming in to do a trick most often they will go downwind regardless of the tack so all you need to do is point upwind. Its normally pretty obvious when someone is gonna go for something that requires space because they normally unhook or load up for a big jump. People doing tricks still need to give way to other people doing tricks and other water users too all I'm saying is that I find it works best when people take this into account as well as all the normal rules. I would say cutting someone off on their run in when their lining up a trick is the same as dropping in in surfing. Obviously you can only do so much to get out the way and most people lining up a trick will tack and take this into account so that if no one tacks in front of them they will have a clear run in.

IMO the reason why many windsurfers ( not all ) are anti kite. Is that they realise that their sport is in its final death throws and see kiting as "taking over". The problem for them then snowballs less people windsurfing = less public interest = less money for the companies = less product development = anyway you get the picture. When compared to kiting it is almost the opposite as kiting is on the rise.
IMO this makes many windsurfers detest the kiting community. an example :
The long time windsurfer goes into his regular local windsurfing shop only to find he cant get the replacement part he is after because the shop has scaled down its windsurfing range and has recently dedicated half the store to kite displays and equipment. The result : the windsurfer has to spend several days out of the water ( probably watching and cursing the kiters at his local ) while he waits for the parts he has had to order. Once he is able to get back out on the water every kite he sees is responsible for his time out of the water.
The kiters on the other hand are usually having so much fun that they cant see what the guys problem is.
As someone else mentiond it is comparable to surfing, for years the surfers detested the lid riders and goat boats ( we still secretly kinda do ) however as time has passed and people on all craft are aware of the rules there are fewer and fewer incidents. Sure there are still some agro d*&Kheads and there always will be. But generally everyone gets along reasonably well.
So kiters : try to be a little sympathetic to our poorer cousins the windsurfers and respect their sport and skill
and Windsurfers : try to mellow out and enjoy your sport without being agro towards kiters and respect thier sport and skill.
MUTUAL RESPECT are the words for today kids.

If you refer back to my initial posting my point of concern basically is the pond is a small area, it WILL become very congested this holiday season and i don't want to see anyone get hurt.
It's not about locals only/territorialism, it's about common sense.
Which is the whole reason in the beginning that kites stayed West and windsurfers East.
Kiters take up more water/air space so must factor this in when they enjoy their pastime. Remember in the eyes of the law ignorance of the applicable marine laws is no excuse after you injure someone.
I don't hate kiters, I respect them for what they do. We are all talented in different ways. Please consider others, taking into account the equipment you are using and the number of water users in a given area.
It's only the minority that give all a bad name, kiters and windsurfers included.

As a kiter who's home is safetybay, I don't want my sport banned. There's a lot of room, we don't need to be near the windsurfers, I think the key is the gentleman's agreement, ie. the majority agree that it's best for all of us, for the long term to voluntarily segregate. Not exclusion, voluntary segregation.

And the people that have to insist on kiting wherever they want, as a way of demonstrating that nobody owns the water are just letting their ego's get in the way, and their behaviour can potentially get us banned. I've got nothing against windsurfers, as I used to be one, but now that I mainly kite, I have to admit I hate kiting near windsurfers, they just rush up out of no-where, and next thing you know youre about to land on one, I hate that. I hate the aggro that comes out of that stuff. Stay clear of the polies, givem their space and don't get us banned for fcks sake

NB> I'm not sure whether my sources are correct, but I have been told that there is a civil lawsuit being filed against the kiter who injured the poley here at SB, so if and when that goes ahead, we may see insurance premiums rise, and possibly some sort of court ruling??
Are there any lawyers here, what the hell can come out of a court case like that? All this stuff really worries me, and we still have our gung-ho brothers saying they're gonna go for it wherever they like.

quote:

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Originally posted by poor relative

It seems that there are a lot of unwritten rules, or gentlemans agreements that a few are familiar with.

Maybe a local kiter and windsurfer should get together write something down post it up on the forum for all to see.

I think given the serious accident there last year its a bit overdue?

No need for animosity Just a bit of friendly co-operation

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I agree, i only heard about it word of mouth, but had decided before the accident that for myself, I was happiest away from poleys. If a newcomer kites in SB they may have no idea, so there needs a way for that info to be more public knowledge, maybe signs, though I know some people hate signs, but it's the best of the bad set of options.

Hi Guys,

I've been kiting in SB from almost the beginning. When the cray boats still unloaded at the jetty! Now there is no jetty.

It's actually funny that I was just thinking on Sunday that the bay on the west side changed a lot. A few years back it was not nearly as choppy as it is now.

Most of the kiters I see stay well clear of any windsurfers. And kites on the bank where it is to shallow for the windsurfers anyway.

As I undestand it safety is every one's responsibility. Give each other space, enjoy your sport, keep it fun and keep safetybay SAFE!!!