quote:
[i]Originally posted by Spacemonkey!
Windsurfers are a little too paranoid about our kites, sure they are very dangerous but if both the kiters and pbers got to know each other they would learn to trust the kiters riding upwind of them and not be in constant paranoia that the kite is going to crash into them.
Some poleys dread kiters.
Or should I say;
Poleys can sometimes be over-apprehensive about kitelines.
You can smell the fear.
You can see the horror in their eyes.
You can observe the panic in their sailing when compromised by strings.
Now,
You can't always blame them for being jumpy.
A 30m bandsaw in the shakey hands of a kook can be a nasty piece-of-work.
Messy.
Because of this stringphobia,
some poleys will always try to claim the upwind position regardless of a negative outcome.
(I'm talking about opposing tacks).
It's crazy,
Even when their claim is over-ambitious,,,
Even when you assess the poleys speed and position,,,
and then estimate your own movement....
Hell, you can be the upwind guy and the poley is still impotently forcing a bluff.
Poor bastards.
I personally battle for the upwind position everytime.
It's safer to be upwind.
A panicky poley on a screamer downwind blitz could split a kiter in two.
So I point like a beagle and cut hard upwind.
Out of harms way.
Stupid rules about starboard and port tacks are alien concepts in my wave world.
Guidelines from the boating fraternity have no place in the surf.
My advise to poleys is this;
Don't fear the string so much,
Worry more about the sharp rail of the twin-tip board.
Meat cleavers with footstraps.
But kitelines are kool,
just jump off your poleboard if challenged and dive deep.
You might catch a lobster for dinner.
hahahahahah
