does gps fever affect your judgment?

from what I've seen is a few windsurfers with no respect for others doing speed runs and cutting every one off...

in the space of about 15 minuets a certain windsurfer nearly had a high speed collision with a local kiter who was following the rules and cut off 2 or 3 other kiter's, me included.

when its really windy and there are not that many kiter's go for it but when its windy and packed which is going to be 99% of the time there is no way it can work. Say there where a few of you taking turns in doing speed runs, the 30 kiter's out on the water will have no where to try there tricks.

in 84 it was yours now its ours.

to the guy that nearly took out the kiter he was lucky that the guy he nearly cleaned up was in such a good mood because if it happens again i would say he would have more than abuse to throw at the windsurfer.

i highly doubt the fact that its an older sailor is going to stop any abuse being hurled at someone when they are not doing the right thing

you will watch for kiter's and try to stay out of the way also? you are going to be screaming down the beach in a straight line, that is not staying out of the way.

just in case you didn't know the only reason the bulk of the kiter's go there is the 10m from the shore line out...

wait until its really really windy and there are not many kites out but if its busy its way to dangerous and isn't going to work.

don't mean to be to hard on you dude but i really don't see how its going to work

man toby im not from woodman point or from perth even but i do kitesurf and i can understand your agroness ey. yeh they get in the road but all wipin..... is trying to do is sort out sum agreement. i kite at point moore in geraldton and i have to put up with the same thing and yeh its get **** anoying but dude no one owns ne point, u cant turn around and say **** like u used to have the point now its our turn like cmon man u sound like a kid argueing over who gets to play in the sand box at lunch time. yeh i dont tink it is right that the polies can just come through and expect right of way because they are doin 30kts plus wind ****ing as hard as they can and yeh have an arguement to stop that but to try and get sumone off a kiting and windsurfing spot all together your just mental. organise times or sumtin i dno but dont think your god man coz it aint gwd for your image or the sports. im pritty sure the past dude that thought he was god up here got punched from what i heared. all i can say is grow up and be mature bout it

there is, its called starboard tack and give way when overtaking..........

We need more groynes. Except bigger ones. We could fit at least 10 between freo and hillarys. Kiters at one, windsurfers at another. As much as we want to be able to mingle, it doesn't work that well.
Who has a crain, a bulldozer, and some big rocks?

sofled said...

man toby im not.......

snip unreadable stuff

all i can say is grow up and be mature bout it

To partially quote Andrew Dice Clay in The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, "Reading your posts is like masturbating with a cheese grater.......slightly amusing, but mostly painful."

I’m the guy who was windsurfing at Woodies last Thursday. In a whole afternoon of sailing I had one near collision with a kiter, and here’s my 2c worth.
Firstly, I’m not going to be agro or enter into any discussion about who owns Woodies or anywhere else – that’s just juvenile and not worthy of a response. It’s a beach and it’s there for us all to enjoy.
As for kiters, I know plenty of them and I have tons of respect for the sport. It’s obvious that the two sports and the people who do them have heaps in common. If there is a rivalry it should be just for fun’s sake and I’m all for that. I must add that I sail all over the place and this is the first time I have EVER had a run in of any kind with a kiter.
Clearly the flat water at Woodies makes it a great place to kite, and when the tide is up and the breeze is over 20 knots, it’s also a great place to windsurf. Windsurfing and in particular GPS-speedsurfing is getting way more popular so there are going to be plenty of people wanting to windsurf on the speed-strip at Woodies all summer long. We’re all trying to crack the magic 40 knots (or 50 in the case of Slowboat).
This means that the kiters and windsurfers need to respect one another and learn to get along. It seems that windsurfers hardly ever crash into each other and nor do kiters so the problem seems to stem from the fact that windsurfers find kiters unpredictable and perhaps vice versa – though windsurfers obviously tend to sail more in a straight line at speed.
This suggests that anyone contemplating windsurfing on the speed course should have a good look at what the kiters are doing before they enter the area. This was my mistake – it didn’t occur to me that kiters sail towards the beach and wait until they are practically one centimetre from the sand before they turn around or do their trick or whatever. I assumed this guy would turn around and I could sail straight through between him and the beach, but he kept going, the gap closed down to nothing, so I stopped - rapidly. I got a fright, so did the guy on the kite, and the bloke on the beach went off. It was close (within a few metres) but it was no big deal. I’m sorry if I scared the kiter and I said so at the time – I said it wouldn’t happen again and there was nothing even remotely close to a collision for the rest of the afternoon as we all had a good time - a f*cking wicked time – doing what we love to do.
Kiters will find that windsurfers (should) always give way to them when they are sailing out (on port) and the kiters are coming in (on starboard). This is a basic rule of the sea and is legally enforceable. Windsurfers expect the same from kiters. Other than that my advice to other windsurfers is to be careful of the “sandwich effect” as described above – you can get run into the sand, and no, they are not doing it to you on purpose – it’s just what they do.
Let’s be a little bit careful, chill out, and get on with tearing it up in whatever form is your preference.
Vishy also has a good point in that windsurfers are only going to be there when it is cranking and the tide is high - the rest of the time kiters have it pretty much to themselves anyway.

Here we go!!! Best topic of the week! a bit of perspective...

I think a lot of people are missing the fact that windsurfers and kitesurfers upwind reach is way different. Kitesurfers when powered can go upwind 10-15' more than a windsurfer and this leads to crossover, especially when a broad-reach on a windsurfer for a GPS "speed record", unfortunately this leads to the windsurfer being directly downwind of the kiter...........and therefore the piss-off factor.
This is a windsurfer and kitesurfer misinterpretation on both parts.
Toby, the 84 stuff is way funny, brings me back to the morey boogieboard showing up as triggs point.....bloody shark biscuits, tea bags, esky lids.....
Good luck on keeping this spot local bra boys......

sofled no offense dude but unless you have sailed there its hard to have proper perspective of whats going on. I'm not claiming god I'm not even close to being one of the better locals on the off shore side but i know the spot well enough to know how it works and how it cant work! grow up and be mature about it buddy!

people manage to clock sick speed on pole around Perth but there is only 2 flat water spots for kiting.

When its proper 28+ there wont be to many kiter's out and I'm sure we can compromise and make it work for some speed runs. Plus to get a record you need 500m. there is no chance at woodys

and by the comment it was yours in 84 but ours now if you where sailing it back then you would know that the dunes never used to be there so it was good for speed sailing and now if your close in its hard to launch a kite off the water! ( there is no wind!)

dave... we're not trying to keep it local just trying to stay alive btw carbs got taken out by a teuro and he was very calm about it all! ( 08 bar and lines F*cked and kite at coogee!)

fine bring on the death runs! but i i get taken out or a close call i wont be taking it lightly!

LouD said...

So, no non-expert kiters, and now no windsurfers.
You guys crack me up.

Theres a reason no "non-expert" kiters, its an offshore breeze, you **** up it is a long swim. No one is saying no windsurfers just that we don't really want them fanging through the pack with no regard for the natural order of how the place works. There is way too many topics about woodies maybe someone can set up some guidelines of how it works there so noobs can understand it and we don't have to go through this everytime.

LouD said...

seems to me that if poleys have been using the place for so many years, they should define 'the natural order of how things work"!

You obviously haven't ridden there.

RayQ said...

This woodies topic could be settled for all times, just publish a list of the 10 guys who are allowed to kite there.

it doesnt need to be published. those who should be there know who they are. If your not sure your not one of them. very simple.

i got taken out by someone who shouldnt have been there. 2hrs later a ****ed bar and lines and a few holes in my kite. its all ****en good and well talking on the forums about it like u know it all, but u ****en dont. Im not angry at the kiter coz he didnt know any better, no one told him not to be out there or the rules. The only way these things will be stopped is if the "crew" tell noobs not to go out, like we are trying to do. but instead they take it the wrong way (e.g. personally) and have a whinge on the forums.

Kitelooping crew can not co-exist with speedfreaking poleys.
The two just don't mix.
I'm surprised the GPS-freaks would want to speedsail amongst kiters.
Most poleys are stupidly paranoid about strings.

As mentioned before, the poleys will only be on the strip when it's a high tide and blowing 25-30 Knots +. The planets will only align occasionally for this to happen. Nobody wants to see an accident occur so if we use a bit of common sense and use the normal rules for right of way then I can't see what the problem is.
The "rules" are (as far as I know) are:-

Port gives way to starboard.
Overtaking windsport lover must give way to the one they are overtaking.
Transitioning windsport lover must give way to someone on a fixed course (If you are going for a trick/gybe then look around before you do so).

Feel the love.

What a crack up comment.
How is anybody supposed to know when the spark fires in your brain and your about to "do a trick"!
Just keep ya eyes open and watch out for people around you, pretty bloody simple.

God I love people commenting about the situation that have either never ridden there or have no idea what they are talking about. It's quite simple to know when someone is going to go for a trick, they bear downwind and they will normally do it near the shore, like 10 meters out. On the way out it is a bit harder but generally it is not such a big deal... usually people will do it in the first 50m of their run. Just because you don't understand what cutting people off or when someone is trying to find some space for a trick... Typical attitude of a poleboarder that doesn't understand kiting.

Oh yeah and as for the port/starboard comment, doesn't really help when a poley is fanging trying to break the speed record from way behind, do a trick and all of the sudden he has caught up and there is a collision. This is why it is important for the poleys to at least be aware the likely places where people do stuff like this instead of just fanging through with no thought of what other people are doing expecting that everyone is a.) going to give way to them when last they looked they were 200m behind or b.) see them when they are that far behind. You would be suprised how fast they catch up.

poor relative said...

I think Jet skis should be encouraged at woodies

Lol. At least they could fetch all the kites flying out to sea haha.