Dude,

it's easy to fire off comments here, what did YOU do to advise/assist/counsel him about safe(r) kiting practices????

No point jumping on SB if you're not going to point out the errors there, then & loudly....

Juddy and Djojo...

You're both highly respected members of the kitesurfing community. This is an undisputed fact.

I just looked at Ryan's profile. Not sure about you but when I was was 16/17, I would have been loathe to say anything to anyone older than me along the lines of what you're encouraging... As an adult; no problem...

Just can't believe that ever happened. Ryan has sucked you in.

Hell yeah that sounds like someone rang you and said give me your bank details you won a million dollars. Almost to stupid to be true. I can feel a strong breeze blow through.

Darwin Theory applies to kitesurfing too....

Ive seen enough crap on the beach to believe that people will make all sorts of bad decisions especially if they dont have any formal training....

And I would agree that it is very difficult as a new comer o tell another kiter (seemingly more experienced) that what they are doing is not "best practise"

I do however step in if it puts other people at risk or more often will ask them if I can help them instead of giving them an ear full.

Seems to be a lot of this on the forums.

Not much about people trying to give anyone a hand tho.

I ventured to the flat water kite area (near where i live, waves were to big and was to windy) last weekend.

I didn't end up going out.
I watched as a few foreigners struggling with their gear and watch them have a few close calls with general public that where watching.

I could have easily sat and laughed and not helped at all but instead i gave some assistance and offered some basic pointers.

These guys had done lessons, but due to the purchase they had made, they're were struggling with the difference in kites from school > what they had bought.

I helped tune their kite and then they where fine.

Took me 20mins of talking and in my opinion was well worth it.

I went home feeling like id done something constructive, hopefully they appreciated it and now their gear will last longer as its not stalling in the sky and crashing into the beach.

Hopefully it also saved someones time, as they won't have to right another **** story about a beginner on the beach with fishing line and a stunt man launch style.

To be honest, i hate kiting in crowds, and normally hate kiting with people in general, BUT we all enjoy the same sport so sharing your experience and knowledge goes a long way.

it totally depends on how you address someone with pointing out their mistakes... there is a big difference between:

WTF ARE YOU DOING, YOU %^&*
and,
he mate I just noticed this and that, thought I'd help you out.



On a different note it is not always the beginners that screw up and not everyone will actually listen to you then you 'tell them off'.

Last sunday at woodies I was detaching my lines from my kite on beach 2 near the dunes.

An experienced bloke on the water was doing his tricks right on the shore to show of to his mate who was watching him.

All of a sudden I hear his mate scream WATCH OUT!! I ducked and a spit second later the blokes' kite crashes about half a meter behind me, his lines hitting my shoulder. His lines lay over my kite so I grabbed his kite and lines brought it to the edge of the window and launched it for him while telling him to watch out please cause that could have ended up badly. He did not reply and didn't apologize.

The showpony went back in the water and a few minutes later did his trick near the beach again and of course, crashed his kite on the beach again and repeated doing this for at least another 2 times.

What I'm getting at:
Some guys know exactly what they are doing and even if you tell them to watch out after such an obvious 'close call' they still won't listen because they are 'experienced' and won't listen to less experienced riders. It doesn't hold me back from telling people to do the right thing but I can understand why other people prefer not to when they are either less experienced or younger.