Twice now I've been put in a position where I'm slightly upwind of someone and decide to keep my up wind position keep my kite high up so the other rider can keep theirs low and we can pass , then at the last minute the other punter lifts there kite and comes directly at me so a collision is on the cards , I've had to quickly do a sliding turn and head back in the opposite direction to avoid lines crossing and we still touched kites etc , another time a guy was clearly upwind of me so I go down wind but he has his kite as low as possible so I can't get my lines etc lower to pass him , both guys were reasonably capable riders (I keep an eye out for inexperience guys ) is this just 2 cases of bad luck / mistakes by other guys or am I missing something and one guy even gave me stink eye later on , which is not cool , both days pretty crowded so every one should be aware of the surrounding / on coming riders

I think it's a bit of give and take. You'll always have people forget to look when tacking, stopping unexpectedly, leaving their kite high/low, etc. Sometimes its just human error, complacancy and/or forgetfullnes. Other times the person is genuinely an a$$hat. You can usually tell by the persons reaction. If a bloke cuts me off when i have right of way or stacks into me I will instantly forgive them if they yell a sorry or give me a 'my bad, i f**ked up' courtesy wave. You can't chuck everyone one in the same boat.

I had a guy last week fly his kite up into mine when I had right of way and then get angry at me for something he had caused.

I had a brain fade and cut a bloke off with my kite cos I wasn't paying attention to our tacks, I yelled Sorry and gave him the aforementioned "i'm an idiot, i caused that" wave.

That being said, I'm damn sure a lot of kiters at St Kilda have either no grasp or no care for right of way rules which is essentially the cause of a majority of collisions.

If your healside and right hand/shoulder forward, you have right of way, rider coming towards you should bare off downwind to avoid collision...
give way to riders heading out from shore, riding a wave, riding slower on same tack, and peanuts with no clue of right of way.
Anymore?

Hope he lifts his kite ^^^^^

SaltySinus said..

Yeah, this has been bothering me also... typically, I get into situations where a kiter follows me and essentially leaves me in the option of a. kiting into the sand and crashing... or b.) change of direction and running into them.

I know the right of way... and this often happens with the other kiter to my right side... and in either situation (me leaving the shore or kitign to the right) I have right of way... which is little consolation if I've someone's powered up kite wrapped round my neck.

I'm thinking of introducing my own interpretation of turning hand signals until, in a Pavlov's Dogs fashion, it's picked up and adopted:

ttregs.com/the-highway-code/drivers-and-riders-signals.php

We I start running out of room I either yell at them or slow right down. They work out there either going to have to turn or they will hit me!!!

This might help: kitesurfing-handbook.peterskiteboarding.com/safety/right-of-way-rules

I've returned after being out of the kiting scene for 6 years.

I've got to say the sport has a very different feel. Not as friendly / social / mate-ship etc... and a lot more wallies out there strutting around thinking they are king of the bay.

It must be a real turn off for newbs.

Having said that ...

I knew from videos the right of way rule even before I touched the water. When it actually came to passing other kite surfers it's a bit of a judgement call. If the other kiter is going up wind and I am going up wind as well and it looks like we're aiming at each other, I immediately drop the kite enough to change down wind and pass without a problem.

It's like walking on a footpath and you're walking towards those coming towards you. You "naturally" by-pass the person either left or right, right? Well it's the same in kite surfing. You decide which has right of way on the spot and be courteous to the other kiter. If the other kiters looks like they are really willing to go up wind from you, then let them. If there is not enough room down wind, then either stop and turn back or simply stop and lower your kite to give way.

This always works for me.