I don't mean to be a beatch, but come on you guys Instructing Noobs at Shearwater today in winds gusting up to 30 knots, wheres your friggin common sence There has already been one critical accident there in the past week, due to strong gusty conditions and possible inexperience. I saw Instructors and students 2 of them at a time both holding down learners in the water as to not have them lofted even though they had small kites, again sais something about the conditions today. Not only that but some Instructors had the audacity to teach multiple Noobs in the launch and landing area where I was witness to an experienced rider coming in that nearly lost it on the beach due to a student manouvering a kite that experienced guy had to avoid the kites from hiting each other which caused his kite to power up heavily over land which he just managed to get back under control by a wisker. Naturally he walked away shaking his head with disapproval

Speaking with quite a few experienced Kiters up on the grass bank there were many mumblings of discontent and concern about these Instructors actions today particularly with strong wind warnings issued. I am no Laywer and don't know the rules of these Instructor's Insurance Policies if they even have them but I would imagine if some one were to get injured as a result of a mishap occuring under Instruction in these conditions today, I would think possibly the Insurance Companies would be arguing Negligence Due to a Lack of Duty of Care.

I haven't been to Shearwater for a couple of years but I see Mars Attacks, from his anonymous profile on Seabreeze, has criticised people teaching kiteboarding to students at Shearwater on 29 December. He has described these people as instructors but he does not identify them. He also mentions a very serious accident a few days prior without any knowledge of the circumstances whatsoever.

If Mars Attacks is genuinely interested in addressing his safety concerns then he should properly direct those concerns to the individuals he has criticised so that a constructive dialogue and resolution can take place. As his post stands he simply invites divisive and damaging forum discussion within the kiteboarding community.

Further, serious accidents should not be used as an opportunity to gossip and offer conjecture about the causes, particularly when the victim is unable to respond.

In regard to the near miss involving an inbound kiteboarder that Mars Attacks describes, it is perhaps relevant to note that rule # 1 in the IKO handbook (4th ed.) states, “the rider entering the water from the beach has right of way over the incoming rider”.

Mars Attacks.


Instructors where holding down the learner as not to get lofted out of the water.

it had nothing to do with the wind yesterday...

Mate when you are teaching a student to drag themselves back up wind, or a bit of down wind dragging.. its a common practice for the instructor to hold onto the back of the student, so he can stay with him not only for safety reasons, but also to assist and instruct. Its all part of the IKO instructor course, dont always assume the negative.


sick of hearing people who have the ability to kite way out of the "launch area" and enjoy the shearwater for what its worth whinge and bitch about learners in the shallower water...

Aaah, good old Shearwater has always been the place to ride on southerlies on the goldie for many years.
All the kite instructors previously took their students to lagoons and sandbanks to actually teach them to kitesurf without heaps of bodydragging downwind, kitetangling issues happening with kiters at a popular spot.
Seems the new wave of instructors do not give a rats about this or their customers safety or the safety of other intermediate or experienced kiters!
Maybe everyone should just run and scream and wait for chunks of flesh to be cut off children playing on the beach before action by council is taken.

Mars Attacks all you need to do when you see someone doing something you KNOW is wrong is go and tell them. There is nothing wrong with pointing something out to someone if it is going to save an accident. If you think an instructor is doing the wrong thing just let them know. You can only try. It is allot more productive than posting it here in a forum.

It happens everywhere. I had a guy ask for a launch yesterday in 30knts. After seeing his kite size was ok for the conditions i asked him if he would be ok to handle the wind and he replied yes. I launched him and he was out of control. The only thing he did do right was send his kite towards the water and then had to pull his saftey before he was dragged towards a rock wall. Why do people mix there expectations up with there capabilities. If your not sure then do not go out. It's simple.

RPM said...

As a general rule an experienced instructor wont teach in over 25 knots...

duty of care..

Nuff said.

It's all proportional! just use a smaller kite.

The skills a learner kiter gets flying a small kite in 30+ knots are not going to be relevant to the type of conditions they can safely kite in. A bettter lesson for them would be to teach them that certain conditions are not suitable for their level of experience. Also launch and land areas should be kept clear by all kiters, regardless of skill level. If a lesson cannot be conducted away from this area maybe a different location should be found for lessons.