So, big day at Altona. Heaps of kiters everywhere, good wind, sunny day.

Guy with a red harness and a Cabrinha kite right by the pier teaching a mate (I've asked, he's not affiliated with any schools).

Blue Rebel riding upwind of this guy has kite low and thought he was going to miss the Cabrinha but ends up crossing lines with them. Rebel guy pulls his release.

Neither of the kites have gone into death loops, there is no dramas. None of the kites or lines appear damaged and neither of the people involved are in immediate danger.

Cabrinha guy screaming his head off produces a knife from his harness and cuts two lines of Rebel kite.

Is this acceptable?? I can't believe this actually happened, I've been kiting in Melbourne and Victoria for years and I've never seen such aggression with our sport!! How do we deal with this behavior? do we just let it slide? is this even legal?
I think this is unacceptable and the guy in the Cabrinha should be reported to the Water Police or the relevant authorities....

I'm shocked and outraged that the kiting community in general is just letting these behaviours pass as normal.

Hi, welcome to the forum. Kiting in VIC for years but just joined Seabreeze? You've been missing out :)

Why'd he have his kite low going upwind of him?

And why were people kiting near the pier? It's been southeasterly for days now and an upwind tack back towards the pier doesn't take you anywhere near close to shore. Not to mention it's not allowed.

As for the rest of the story, that really sucks. I suppose at this stage it's a he said she said type thing where short of actually being there none of us would have much to add or even knows what exactly transpired. I doubt the Rebel kite guy has much recourse and I doubt any authorities would really care.

If it did happen as you say it did, yeah, not acceptable. Probably not legal. We deal with it the way things have been dealt with at Altona for years: just carry on and wait for it to get worse the next season. You could probably get the guy to file a police report with the station.

When did this happen?

boardsporter said...
Happened a few weeks ago...

And yeah, the initial tangle was the Rebel's fault... but cutting the lines was definitely an act of aggression.

I've been collided on before and there is always a way to be civil about damages!

IMHO, Seeing as rebel had flagged kite doesn't sound like Cab guy has any excuse to cut lines. Unless of course Rebel rider was a repeat offender kiting in dangerous manner.