X-man said...
Windsurfing kit on the other hand sure is a little bulkier, but consists on 5 main parts:
-mast
-sail
-base
-boom
-board

waveslave said...

If pole-gear came in a nice small package like kitesurfing....
would anybody really bother with kiting ??

waveslave said...
Those 5 main windsurfing parts can turn into a dozen pieces of poleycrap.
I'll show you how....

mast x 2
sail x 3
base x couple
boom x 2
board x 2
= min. gear
lol.
Polesurfing is a clusterf.u.c.k.

Kite-surfing 'too dangerous' for city beaches
Article from: The Sunday Times

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Glenn Cordingley

March 22, 2008 05:00pm

KITE surfers face being dumped from busy metropolitan beaches and put into designated areas as the sport gains popularity.

The City of Fremantle is considering restrictions after two incidents at South Beach.

The council said a carpark power pole was damaged last week by a kite surfer causing an electricity supply cut, and a resident complained of a near-collision near the foreshore.

Western Power responded this week by recommending that people "keep a safe distance from power lines when engaged in overhead recreational activities such as kite surfing''.

Choice Kitesurfing instructor Graham Baker said he had taken immediate action.

"What I am doing at the moment is to make sure that every member of the WA Kitesurfing Association understands that if they go kite surfing at South Beach, they don't perform jumps or tricks in between the groynes,'' he said.

Mr Baker said kite surfers used South Beach because their cars were safer there than in neighbouring Cockburn.

He had seen a close call between a kite surfer and swimmer, but pointed to the sport's guidelines, which recommend a 30m barrier between wave riders and swimming areas between flags.

"We are self-regulating and are all about safety and keeping clear distances,'' he said.

But Fremantle environmental health and building services co-ordinator Matthew Piggott said the sport was ``perhaps not appropriate'' at crowded beaches and suggested restrictions could be introduced.

Fremantle Mayor Peter Tagliaferri singled out "occasional reckless kite surfers spoiling it for everyone else''.

But he said the council could look at other local authorities to see if the sport posed a problem and what measures had been introduced.

Beachside councils in Queensland are considering a crackdown on the sport following a decision by the northern New South Wales Byron Shire Council to impose an interim ban at its Main Beach, pending a safety report.

In WA in 1993, a 47-year-old kite surfer died after hitting power lines in Rockingham.

City of Rockingham Mayor Barry Sammels said the council had not imposed kite-boarding restrictions at Palm Beach where the incident happened, but might review the situation.

The City of Cockburn said it had arranged a meeting with the Department of Environment and Conservation to discuss beach issues.

"We are having this meeting to look at all our beaches and all of their uses, conflicting and otherwise; for example kite surfers and jet skis,'' Mayor Stephen Lee said. "We will create zones where people can operate.''

The Town of Cottesloe has a designated area for kite surfers patrolled by rangers.

City of Joondalup deputy mayor Russ Fishwick said: "We have a designated horse beach and a designated dog beach, so perhaps we have to think about a designated kite-surfing beach.''