Hi eyespy,

Im an ex surfer and all my mates are ex windsurfers, wakeboarders and in genaral water lovers. As far as Im aware the only group that likes to winge in the kitesurfing forum are windsurfers.
As a citizen of the world I can recognise when somebody is in trouble & have no problems in helping them out whoever they are, We are all out there having fun & enjoying our recreational pastimes & not trying to get anyone banned from anywhere.
A small group of us have just returned from a fantastic kiting trip up in Lanno,Wedge except one incident in which we were all very shocked to see. A relativly new kiter in our group found himself down wind after an increase in wind speed & found himself in the designated windsurfing area in Lanno. As he struggled to return to the beach, there were several windsufers far to close to him, jibeing & cruising within meters of him. In my mind this was a dangerouse enough situation & not being able to activate his safety, because of these particular windsufers all around him and even verbaly abusing him.
His options were to release his safety & risk injury to the windsurfers, or struggle to the beach, which is what he did & risked not only himself but other beach users, but fortunatly a random guy recognized his struggle & came to his aid just after he got lofted onto the beach, he was as suprised as we were that these windsurfers were not only making the situation a lot more dangerouse for everybody, but how they failed to realise the potential danger.
My beef is with those arrogant windsufers who would love to see our great sport banned, by ignoring potentially life threatening situations, instead of acting like a responsable citizen.
As I said ealier, we are all out there having fun & it doesn`t cost anything to be polite, courteous & considerate to all water users, so that we maintain the safety on our beaches.

Bonster

Windsurfer , kitesurfer, surfer... heres a tip, an A**hole is an A**hole no matter what form of sport he-she takes up.

EDIT* = The best thing you can do is not be one.

As a learner I just try to stay out of everyones way.
I try this method, Smile & nod. I let ppl know im learning by yelling *watch out mate, im a learner*(infact it would be obvious to a blind man on a galloping horse).

Ive only had one person *yes it was a kitesurfer* buz past me at high speed *within a couple of meters* on a piece of bay line that had no other users anywhere within visable range. Sure he was an A**hole for doing it, would there be any point in making him aware of the dangers? Nah, im guessing its the same sorta person that pees on the seat in a public toilet & doesnt care about anyone but himself. Besides even good ppl make bad judgements now and then.

Cheers 4paws.

Decrepit is onto it. Kiters shoud always be down wind of windsurfers if we fall of our sail flops into the water in seconds and we stop, if a kiters has problems and the kite hits the water they don't stop they drift down wind.
Bonster we whinge because, Na I'm not even going to bother explaning, you don't understand and you never probably will, not worth wasting my time.

I hear what your saying bon.

It raises an interesting point.
When attempting to rescue someone from danger as a "good samaritan" your responsiblity is firstly to yourself and secondly to the person your trying to rescue *I belive this is so in the eyes of the law*

Your first course of action is to remove the danger or the person from the danger *if there is an immenent danger like fire in an auto accident, you can not be sued for breaking someons neck whilst removing them from the immentant danger of burning to death.* theres a legal term for this but buggered if I can remember it.

In the case of any stranded kiter, it would be his kite or lines that present the danger. If joe blogs with zero kite knowledge trys to assist a kiter, they may well exacerbate the problem or just further endanger the kiter and themselves. How many kiters would be particularly happy if you offered to cut thier lines? Yet the alternative is restraining a kite. Does the average person know to grab a kite by the leading edge and turn it down? If they accidentaly righted the kite they may actually enable the kite to power up?

Dont get me wrong, Its my nature to try and help those in trouble. But the first thing to do in that situation is asses the danger to myself and others first. (many men died at the bottom of a hatch on HMAS Stalwart when I was in the navy, they rushed to help and didnt asses the situation)

Its unreasonable to expect non kiters to know what to do safely to help a kiter.

In the case of the kiter is it the responsiblity of others around to ask wether he needs help? Or is the onus on him *assuming full conciousness* to ask for assistance?

I 100% belive that all watercraft users do thier best to get along *glares at the Hoons on those skadoos* However it will need ACTIVE co-operation to make things happen in a good way.

Cheers 4paws

PS* Please add your opinion on the rescueing a kitesurfer thingy as im keen to learn whats the right thing to do if they are infact in dire trouble.

In this case it is just a matter of asking him if he needs assistance heading back up. This learner will know how he would like the rescuer to assist him. Usually you would just get the handle on the back of the kiters harness and haul him back up wind.

In a case of a loose kite, always grab the centre of the leading edge of the kite. Thats the biggest bladder at the front of the kite, never the bar or any of the strings. place the kite down with the leading edge firm on the ground facing down wind so it flattens the kite, Put something heavy or hold it until he/she can come and retrieve the kite. Or deflate the leading edge by pulling the deflate plug and then detached his strings. This will always be appreciated with a simple thank you or he/she will definatelly pay for the next round.

In a case of a person getting dragged or lofted, asses the situation and if possible grab a firm hold of him/her, grab his/her handle on the back of his/her harness and ask him/her where his quick realease are. Or if he/she is unconcious, detach him/her by releasing him/her from the loop that holds him/her to his/her harness. This may use a little strength. a responsible kiter should wear a quik realease and a safety leash. At this stage you will be his/her hero and friend for life.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I hope that you would never have to be put in such a situation. But you re 100% right always asses the situation and stay a min 50mts away from a kiter in strive. Dont circle around him just incase he has no choice but to let go. Dont swear and call him names because you are not solving anything. Stay cool and offer assistance and you will find a great friend that will return the favour one day. Cheers fellas Take it breazy!!