You would get on well with "King of the Point" with an attitude like that Fatboy. Polesurfing will be extinct soon and we will have the whole break to ourselves. Enjoy it while you can.

Extinction can come two ways, fast or slow. I've been windsurfing for 25 years and a observed kite surfing before most teabager.

I don't care what you ride but if you think taking up 60% of a reef break is OK you going to get extinction fast.

Thanks slave I'll take my snorkel with me.

Maybe someone could devise a set of shears that mount on the top of the mast. Then you could line them up and set their kite free. [}:)]

On the other hand... STRING 'EM UP, I SAY! STRING 'EM UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't worry. Either their more experienced fellow kiters will pull them into line, or the entire crew of kiters will be banned completely.
Either way it's a win-win situation for the "poleys"

Sunday we had a crowd here, occasional waves up to head high, concentrated in a 200-300m strip of reef, up to 10 kites and about 20 windsurfers. No real problem that I saw, kiters were lifting there lines when windsurfers passed downwind, everybody seemed happy to share.
Would have got more waves without the crowd, but that's being greedy.
It certainly can work when everybody's dialled in to each other. But only takes an idiot, or somebody too inexperienced to make a problem.

man same thing over and over..
sick of people talking about kiting.
if they are in the way just sail through there **** they will be worse off than you. (just don't sail your body through the strings.)
or tell them to move there stuff. they can do it .. they do it for each other so if they have there lines in the way just keep sailing your course. they will move them above you.

Hey Love the attitude Fatboy ,

I do understand your frustration though. Inexperienced kiters in surf breaks are a pain in the bum for kiters too. All experienced kiters will lift their lines well clear of your poles as we pass. We don't want a collision any more than you do.

I believe all can exist in harmony if you guys drop this paranoia and scare mongering. It's hard when you didn't have to compete for waves with anyone prior to kiting, but now the new kids on the block change course faster, go upwind higher and are all over the waves too. It's a tough concept to realise but it's called sharing and respect.

We do not need 60m of space, in fact I have Hi fived kite friends going in opposite directions on many occasions and been close enough to grab the clew end of the boom (downwind) with poley mates when mucking around, so your point is mute. Upwind we need not much more room than you if we take our kites high.

Just cause you been in the waves before kiters doesn't give you right of way or any authority. Indeed the horse and cart was before the car, but they aren't allowed on freeways anymore. I aint saying you guys will disappear, I'm just sayin that we need to get along cause we aint going away!

There will be many more kiters next year and probably the year after. The only thing we can hope is that inexperienced kiters get better at riding waves before coming into contact with other water users.

Peace, waves and wind to all,

I think the problem is HIGH 5 envy.
Poleys would love to do them with each other,
but it's a real stretch reaching around the rig.

Can I ask a question??
Why wear boardies over a wettie??
Why wear long pants on the water??

Something the kiters don't know... WE do our hi-fiving back on the BEACH, while we watch the Kiters swimming back from 500m out in 3 knots of wind...

Windsurfers learn on the lake and get blown all over the place in some safety. Kitesurfers seem to think they can learn in the middle of the reef break.

The look on their faces when you sail towards their lines laying in the water, is "mortified". They don't know what to expect or what to do. The fact is, they chose before they left home, to be in that position but didn't concider how they were going to get out of it.

If they learn in the surf, they are learning on the freeway. That’s why polies get pissed off.

A windsurfer laying in the break is annoying, a kite in the break is a f@#king blockade. If the other kiter won't tell these guys, consider this the beginning of faze two, "polies don't respect strings".

Bare away with kites means the kite descends and in cross shore conditions this takes up more space, much more. If the surf is large the sailor going seaward will often wish to miss the white water. This is when kites and sails don't mix.

Kiters boast of being able to exploit a larger range of conditions. Respect would mean, not being greedy, so go some place else. Polies sail where it is windiest, and that’s why we sail nasty fin eating spots like Nobbys. We usually got nowhere else to go.

Ronny and Lock have set this trend, I expect it sells kites. Their customs expect to be out there with the windsurfer in two weekends, slashing at Nobbys. I wish it had been that quick for me.

i've found kitesurfing to be abnoxious, frustrating waste of time and very finicky on conditons. Gusty conditions for kiting is no joke.. it fully sux.. well it used to.. now with the new bow kites it's tonnes easier but thats because bow kites have made kitesurfing sails more like windsurfing sail now...

For real dodgy and windy spots... windsurfing still rules. In Maui windurfing still rules. In Taranaki windsurfing still rules. In Wellington windsurfing still rules. In other windy gusty spots windsurfing still rules.

quote:

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Originally posted by BLOWN AWAY

i've found kitesurfing to be abnoxious, frustrating waste of time and very finicky on conditons. Gusty conditions for kiting is no joke.. it fully sux.. well it used to.. now with the new bow kites it's tonnes easier but thats because bow kites have made kitesurfing sails more like windsurfing sail now...

For real dodgy and windy spots... windsurfing still rules. In Maui windurfing still rules. In Taranaki windsurfing still rules. In Wellington windsurfing still rules. In other windy gusty spots windsurfing still rules.

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I had one also and it struck me kiters have a different perspective to the whole environment. Waves aren't really required and windsurfers are tank traps. We still have tank traps over here but the tanks have gone.