quote:
Originally posted by oceangirl
555, I'm sure Mark is a big boy and he can defend himself without your help.
Chauvinism is not exclusively gender based, (and I didn't intend for my comment to be sexist in this case). It was more about superiority and smugness.
Mark's references to my suitability to windsurf and his swipe at my mental capacity were out of line, but he has already apologized for the former insult.
Now that I've read Gybesports post about the enforcement of safety features to be designed into new harnesses of certain companies, I feel vindicated in my endeavours.
All I want to do is improve safety in windsurfing. Why is there resentment to this policy by certain members ? It seems so counterproductive.
Mark may have been entitled to feel superior in this case - after all, he apparently knows how to get out of a stuck harness.. but as you say - he's probably able to look after himself!
I don't think anyone resents your endeavours to improve safety - more that you seem to imply that the situation you found yourself in was somehow the fault of the harness manufacturer.
Life is fundamentally 'not safe' we WILL all die due to some decision, defect, or wear, be that in a car, windsurfing equipment, or something that breaks or ceases to work inside our own bodies (maybe God should take a look at that.. I wonder if there's a forum?!)
Your choice is how you mitigate, or avoid those risks.
You are quite entitled to (and should) persue the safest equipment or techniques for any situation, but at the end of the day,
you are still choosing to put yourself in harms way by windsurfing.
We've recently had a very public case here where a couple of kiters messed up and got their kites tangled around the mast of a yacht moored in a popular wind/kite surfing bay. The yacht has been on a mooring there since well before kiting became popular. The involved parties kicked up a public stink that the yachts were 'dangerous' and 'a hazard'. There were even threats made against the owners of the yachts, and comments to the effect of mooring lines being cut in the dead of night.
The kiters intention was to decrease the risk of an 'incident' for themselves.
Legally, wind and kitesurfers in this bay are breaking maritime law (speed in proximity to other vessels, and shore), and the harbour master would have been quite entitled to ban all windsurfing and kiting in the bay. The mooring holder is also a resident of the street providing access to the bay - and every windy day, their street is totally clogged with vehicles, had things turned nasty - a petition of locals would easily turn the waterfront into a 'no parking' area.
I hope you can see how this relates to what you're saying - if the kiters had A) been more experienced at kiting, or B) recognised their limitations, and the 'hazards' of the venue, and practised in less challenging conditions until they were capable of dealing with the situation, then there would be no issue. Instead, a fuss was made, and a large number of other water users had their use of the facility seriously jeopardised.
.
cos basically ALL those bars look like the hook is the samehell no it wasn't. And smug? how is it that 90% of the posters have agreed with me in saying that existing systems are FINE as long as you know what to do and don't panic?
