Please don't crucify the windsurfer til you have read it all.
I was very angry today re: an unsafe kiter or two at the above spot.... same as I was last summer when I visited Perth. Rather than start a flame war I will be polite and trust you blokes will be also....
These two incidents were 10sec apart:
(1) I was heading back in after 2hrs on the water. As I came in, I was a little downwind of the other WS'ers and I was at the upwind area of the kiters.... sort of on the border of the two groups. Lining up to come in where I have to due to the rocks.... I was just south of the second set of stairs from the groyne.... I picked up a 'wave' .... tiny but one of the very few for the day (!) and I headed upwind on it looking for the peak about 10-15m upwind of me for a backside turn as it broke. A kiter turned onto it right in front of (and upwind of) me right where it would break 2sec later. Where I was obviously going to be very damn soon! Now before I get flamed here, this was 30-40m out from the beach and this was his outside turn so I fail to see why he turned right there, not 200-500m offshore like everyone else was. Bad manners but I can deal with it... fvc&ed up my little wave but too bad I've been dropped in on before. He didn't even ride the wave or turn on it, so bvggered it up for me for no reason...if it was his intention to ride the wave I could understand why he did it even though it broke all the R.O.W rules... [}:)]
(2) so I didn't get my turn on this wave, but I used it to get upwind to where I would exit the water. As I rode upwind a kiter behind me and slightly upwind of me (overtaking I think) dropped his kite right close to the water so the lines were 5m front of me about 3-4m off the water...... and close.... and he abused me.
For what I have no idea. Maybe cos I was in their area for 20 sec as I struggled upwind in bvgger-all breeze?
This was bl00dy stupid if he had the slightest prang or whatever, or if I accelerated we would have been wrapped up in lines etc.
I had done nothing to him, and really as we were both on same tack with me in front of him if he wished to overtake HE has to keep clear of ME.
Now, without having a crack at kiters, I think the Dutchies crew need to be aware of a few things.
(1) WS'ers can't travel through 2" deep water like you guys. We have 2 gaps in the submerged rocks that we can use to enter and exit the water. If you haven't kited Dutchies for long, look at where the windsurfers have to go and expect them to go there!!! I think d!ckhead number 2 thought I was cutting him off when all I was doing was holding the line that any WS'er would have to keep.
Last summer I was abused by a kiter at the exact same spot as he tried to force me away from him .... he thought I was too close but I don't have eyes in the back of my head and I HAVE TO exit the water in the "keyway". That knobhead made his inside turn in the keyway every single run he did and wondered why WS'ers were always there. Duh!
(2) for god's sake realise that we are trying to ride waves there sometimes. All the kiters were going in and out and not riding waves today (cos there was none!!!) .... but when somebody gets on a rare wave don't turn on it right in front of them! Nobody expects your outside turn to be 40m from the beach.... and if you DO turn 40m from the beach they expect you are turning onto a wave to ride.... but this knob didn't even do that!!
