On Sunday a windsurfer decided that the kiters were too far south and started to try to mow them down.....He just missed one guy at high speed by inches ...this guy acting in a pretty dangerous way.
To set the scene .. the windsurfers were way to the South in the cove and there was a gap of approx. 200m between the windsurfers and the kiters .. A few kiters moved up into this space which has generally been no mans land.. there were no windsurfers in this area. this windsurfer dropped downwind ( about 200m away from the line that the windsurfers were on) to try to take out 3 kiters ...
I have checked the WAKSA website and there doesn't seem to be any rule regarding where to kite .. obviously there is an unwritten rule that the windsurfers have the south end..
I know that there are problems between kiters and windsurfers at Safety Bay but I have never seen anything like this ...maybe the Safety Bay crew can shed some light on the best way to deal with this ?
any thoughts ..?? ....and the last thing we want in this area is fisticuffs etc . as that will give ammunition to those that want kiting banned in the area..
Poley sounds like he was a tool, but if there is an accepted nomans land that creates a 'barrier' between the poleys and kiters then both parties need to ensure that it's adhered to. Spots like Melville are so over-crowded at times we can't afford to have douche-bags doing their own thing and ruining it for the rest of us. If there are unofficial separate zones for poleys and kiters then these need to be respected.
i have a feeling i know the polesmoker . We often get it on our raceboards but there is one grumpy old bald headed retard that always comes in and tries to fling abuse at us . I normally just bear off downwind and leave him yelling and then come back upwind a minute later . There is an unwritten DMZ between us and the pole smokers and most are cool and quite often get a thumbs up as we are both flying along but there is the odd cawk that thinks they own the entire bay .
did he have a number on his sail ?
Red sail , no number , not bald , darkish complexion .. I think this was a different one..
I don't mind a bit of abuse but this guy was dangerous ... I wonder if it happens again we should call the police and get him charged with attempted something ??
Select to expand quoteMonkers said..
Red sail , no number , not bald , darkish complexion .. I think this was a different one..
I don't mind a bit of abuse but this guy was dangerous ... I wonder if it happens again we should call the police and get him charged with attempted something ??
just dump the kite right in front of him
Select to expand quoteMonkers said..
Red sail , no number , not bald , darkish complexion .. I think this was a different one..
I don't mind a bit of abuse but this guy was dangerous ... I wonder if it happens again we should call the police and get him charged with attempted something ??
No don't do that. Firstly the police have better things to do, secondly they will tell you to p*ss off. If it happens again, ascertain whether the kiters are doing anything wrong or not, if so have a chat with them, if not have a chat with the windsurfer. Most people who road rage for example are not particularly confrontational people and will generally acquiesce when faced with rational and reason.
From your description, my fellow windsurfer could be anything between: a careless speed sailor not looking before a speed run, to: someone with a serious chip on their shoulder towards kiters, making (as stated above) a complete tool of himself.
Did it all happen while he was on a single run? Or was it a series of runs where he definitely took aim each time?
Either way, it doesn't sound like you did anything particularly wrong.
I know as a windsurfer, it can be a little frustrating having kites straight out the front of the launch area /near by in general. There are a number of banks at Melville that windsurfers can't sail over with a big fin in their board, which means for most a lot of gybing practice. it can be quite frustrating when there's a bank coming up, you want to swing into a gybe and there's a kiter just below you (who can cruise straight over the bank on their TT). Sure we can swing up instead and tack but it's not as much fun as a planing gybe.
None of what I said above justifies doing kamikaze runs at kiters though, just saying it might be the source of some of his frustration, if you ended up opposite the car park where we rig up. He should've just come and talked to you if he perceived there to be a problem.
The windsurfer did 3 runs .. Each time he gathered speed and then pointed down wind trying to take out kitesurfers .. Not cool !!
Select to expand quoteMonkers said..
The windsurfer did 3 runs .. Each time he gathered speed and then pointed down wind trying to take out kitesurfers .. Not cool !!
Why was he trying to take them out?
Select to expand quoteMonkers said..
See previous comments ...Select to expand quoteZed said..Monkers said..
The windsurfer did 3 runs .. Each time he gathered speed and then pointed down wind trying to take out kitesurfers .. Not cool !!
Why was he trying to take them out?
They went into "no-mans land" - poley shouldn't have been so aggressive, but they shouldn't have been there. Next time maybe they'll think twice. Just because you're a kiter Monkers doesn't mean you have to side with every single kiter. It's not kiters vs poleys... it's poleys & kiters vs douchebag poleys & kiters. There are a lot of douche-bag kiters out there, distance yourself from them, don't side with them.
They are the ones that kite where they shouldn't, kite in between the flags, jumping over kids bodyboarding, flying in & out of the poleys, launching where they shouldn't - they give us a bad name..
If you've done any windsurfing you'll know they don't mix that well with kites. Particularly they find it tough as they need 1.7km to set up, and turn into a gybe. Anyone within a 400m radius will be "in their way". Its also really demoralising for them when they have to pump for 300m just to get on the plane in anything less than 30 knots when the kiters just shoot off whenever they feel. They also get pissed off when kites boost 30m in the air when, after windsurfing since 1983, all they've ever managed was a chop hop once in the summer of 1992. You gotta understand the only people who still windsurf are either too old to switch, too proud to go back to do the walk of shame while learning, or too scared to harness themselves to a kite, so they aren't the kind of people too willing to accept anyone encroaching their turf.
Lets just leave them to their obsolete ways, and give them their space eh?
Generally the no mans land is the limestone rock wall which separates the south from the northern beaches. Just keep that area clear and we can all do our own thing without raising the ire of the dinosaurs up the beach.
The above is a friendly pisstake. Some of my best friends are Poley's - really!
no mans land as has been so eloquently described to me by a raving poley is only out until the squadron 37 and Dunn Mark 36 are . once past those it's anyone's game .
personally being on a raceboard i normally sit up in this dead zone as i don't come anywhere near the poley launch/land area . Occasionally i see a poley down in the kiting area but he is left alone as it isn't a deal for us . Not sure why the polies have such a chip on their shoulders .
Haha nice one glug..
i dont really think its us against them .. i know some windsurfers and (although gay) they are nice chaps .. Just kidding :)
I actually think its ok for us to kite in no mans land if there arnt any windsurfers . There is no reason why there has to be a 200m gap between the groups... At Saftey bay they seem to be separated by a meter or 2 or just all mixed up and get along no worries .. Mmmm maybe that's a bad example .
Anyhow this is getting besides the point that this particular windsurfer was well out of line ..
I can this happening more often though as pressure builds up by the ever increasing numbers of kiters in the area...
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