Kitehard said...


I propose a meeting with concerned kiters from Pinnaroo to come and have a chat with us this afternoon after kiting to see if we can come up with some changes to make the beach safer.
Cheers,

KH

There we have it.

I guess if you've got your knickers in a twist over this you can be pro-active and head to Pinnas, have a free fkn beer and give your point of view the old fashioned way (speaking) and feel like your instigating a change for the better.
Alternatively i am sure Dazza would be open to a phone call to express your POV if you cant make it.


Will you be there Dave...... ?

Nice

In the end of the day the noobs always have that potential to begin death looping at any given moment. I agree with most of what Kitehard has said, maybe was a bit harsh early on .

not me, i started as a professional....

If you choose to ride at pinnas or set up within a lines length of the school leaners and you are not compitant enough to avoid them you are asking for injury/problems.

That being said the biggest problem arises when people insist on riding and jumping right up too the waters edge around the same area the leaners rig up, enter the water and proceed to body drag through. There is plenty of room on either side of this area or even out in the huge expanse of water for you to do ur stuff and avoid leaners that may or may not have control of there kites.

also there are much better places to ride, including waveslaves local wave down in mandurah.


a map can be supplied if need be

^^^^ GOLD Abesy

or if not up for the treck to Slaves crib, maybe try somewhere closer to home.....

when/if i rocked up to another spot that wasn't my local , I would be talking to as many people as i can . I would sit there and survery the area and then find a spot i can enjoy myself without getting in the way of the locals .

I don't care who kitesurfs at a particular spot, as long as they don't act like prats , or get on their highhorse like the people from NSW and VIC are doing when they are not locals and know nothing about the spot . That is my issue

Hey Pat....first of all, Happy 2010 to you bud.

I don't know if it really is the "kite community" as you say..........forum click-jerks maybe.

In general I find the kiters nice helpful people with interesting lives.

This thread makes me sad when I read it.........but I do know that it is just cyber space. Once you know the people face to face it is all so kn different.

Perhaps this is just a game show as Slave would have us believe.....but hey it is communication and a lot of good has come of it.

It is a bummer that we have wind, sun and waves every day and people are so agro..........it is because many locals are back a work I'm afraid

I'll surely run in to you again soon.

Nick

At the end of the day it dosnt matter what ya doing, if your learning something new then your going to make mistakes. Weather it be kiteing or riding a bike or whatever.. Chances are your going to do something wrong! Sounds like maybe the instructor should of set up a bit more up wind of the other guy. But so what! We all fck up sometimes, dont matter how experienced you are at something. We all have our stupid moments. Though sounds like this was a good one =)... If this is the first accident they've had there in how ever many years, then thats pretty good i reckon. You see people launching themselves all over the place at most beaches from time to time.. Things like this are bound to happen sooner or later. Especially at a place like pinn because theres so many learners. One accident n everyones running around screeming!! Its just part of learning something new. My wrists are raw from kung-fu on monday, its no big deal, dosnt mean the school has to re-evaluate there teaching policy or whatever.. I'm learning something new n you gotta accept ****'s gonna happen..

Though its good the guys are trying to think of ways to stop it happening again in the future. Evan inviting pople down there to have a "meeting" sounds like he doing whatever he can. Good on him i reckon. But i think most people need to chill out a bit.... Some one learning to kite got launched down the beach!! Its nothing new! Its hardly surprising! I know i did it! Pity some one got hurt, but its gonna happen..

Just make sure everyones got plenty of room, seems pretty simple to me....

nebbian said...

Gstar said...

Here's your solution. Gets my vote anyway.

Not sure I agree with this, where you want to put the kite school is where the windsurfers launch and land from. I do both, and I'm a lot happier being around learner kiters when kiting than when windsurfing.

Perhaps this is what Kitehard is intending?

To me Nebbian's map seems to make sense.
It might not seem logical to have the learners upwind but at least then when they drift down wind they only end up amongst the more experienced kiters who should be able to stay out of there way even if they do have to cut there run in a bit short at times. Rather than drifting with downed kites through the area where the windsurfers are and where the dreaded Pinna's triangle (wind shadow) makes it hard to relaunch.
No matter where the experienced kiters launch they should be able to go upwind or downwind to wherever they see fit to kite.
In my experience kiting alongside poleys at some of the more popular wave locations, experienced kiters and poley's can share a location without to many drama's.
I realise though that does still leave the grey area of the beginner/intermediates who have had lessons and are just starting out on their own and may not be able to hold ground. So perhaps this could be more of just a guideline than set in stone.

I learnt at Pinnaroo and because I didn't want to contend with traffic and get in the way whilst learning, I would walk up to the start of the dog beach area and body drag (at first) or do short tacks (when I could) until I was back near the point, then come in and do the walk back to the dog beach area and start over again.
There is generally not as much traffic there, the wind is cleaner and if you lose your board there is more chance of it ending up back on the beach wether on it's own accord or after being picked up by the more experienced kiters downwind.

I must admit I haven't kited there in the last couple of years, so am not really aware of the current circumstances but that's my 2 cents anyway.

Kitehard said...

SammyJ said...
I don't agree with cordoning off the beach and water physically with cones, but segregation and maybe a movable free standing sign placed either end of lesson area lesson explaining potential hazards to the public would be appropriate.

Hi SammyJ,

Thanks for the input, much appreciated.

Do you mean signs a bit like these ones?



Cheers mate,

KH

Well there you go, I should have known better, in fact I did kind of think in the back of my mind you probably already do have it.

So now there just needs to be an agreement on segregation of areas put the sign's in place and happy days again.

pfr go neck a cock with ur fairy attitude... darren and aks was at that beach way before other kiters were and the school shows more than adequate respect to the public.. it is by far the most credible school in aus. people insist on rigging up to the south and where they teach instead of to the north where they are not.

au_rick said...

Abesy said...

also there are much better places to ride, including waveslaves local wave down in mandurah.

yeh,
wouldn't he be pi$$ed if a kite school stated up on that beach [}:)]

Sorry,
Mandurah is a kitedragging school free zone.
Crew teach mates...
it's a weird concept but it seems to work ok.
lol.

Hi Guys,

An update on the situation:

This evening we had our meeting with the local kiters who could be bothered to turn up and discussed ways to improve everyone's experience at Pinnaroo Point.

Meeting numbers were low (excluding staff there were 5 people) so I assume not too many people were interested or were concerned with the way things are or have been to date.

Despite the low turnout, we did come up with two great ideas.

1/ A sign be placed at the entrance to the beach with the rules/guidelines applicable to Pinnaroo Point. The locals felt this was a great idea as it gave them some back up or some form of official reference to guide behaviour of newcomers and locals alike. A code of conduct is probably a better name for it.

I will contact council to gain permission to install a proper sign in an appropriately conspicuous location. I will also draft up the guidelines and offer them up for consultation/discussion with the locals and edit/improve them til we are all happy. I will either pay for it myself or ask WAKSA to contribute to the cost of the sign. A wooden sandwich board wont do it.

2/ We all agreed a launching and landing corridor was a smart idea where people could move about safely without stepping around or over kites. This area is to be set aside directly in front of the driveway/accessway down to the water and 25m up and down wind of the center of the drive. You will not be permitted to leave kites on the beach in this area unless in the act of launching or landing your kite. Once landed, lines are to be rolled up, and the kite itself moved off to another place for storage, preferably closer to the dunes to keep the remaining beach as "clean" of kites as possible also.

This is a great initiative and is exactly how it is in Kailua in Oahu. It works VERY well and enhances the experience for all beach users from Fisho's, catamaran sailors, boaties launching and retrieving boats and also the general public. If we have a focused area where most launching and landing takes place, then it is more easily supervised and more likely for someone experienced to assist in launching and landing your kite which makes it safer for all.

For those that came and had a few beers/wines and contributed, many thanks! We're on the right track to a safer and better kiting experience in the future.

On a side note, I had a visit from the student injured in the incident and his father this evening. We had a good chat and he looks a lot better than the last time I saw him. One hell of a shiner though . He is hoping to visit the beach soon and return to finish off his lessons. We had a good chat and shared a few laughs and I thank them for being so cool about it all.

So much good has come from this accident, change that otherwise wouldn't have happened. A few people thought that everyone was being more careful with launching and landing than previously. Perhaps the beach/school needed this accident???

So long as good comes from this accident, then it has not been a waste or a negative. Thanks to all the people who contributed decent replies and posts on this thread, and for the many supporting PM's, phone calls and kind words from the Pinnacrew.

Cheers!

KH

Proposed clear area for launching and landing

Get a kn life WS
IMO not wearing a leash is uncool 'DUDE'