Should have said "from 50m North of the northern City Beach groyne = 'Floreat groyne'".

There should, of course, be no kiting between the two groynes.

Visitors, the groynes are the breakwaters, long fingers of large rocks jutting out from the beach, the southern one has a watch tower on it.

Aren't those guidelines pretty much what were suggested by responsible kiters about 2-3 years ago, yet they were abused and redthumbed ad nauseum? All they were trying to do was prevent conflict.

NOW that councils are all thinking about bans etc etc (ie: too late) suddenly it is a good idea..........

Needs an edit under "Respect" though. Instead of just "fellow kiters" how about "...... and other water users such as windsurfers and surfers who may have different manoueverability or pick up and ride waves in a different manner to kiters. Be aware of what others may be about to do, or need to do to get out out through the break, and be courteous"

richswing said...

If you're looking for respect, then go and. Look in your relevant forum instead of stoking the fire here.
There are good people in all walks of life and sports, lay off, your act is getting old.

TBH what mark said is quite spot on.
Might not be said in the best way possible but his point of view is understandable and statements correct.

Good to see the locals actively working towards solutions though, big thumbs up to both scabs and mullaloo crews really.

yep -multiple kites in the water being washed through windsurf zone.

(by Windsurf zone i mean the 100m or so of beach that the windsurfers have been using to go sailing for the last 15 years or so- not an official zone)

multiple kite riders hanging in the windsurf zone in various states of relaunch ,crash and running through

old mate on the flysurfer was up to his usual tricks - go down the line - loose tension in lines and then twisted foil going all over the sky and into the water- seen this one about 10 times now from the same guy.

maybe somebody needs to word him up as he doesnt seem to be learning from his repeated **** ups

i was having a day off so it made for an enjoyable watch from the beach as i didnt have to deal with this annoying ****.

there were some nice waves cracking through

Niall was getting plenty of nice hacks as usual and showing respect by working the zone just to the south,

i dont think the zone officially kicks in till Dec 1 so perhaps the guidelines will be ignored till then

One more rule.
If you can boost higher than me I buy you a beer.

welcome back Bo, you only ever pop up to have a dig...it amazes me you are always there to see everything go down.

although I dont condone any bad etiquette, you cant expect every kiter out there to be glued to the internet and on top of all the changing rules and guidelines as they come to air.

Thanks Paul, I wasnt aware I had left

I happen to live nearly on Brighton Beach, kite, swim, bodyboard, cycle, have coffees multiple times a day sometimes.

I also like truth, even if its inconvenient

Coffee, for sure Paul. The Fig is pretty cool new brewhouse eh?

Regarding speaking to people, that's often unrealistic. In this case I'd have had to say goodbye to my delightful lunch partner, run after this crew all the way from City Beach to Trigg, hailing and gettin the finger in return, only to find myself outnumbered, jeered at, told to get fokkd etc.

And then in the arvo trying to catch and engage 2 dozen kiters would have made Don Quichote and his windmills look unremarkable.

Anyhow the fact that the the rules havnt kicked in, the signage is coming and the suggestion that crew hadnt heard about the rules are at least partially valid, so lets see what happens.

Me, I have a stretch of coast further north for kiting thats free of swimmers (apart fom seal an dolphins) and kiters too for that matter. I just don't get how we all have huddle together, kites touching, lines tangling, hemming in polers, swimmers, just to show our little bunny load and hops and those dreaded boardshorts over wetsuits. Yep, Im the weird old guy with the duck sun hat

Down winders... So today cranked. Smiles all round. And I managed to abide by the rules and stay out of the red zones. But I must point out: there were no swimming signs up at scarbs and I counted 2 ppl (surfers) in the water at floreat and 2 ppl (surfers aswell) in the water outside the amphitheater. And I know kiters were humming thru both zones. My question is: who's going to get upset if there's kites motoring thru there when there's NO-ONE in there? Surely the council need to consider this? Also I'm positive there are HEAPS of kiters who don't read these forums so until proper signage is erected EVERYWHERE authorities are dreaming if they think kiters will comply. (ye who doesn't know doesn't comply. )

Reading these forums, I hear alot of kite bashing from the wind surfing community, today at Scarbs after finishing a downwinder I deceided to watch the windsurfers from the pipe.

Low and behold I witnessed a surfer take off on this wave, get dumped, and then get run over from a windsurfer. Talk about unlucky.

Perhaps the windsurfing community should pipe down suggsesting that kiters alone are the problem. Both sports have their risk.

That being said, surfing amongst 15 windsurfers aint that smart.

Hey Dudes,

Got pulled a side yesteray by a senior clubbie who was on duty at Flozza. He asked that we let everyone know to stay at least 100m away from the swimmers near the surf club. He thanked everyone who was doing the right thing, but he was also openly pissed off that some dude on a green / blue n white kite came right through the flags an buzzed some kids swimming at about 3pm.

The guy said we were suppose to be 100m clear of all swimmers at all times ( even when the flags were down ) ?????

Locals must take it in to their own hands, good stuff WAKSA.

Locals should be less shy about interacting when they see wrong.....it is not a good thing.........dats fo sure.

Season is starting out with strain, and that would be normal given the long wait and explosive growth. I am positive that the locals will sort themselves out as the new kiters get to know each other.

If you are new to a spot...............talk to the locals and learn the rules.

I did a DW on Sunday and some D#$^ Head on a North kite (I think it was yellow as far as I can recall) was kiting North of the black pipe at Scarbs. The guy was show boating bigtime, tried to get his attention as I was passing but he either could not hear me or chose not too.

Jumped off my board and bobbed around for a bit to catch him on his outward tack but no luck either.

If I was not a fat ass I would have tried to catch him but my upwind ability is crap and the last time I chase someone down they chased after me with a 9" knife (even though I tried to ram him with my car) - ah the good old days in Africa.

We all make mistakes by getting caught up in the thrill and accidently going to deep into restricted zones but the D%$# head was blatantly showboating in the restricted zone.

Cheers
Rich

Ahh it's summer again and with it come out all the twin tip Mow-the-lawners at Scarbs and contacios.

I am going to have my grumpy old man whinge here:


Dear Lawnmower,

Please be aware ther are a few guidelines to make the beach a happy place and promote peace, love and harmony with your fellow kiters and beach users.

The First 2 rules of kiting are and will always be:
1. Downwind kite stay low, upwind kite stay high
2. Look behind before turning
If everyone disciplined themselves in these we could double the kiters out without it feeling like a crowd

If you are learning then please go somewhere without waves for your own sake if no one elses.

If you're not actually wave riding you should stay out of the surf zone, what is wrong with gybing 70m out. Otherwise you can really end up hogging the surf zone because you never go downwind

Wave riders have right of way, remember they can't watch other kiters and the wave when riding so try to avoid them, but having said that everyone must take care.

Please don't jump in the surf zone [unless youre doing aerials] as it's too crowded already, everyone thinks youre a knob and only you thinks its cool.

If you do try and jump then its a good idea to learn to land especially when you're coming down on my head.

If it's 30kts then the 12m might not be the best choice as you will be flying around with it at full mast like a right turkey pissing everyone else off as they try to get by.

When you launch or land you're kite why not just ask for help, no one will mind and they would prefer that than being lacerated by run away kite lines.

When getting help remember your 'thumbs up' means ready to let go and launch, and a 'pat on your head' is your request to land.

When you do land the kite don't just leave your lines draped right across the beach and walk off- roll them up first they are hazard and nuisance to everyone else, and the ranger really hates to have to get salt under his 4WD.

Happy Kitiing


Niall