dave...... said...

And kite-boy its not your local, Secret Harbour is where you live, Mate I've kited with since you learnt. Ease up on forigners, as your not an indigenous australian either.

I was out at my "local" a few years back, and was kiting with myself and one other guy out. I decided to take a rest on the shore and signed my kite over the water.

A french guy walked upwind of me and decided to take off 3m upwind, he crashed and the result was a full tangle. I hit my QR immediately, and told him to do the same thing as he was in ankle deep water. He didnt and as a result two of my lines were snapped.I asked him nicely how he's going to pay for my lines. "I dont speak english", in perfect english was the reply, I simply told him, I know where he lives in the shared house with the La reunion boys and through total negligence Its your fault. After swearing at me in French, which Im quite fluent at, I laughed and took out my hook knife and said mate, either we sort this out or its an eye for an eye, and I know nobody sells F1's here and my parts are easier to get. He soon changed his mind. It cost him $150 to fix my kite through a deal by Dan at WSP. Sure be assertive, but agression gets you nowhere except in a fight, I've seen plenty growing up surfing triggs point as a grommet. His mates wrote him off, I taught him a few things he missed in his lessons and we were good mates. Ive done varoius martial arts since I was 11 years old and could have easily decked the guy, for what? a stay in the local lockup. Win stinging bee's with honey, rather than wacking the nest with a stick.

whaha this makes kiteboys story even more rediculous. it is not even his local! haha. I thought safety bay was "his own beach"

Best scientific process tells us the earth has been orbiting the earth for 4.5 billion years.

That's 4,500,000,000, years. Look at that number again.

Oldest human (outside the Bible where they lived to 700, ha ha) is something like 125.

Who, seriously, is going to claim a piece of this planet as theirs?

Localism is absurd.

Most people who try to enforce localism are 'tough' in a pack, and passive alone.

Read cowardly.

dave...... said...

And kite-boy its not your local, Secret Harbour is where you live, Mate I've kited with you since you learnt. Ease up on forigners, as your not an indigenous australian either.

LOL I met kiteboy years ago - He's a pomme.

I have a big issue with people who just say kite accidents happen. It's bull and we all know it.

Accidents happen for a handful of reasons which include:

1. Beginners who don't know what they are doing
2. People riding over powered
3. Equipment failure

The idea that none of these are preventable is a joke. Whilst I don't condone locallism and anti-euro mentality, there is one thing we need to remember: those people who are not local don't have to live with the consequences of a ban. They can happily go back to wherever they came from and continue kiting long after our beaches are closed.

I also find this whole idea that accidents will happen while unhooking rediculous, like being a good rider entitles you to some special treatment. There are enough examples of handle pass leashes designed to function with a QR. The North and Best double rings are an example of this. I also don't accept that leashes snap when there are leashes designed specifically for handle passes. If you're too cheap to buy the right gear, then you shouldn't be doing it. Kiting is an extreme sport, the only difference is most other extreme sports have athletes that are smart enough to know something about risk mitigation. I.e. selecting the right conditions, selecting the right gear and taking the appropriate precautions to make sure that if something goes wrong, you are prepared for it. If people aren't trained to read conditions or make the appropriate decisions then our training system needs a complete overhaul.

The fact that it's acceptable for beginners to make mistakes is also bull. If theyre not capable of riding in conditions at a particular spot, then they shouldnt be kiting there until they can...period! If every beginner is allowed to make mistakes that impact on the future of the sport, we're in for a very bumpy ride that includes a lot of bans because there are a lot of people taking up this sport.

Is this a rant? Damn ****ing right it is and with good reason. I'm tired of this ****house mentality that it's okay for us to do whatever we want without thinking about the consequences of other riders. There are other people out there who would like to keep the beaches open and don't want to have to jump through 25 legislative hoops to continue our sport because some douche bag couldnt give a rats ass about his fellow riders. No one is bigger than this sport, it may be an individual sport but we all have to live with the outcome of these actions.

Unfortunately we can ony give saffer 1 green thumb each, this is not a rant, it is a summary of facts, and doesnt come across negatively at all for those who are responsibility. How many times have I taken time out of a session to rescue someones board, cause they cant bodydrag back to it when their only 30-40m down-wind of it....? Rescued someone elses kite, cause they didnt do a quick maintenence check before they went out, or their leash "Broke"???? If the water authority finds a kite in the water, they will send out a rescue party to look for you. Write your name and phone number on your kite, its actually a lot harder to sell if stolen! How many do this?

I see some bans happening in the future, especially in WA where winds are especially strong. I'd like to see a registration number on a kite. "KS-069"??? so reckless kiters can be held responsible for reckless actions. Until the 5% are held accountable things will just get worse with the exponential growth of the sport. The IKO zero-to-hero thing is a joke, and many instructors just shouldnt be teaching those cheap and nasty lessons, its the blind leading the blind. Is it the german kitesurfing course that takes a lot longer than 7 days, and everyone eventually passes irrespective of their communication skills, and competency?

To the general public, we are crazy wind jetskis, with long lines that can potentially amputate. Rant over, peace out, lets all just be a little more proactive.

Hi
What I like is that we have the same discussion in Europe
but don't worry they don't aim especially the aussie guys
I don't think the nationality has anything to do in the debate
see u on the water!!