Windsurfing scarbs yesterday

Spent 12 minutes swimming at scarbs wrapped in lines after someone dropped their kite on me. Me, my board and rig had lines tangled throughout. got some minor burns on my legs

i let him know i wasnt happy - and may have sworn a bit in the heat of the moment - i was pretty pissed off at the time

The guy just kept saying seaweed got in my lines - he took no responsibility , no apologies. I am happy to say all ended without major incident

i felt bad afterwards when i saw him walk up the beach with his gear looking pretty dispirited and wanted to say no hard feelings - but couldnt catch him. So if you read this - no hard feelings! but try and take some responsibilty in future..

5 minutes later and some guy with a poostance launches a 15 ft air and lands 5 ft upwind of me. (i have been guilty of doing this when i used to kite :) )

this is the worst incident i have had- however i get hit by lines on average 5 or so times each season. And i am just one of about 30 regular windsurfers at Brighton - so do the maths on that one..

There seems to be some increasing agro in the water -alot of the sailors at the beach have stories of getting hit by boards etc etc - and there is a real level of concern

As windsurfers at Scarbs we are getting quite a few kiters come through the area - meanwhile we are squashed into a zone 150m or so long between the kite zone and the swimming flags by the amphitheater.

I dont want to start a turf war and i reckon things would go smoothly if we try and have a self enforced zone
Would it be possible to educate crew kiting at Scarbs to give us some space ?

As usual its USUALLY not the experienced guys - but the intermediate - often tt riding crew that are causing the grief. I dont mind riding with the competent guys - but i know alot of the other sailors feel uncomfortable with any kiter near them

For the record - Niall was busting out some nice aerials on the surfboard and making it look good.

I usually pull up stumps on the downwinder at Brighton.

When I do continue on to Trigg I head out back pretty much around the 100m or so where the poleys are running 'lanes' back n forth.

I see at least 50% of kites fang straight accross the lanes tho with no regard for the established protocol or right of way. If do that and you've got eyes you can see that it is plainly obvious you are doing the wrong thing.

It's not hard to be considerate.. you just need to extract ya head from ya freckle and not be sooooo greedy.

Or continue on ya selfish way then cry to mummy when all n sundry hate kiting and have it removed from public beaches. Permenantly.

WAKE UP.


Thanks for a level headed post Reflex. Hope the kite tangle doesn't repeat.

It sounds like you guy's need to have more beers in the car park post sesh.

No worries dude, sorry bout dumping my kite on you, next time I will try and stay a bit further away.

" i get hit by lines on average 5 or so times each season"

Bring on the red thumb if you want but I will put it bluntly,
You are full of S%^T or you are purposely driving into people's lines.

I kite there pretty much everyday and it never happens, I haven't been hit by lines 5 times in my life!

I windsurfed for 15 years so I have great respect and understanding, I always make sure to cruise through your little patch as quick as I can not to bother anyone since you are sooooo paranoiac about kites.

There shouldn't be an issue, it is a big ocean and we are all there for the same reason,to have fun.

Mate, no hard feelings, you actually sound alright and are untitle to a bit of aggro when someone cleans you up but I am sick of the drama queens who freak out for no reasons.

Finished a downwinder at Mettams pool the other day, was heading back in and I could hear this windsurfer scream his head off because I was heading towards him!!!

I jibed in an instant about 50 meters from him and headed back out not to give him a heart attack but come on, relax.

Newbies are an issue tho, but we all have to go through that stage.

Hope to see you out there with a great big smile on your gob and if you want to give me a run on your board,it has been 6 years since I sold all my windsurfing gear and I would dearly love to see if I can still do it half decent.

You should carry a hook knife Reflex.
Like this



You can get them at most kite stores around the place for about $20
They slip on your harness without being in the way

If i dropped my kite on someone i would hope they had a hook knife and expect my lines get shredded.

Tangled in the lines & burns !!!!!!

Im with Poor Rely, buy the knife

Anyone who is stoopid enough to do this and there is absolutely no excuse for it..... deserves to have there lines cut to untangle yourself.

Garunteed he will never make that mistake again!

Good on ya for saying something "Reflex Films"

No one likes it when it all turns to S#&T.

As from an earlier thread, a smile and an apology goes further than abuse and agro

this forum is a good place to let people know areas to kite and areas to stay clear

I love this sport........ so many opinions

re: 12 mins - the timing was done not by me but by the group of spectators watching from the car park....it felt like alot longer to me.

Just after the tangle and then near miss jump i sailed out the back and was coming back in upwind when i saw a loose kite blowing downwind (sans lines) with the owner chasing it - it was tumbling and spinning alot faster than the guy could run.

It went about 100m down the beach - bugger all sunbathers on the beach though due to the wind- and then up into the dunes

A windsurfer standing with his gear on the beach bolted up the path and secured it as it was making its way across the dunes and towards the car park. A nice example of the wind crew looking out for each other.

I notice that you didn't take me on my offer to ride your board

^^^^
I saw both of these incidents. Good on you reflex for keeping your cool and being balanced about it all. Shame some of your tool windsurf mates don't have the same attitude

Sorry guys, can't help myself

Here's a photo posted before of a mate of mine (yes I do have kite mates) from a few years ago, got himself tangled in his own lines. And na he didn't cut his head off, just don't want to embarrass him

ADS said...

^^^^
I saw both of these incidents. Good on you reflex for keeping your cool and being balanced about it all. Shame some of your tool windsurf mates don't have the same attitude

Some polies even posted here to try and prevent these incidents but were criticised by some kiters for daring to speak. Kiters who agreed with the polies were red thumbed to bejeezus. Interesting. Seems there are tools in your camp too. (not saying you are ADS, just balancing the equation)

So anyway, at Scarbs in one day there was Reflex getting tangled in lines, then somebody boosted and landed really close to him, and then another guy chasing a kite flat out down the beach.
Sounds like "fun" that I'd rather not be around.

waveslave said...

poor relative said...

If i dropped my kite on someone i would hope they had a hook knife and expect my lines get shredded.

Wrong. ^^^
Poleys don't carry knives.
Why would they ?
So what can be done when a dude gets wrapped up in a ball of string ?
Well,
The kiter can flag to a single line to dump all the power but in doing so (that single line) may or may not tighten up around the victim.
Or,
The kiter can cut loose (no knife required) his kite. The death-leash will need to be detached first. The kite will not power up cause there's no traction at the bar.

Please offer any suggestions.

I've got a suggestion for you, but it's a bit off topic so I'll bite my tongue.
Maybe you could learn from this

porka said...

waveslave said...

poor relative said...

If i dropped my kite on someone i would hope they had a hook knife and expect my lines get shredded.

Wrong. ^^^
Poleys don't carry knives.
Why would they ?
So what can be done when a dude gets wrapped up in a ball of string ?
Well,
The kiter can flag to a single line to dump all the power but in doing so (that single line) may or may not tighten up around the victim.
Or,
The kiter can cut loose (no knife required) his kite. The death-leash will need to be detached first. The kite will not power up cause there's no traction at the bar.

Please offer any suggestions.

I've got a suggestion for you, but it's a bit off topic so I'll bite my tongue.
Maybe you could learn from this

Well there you go. ^^^
I tried to be helpful with a couple of suggestions and Porka the Poley slags me off.
Fine.
You figure it out Porka next time you're all wrapped up in string like a butcher's parcel.
lol.

I've had it happen a couple of times to me, every time I dove for the bottom and swam like a bstrd the moment that I saw that the strings were touching my sail.

Abandon ship!

Worked for me.


And as for the crazy slave-logic that seems to suggest that flagging to one line (when the lines are connected to something in between the kiter and the kite) ... *mind boggles*

My experience suggests otherwise.