Hey ..... for 10 years I played 1st grade rugby and trained in full contact karate in New Zealand, and recieved or witnessed these injuries during play. I personally had a broken forearm arm, dislocated Knee, 20 to thirty stitches in my head from getting punched or kicked, 3 broken noses, ..... I also witnessed 40 or 50 dudes fully knocked out, 2 broken legs, lots of split heads and broken noses, many broken fingers, and many a dude taken to hospital etc etc etc.... and was involved in 2 large Rugby brawls where both teams were involved and up the 20 bystanders joined in the mayhem.

Strangely we all played this game because we were having fun, all competitive types , and got to hang out with our mates. No one ever had little pissy fits after the event. OK, we got to also drink alot of beer .... not alot else to do in NZ.

Come on Kite and Windsurfer flowery dudes - Toughen the Fark up.

Matt (reflex) you are one of the Great WA Water Men ( with a big smile) lead by example and show the love.

Mask said...

I got stung by a bee once.

I remember that,
you broke a nail on the same day,,,,HARDCORE.
And these old poledancers scared sh!tless of a piece of string????LOL

theDoctor said...

JohnnoKeys said...

......3 broken noses

how many noses do you have..?

That's gold
It's good to see most of the kiters here have given Matt support as he wasn't chasing blame, just understanding to a hazard.
I was in his position when about to go down the line at Scarbs a kite was dropped on me. I got rolled up in the lines when tumbled over the falls pinning my arms to my side while my gear got worked in the shore break. If struggling to breath and swim in the shore break without the use of your arms and worried that the kite will power up is being soft then so be it.
I was lucky that my mates jumped in to help as the guy was still hooked in and the kite hit by waves really put the squeeze on.
I've been hit and snaked quite a few times now by both kites and sailboards but for me it's the lines that make the BIG difference. It does drive me nuts that those without the skills will risk our safety in a small area at Scarbs and for what?
I think you'll find it's not just a matter of having to share the waves in the one area but the safety side of it and not having to look over your shoulder, hey, I wouldn't mind trying kiteing myself but I just wouldn't tell my windsurfing buddies