The others (non kiters) need to understand a little bit more about the sport. Some complaints can be coming from situations that are not dangerous. Just the other week I went about 10-15m downwind of someone, and they yelled out "TOO CLOSE". Sure if I was upwind of them it would have been, but being downwind I was no risk to them. Of course I said sorry and just moved away.
Situations like that when WE know its safe for the bystander might be getting complaints aswell.

GENERAL
Kite surfers leave wave of complaints in wake

Funny they had the same topic of conversation in our staffroom at TAFE this morning. One of my co-workers expressed her disdain with kiters at Brighton/Scarborough...

Feeling harrassed by kiters riding/jumping amongst swimmers and lines at neck height brushing past, presumably by riders walking upwind with the kite over the beach. Also that we're walking kites through the dunes, not sticking to paths etc.

The warnings are there, we can ignore them at our own peril.

Bo

Best to start taking some photos of dune walkers and show-offs. The ocean is HUGE, there is NO REASON to be kiting near a swimmer once you are powered and on the water..................come on guys and gals clean up your act because a ban will effect you the most!

Right on Harry!

Not ALL soccer moms though.

Funny thing is that kids and dogs love to be in and among the kites...most really like the vibe....but some (dogs especially) freak out. Had a dog try and bite my leading edge at KS for the longest time....just me and the dog on Thursday. Just wait until the crazy soccer moms start pulling on your bar.

Yeah dogs are wicked. They bark and bark, and when I fly the kite closer to them the run off as fast as they can, and slowly creep back. Very funny. The owners enjoy watching it too.
And they might be able to "ban" kitesurfing, but they will have a hard time "stopping" kitesurfing.
I think they clubbies on the 1000ft douche bag boards are more of a menace. Especially when they are trying to surf the waves in between the flags, and their leashless boards are let loose amoung the swimmers.

I know this is slightly of beat to this topic but gota tell ya,s about Sunday at Casterway's beach Noosa.....kite clinic being run by our local kite shop,topic....self rescue,beach safety.....50m's down the beach dad is teaching his young son to kite....he was prety good for a 12 yr old,wind was strong weather was lousy.......anyway's a group of 'onlookers' were watching right in the kill zone of this youngin's kite,while we were all discussing public edicate.What were the family meant to do ,tell the group of people to p##s off,or come in ,pack up?..... kiteing activity was way down the beach,away from the public.... how are kiters meant to constantly deal with ignorant people that 'sticky beak' then turn around and say"those kites are too dangerous","should not be allowed on a public beach"....yes we are trying to be concious of those around us,I'm personaly sick of the constant ridicule kiters are copping from all angles while the majority of kiters are just trying to enjoy there time on the water!

Mr Float is right onto it because this article is not bad at all.
It does, in fact include numerous positives about kiting.

It could have been far worse. Yes, the headline is alarmist, but hey, it is a cowboy tabloid paper we are talking about here.

Of course, kiters should stay well clear of swimmers, but there's nothing in that article that would seem to threaten any sort of ban. Like the guy says, it happenned with windsurfers back in the day and I'm sure all sorts of other waters get complaints from swimmers and beach walkers regularly.

Its important to remember that in their minds they came first and we came second (Its actually the case too),we are the minority group with the big scary thing at the end of our lines .Respect the masses and keep your beach open to kiting.

Jimmyz said...

I once had some mother freak out at me telling me not to fly my kite near her kids (near the lagoon at dee why for those of you who know it). I told her that as long as I remained downwind of them that is was physically impossible for my kite to harm her precious babies... and that they don't just fall outof the sky.

She spent the entire afternoon eyeballing me as if I was out to kill her children... sheesh I dont even think I crashed my kite once that afternoon.

I must say, I've been asked more times "is it fun?" or "does the kite pull hard?" than been complained at... then again, maybe I look like I'm high off my nut with my big fat grin ... might worry a few people [}:)]

Jimmyz said...

I once had some mother freak out at me telling me not to fly my kite near her kids (near the lagoon at dee why for those of you who know it). I told her that as long as I remained downwind of them that is was physically impossible for my kite to harm her precious babies... and that they don't just fall outof the sky.

She spent the entire afternoon eyeballing me as if I was out to kill her children... sheesh I dont even think I crashed my kite once that afternoon.

I must say, I've been asked more times "is it fun?" or "does the kite pull hard?" than been complained at... then again, maybe I look like I'm high off my nut with my big fat grin ... might worry a few people [}:)]

Yeah,thanks for that Jimmy,one potential complainer to add to the list ,ONE STEP CLOSER TO A BAN,thanks to you and the others that fly kites near beach users and children in the lagoon.

Unfortunately kites DO fall out of the sky!

And yeah, babies ARE precious !

I just hope that the lady you offended is not connected to the Council.
There has been some trouble there before,and there will be again if clowns insist on crashing kites on the beach in that area,or riding in the lagoon when there are children playing in it.

Some of you just don't get it!

I am not sure of the exact official veiw of AKSA,but basically it's accepted that Kitesurfers must give way to ALL other beach users.

So,for your information, DO NOT FLY YOUR KITE NEAR CHILDREN.

Guy's,all this stuff starts everyone argueing over the same thing,there is so many people watching 'those magnificent men on there flying machines' some day's at the Noosa riv/mth its enough to create wind shear!.Why dont we all create our own sect er I mean church,'Church of Kiteing Fundamentalists' have a huge tax dodge,buy an Island in the Cocas somewhere,build a luxury clubhouse er I mean house of worship,and kite till ya drop er I mean head back to the mainlands and preach the learnings"one must meditate to reach the zenith without looking up"

Ok . Who was it
Looking at that pick it doesnt seem too bad. The rider is hardly moving. Sometimes swimmers pop outta nowhere, and your only option is to slow right down. If he had hit him, it would have been nothing compared to a surfboard hitting him at full speed.
It when the kiters come screaming through that problems arise.

If I've learn't anything about the media, you cant trust them. The swimmer was probably a mate of the photographer who told him what sort of shot he needed.....The photo and headline tell a different story from the contents of the story!

I recon the councils shouldn’t put out coast wide bans on Kiting (and agree, from what I have seen its defiantly coming) it’s totally unfair when only a small minority of people doing the wrong thing.

The best thing the local councils could do is to impose fines and confiscate the gear of the individuals that are causing the problems. Anything that looks like reclass behaviour, not respecting other beach users or putting peoples lives in danger.

For example, the guys that walk up Melville beach flying the kites over the road, kiters rigging and launching on the beach along side sunbathers and children then subsequently crash the kites almost on top of them. And obviously anyone that kites through the flags should be shot on site.

It doesn’t matter who has right of way at the time, we are the danger so we should move away. A 100m walk up the beach for a safe launch isn’t that big a deal.

This option is defiantly a win win situation, the council start to raise some revenue and keeps the public safe, we keep the beaches open to kiting and get rid of all the idiots.

I have just completed my recreational skipper’s ticket, maybe we need some kind of basic licensing / registration like this, could be through WAKSA ?. It could be combined with their third party insurance (which I recon should be compulsory if kiting anyway) and even some kind of registration number positioned on the kite for identification.

Personally I would be happy to do anything to keep the beaches and rivers open to kiting

Cheers

Mark

rooey said...

Guy's,all this stuff starts everyone argueing over the same thing,there is so many people watching 'those magnificent men on there flying machines' some day's at the Noosa riv/mth its enough to create wind shear!.Why dont we all create our own sect er I mean church,'Church of Kiteing Fundamentalists' have a huge tax dodge,buy an Island in the Cocas somewhere,build a luxury clubhouse er I mean house of worship,and kite till ya drop er I mean head back to the mainlands and preach the learnings"one must meditate to reach the zenith without looking up"

I LOVE THIS GUY

I cannot see why there has been complaints from Mullaloo. All beach users go to the point or between the flags at the surf-club and hardly any (if any at all) go throughout the whole mid stretch of the beach, unless they are walking. All kiters ride downwind of the flags and upwind af the point, and try to avoid people. When ever we are walking up the beach, we keep our kites high. Whenever we get dragged downwind towards the point we choose theleast crowded spot to get out, and yet there are still complaints from beach-goers. We do just about everything to avoid them for not only thier safety but also our own, and so that we have more freedomm when riding without having to worry about other people. Just about the only time beach-goers come into contact with us, is if they are walking and we are launching/ landing our kites and ever then we wait untill the area is clear before doing this. If there are restrictions put in mullaloo it woulds just make the place more dangerous to kiters (as a smaller area means more kiters packed together) and there would be even more complaints because we would not stick to that zone (deleberately or non-deliberately) so that it was safer for us, or if the wind was so light we had to keep riding downwind. Will someone please explain to me why the people at Mullaloo have been complaining?

And by the way, every single person who has approached me at mullaloo has said something along the lines of: 'hey mate, how ya doin? how long have you bin riding for? Is it fun? How hard is it? Your kite looks good. Got any pointers if i wanted to start? Wow that looks like a heap of fun!' ectectect. All of the people who have approached me have had huge grins on thier faces, and all been genuinly interested in the sport, wanting to find out the smallest bit of info about it. Almost every time i have been down there almost every beach go-er watches all the kiters and kites with smiles on thier faces. All the parents point out the kites to thier kids and smile at the kiter, or just say hi. I have not yet seen ONE person at mullaloo who has been even slightly bored of the sport, let alone against it!