Great day on the water for everyone, at times 5m kites and 4 m sails!!! windy.

I'm happy to be courteous, and leave room for the poleys, but why should the kiters move?? Buzzy's post implies that anytime a poley starts sailing, we humble kiters are supposed to assume that the poleys are intimidated by us, and go elsewhere.If your not comfortable, go somewhere else(further upwind/downwind). I'm not trying to start any hatfield/mccoy slanging match, but there has been a few instances over the years when i've seen poleys rig up and go sailing at a location where there were already kiters sailing, and then expect the kiters to move, or whinge about kiters not moving in the forums.
Most surfers are intimidated by S.U.P's paddle surfing "right in the middle of us"however as the ocean in free they either have too cope, or go somewhere else. I've been surfing and had Buzzy turn up and use the extra volume of an sup to get more than his share of waves.
Courtesy is a 2 way street...
If we are going to start inventing arbitrary right of way rules, I say anyone that can walk to the beach, from their house, with their gear, has right of way in all situations

Here is the relevant part of the PM Buzzy sent me:

Sailor heading out has right of way, Starboard tack has right of way. So when a windsurfer is heading out at Carlton he has two rules on side and once he is taken out by kite lines its time to mention the fact that the kiter in question is operating in a dangerous manner and needs to be made aware of it.

Caleb is correct in this instance. For some reason I missed this detail in his original post.

cramhobart said..

Here is the relevant part of the PM Buzzy sent me:

Sailor heading out has right of way, Starboard tack has right of way. So when a windsurfer is heading out at Carlton he has two rules on side and once he is taken out by kite lines its time to mention the fact that the kiter in question is operating in a dangerous manner and needs to be made aware of it.

Caleb is correct in this instance. For some reason I missed this detail in his original post.

Marc's response "If you want to educate people about port/ starboard etc then put it in that context"

There was no intent to try and educate people. The fact remains that if the kiters involved had not been continually operating within the group of windsurfers the incidents would not have happened. The kiter involved in the mentioned incident did try to give way but the area was so conjested there was no way he could. Hense its better for the more dangerous craft to locate themselves to a nearby area and keep other water users safe as indicated in my original post, not kite straight out into the group of windsrufers and stay amoungst them.
There was no need to start to preach right of way rule or bring up unrelated situations that happened in the past, we need to move forward and enjoy the water together in a safe manner giving enough room to avoid incidents.

I forgot about the points

Yes hijacked a bit but actually quite a civilised thread.

Anyhow I had a great time on the new kite and I'm pretty sure everyone else had a ball too.

It's quite an odd debate given how few people actually get out on the water... Coming from caloundra in QLD where we'd have as many as 65 kites in a space the size of Cremorne. Not joking.

In fact since coming to tassie I've developed a fear of open spaces....

The more the merrier!

I've got a bit of stuff on this weekend but should get out on the water at some point at least.

I remember when this debate came up a few years back between the kiters and windsurfers. We had some good chats about it at Cremorne Lagoon. Shortly afterwards I flew up to support my partner at the 2011 PKRA Australia event and was chilling out with some international kiters at the prize night. One kiter was from Tarifa and we got talking about our local congestion issues. He asked me how many kiters and windsurfers were involved, I said 8. He sprayed his beer over the table, laughed and asked me if I was serious because he was dealing with thousands of both over a stretch of beach half as big as Carlton.

In Mauritius (we spend a bit of time there now) kiters and windsurfers exist together in very close proximity on the waves. Usually in wave riding it's the rider on the wave who has right of way and the rider coming out gives way. Both have learnt to have good situational awareness sailing in close proximity following standard rules.

We're so damn lucky in Tasmania - I miss it:) It took me a while to adjust to kiting in close proximity to others overseas.

I understand how the windsurfers feel especially given the history and there is no excuse for kiting dangerously - but its useful to note that people who travel here from overseas have a completely different take on appropriate space than we do and will have no idea that they are ruffling a few feathers by kiting what is perceived to be too close upwind.

Great pics and good to see the crew in action Voitek!!
ps - it's Lisa here - Mikey must have been logged in

If the space is big enough then I don't see a problem with kiters staying downwind of windsurfers. Kaleb & I have kiteboarded and know the dangerous capabilities of an out of contol powered up kite. Not saying that all kiters are out of control but mishaps can happen which we/I have witnessed first hand. I have horrible visions of a kite ending up in the water up wind of me and the lines wrapping around my neck. I have choosen to persuit the safer sport so please respect that. It's not a "it's my water I'm allowed where I want" it's all purely about safety for others, common sense, respect.