Poley sounds like he was a tool, but if there is an accepted nomans land that creates a 'barrier' between the poleys and kiters then both parties need to ensure that it's adhered to. Spots like Melville are so over-crowded at times we can't afford to have douche-bags doing their own thing and ruining it for the rest of us. If there are unofficial separate zones for poleys and kiters then these need to be respected.

Red sail , no number , not bald , darkish complexion .. I think this was a different one..

I don't mind a bit of abuse but this guy was dangerous ... I wonder if it happens again we should call the police and get him charged with attempted something ??

dusta said..

Monkers said..

Red sail , no number , not bald , darkish complexion .. I think this was a different one..

I don't mind a bit of abuse but this guy was dangerous ... I wonder if it happens again we should call the police and get him charged with attempted something ??

just dump the kite right in front of him

What a stirling idea....

surfzup said..

dusta said..

Monkers said..

Red sail , no number , not bald , darkish complexion .. I think this was a different one..

I don't mind a bit of abuse but this guy was dangerous ... I wonder if it happens again we should call the police and get him charged with attempted something ??

just dump the kite right in front of him

What a stirling idea....

From your description, my fellow windsurfer could be anything between: a careless speed sailor not looking before a speed run, to: someone with a serious chip on their shoulder towards kiters, making (as stated above) a complete tool of himself.

Did it all happen while he was on a single run? Or was it a series of runs where he definitely took aim each time?

Either way, it doesn't sound like you did anything particularly wrong.

I know as a windsurfer, it can be a little frustrating having kites straight out the front of the launch area /near by in general. There are a number of banks at Melville that windsurfers can't sail over with a big fin in their board, which means for most a lot of gybing practice. it can be quite frustrating when there's a bank coming up, you want to swing into a gybe and there's a kiter just below you (who can cruise straight over the bank on their TT). Sure we can swing up instead and tack but it's not as much fun as a planing gybe.

None of what I said above justifies doing kamikaze runs at kiters though, just saying it might be the source of some of his frustration, if you ended up opposite the car park where we rig up. He should've just come and talked to you if he perceived there to be a problem.

Monkers said..

The windsurfer did 3 runs .. Each time he gathered speed and then pointed down wind trying to take out kitesurfers .. Not cool !!

Why was he trying to take them out?

Monkers said..

See previous comments ...

Zed said..

Monkers said..

The windsurfer did 3 runs .. Each time he gathered speed and then pointed down wind trying to take out kitesurfers .. Not cool !!

Why was he trying to take them out?

They went into "no-mans land" - poley shouldn't have been so aggressive, but they shouldn't have been there. Next time maybe they'll think twice. Just because you're a kiter Monkers doesn't mean you have to side with every single kiter. It's not kiters vs poleys... it's poleys & kiters vs douchebag poleys & kiters. There are a lot of douche-bag kiters out there, distance yourself from them, don't side with them.
They are the ones that kite where they shouldn't, kite in between the flags, jumping over kids bodyboarding, flying in & out of the poleys, launching where they shouldn't - they give us a bad name..

You might get a pole square up the arse glug .

Haha nice one glug..

i dont really think its us against them .. i know some windsurfers and (although gay) they are nice chaps .. Just kidding :)

I actually think its ok for us to kite in no mans land if there arnt any windsurfers . There is no reason why there has to be a 200m gap between the groups... At Saftey bay they seem to be separated by a meter or 2 or just all mixed up and get along no worries .. Mmmm maybe that's a bad example .

Anyhow this is getting besides the point that this particular windsurfer was well out of line ..

I can this happening more often though as pressure builds up by the ever increasing numbers of kiters in the area...

.