Dangerous Windsurfer Brighton (WA)

Kiting near windsurfers is like driving near semi trailers, they are both big lumbering things that have a huuuge turning circle and poor brakes give them plenty of room.

Thats right Eppo . My two bob's worth as I have done both .

Its easy to write off windsurfing if you haven't done it - it is a great sport , but is more complex than kiting and therefore misunderstood . I only started kiting because of the Darwin factor , but have enjoyed the transition none the less

I'll generalise a bit here .

In windsurfing you need to bear away to get board speed to get the fin working which gives enough lift to get on the plane . This is critical .
Without that speed you are just glugging . So, when you gybe - which takes room to do anyway as you bear away to give you board speed through the turn - if you don't nail the gybe you will need to bear away again to get board speed after the turn , then comes apparent wind and then you bear upwind on a plane .
You do a lot of bearing away in windsurfing .

Then add to that wave riding - you tend to bear away to clear the break - bear upwind once clear of the break - choose your swell and gybe - bear hard upwind once you get the benefit of greater apparent wind when on the swell which gets you back upwind of your beach position - then ride the wave downwind and back to the beginning .
They are not trying to difficult , this how it is if you windsurf in waves

So it's a big triangle course you are sailing and it does take up more room than kiting - so chuck a kite in that course with a heap of windsurfers on that lineup and it will get messy

if you bear in mind the above you should be able to work with it - but it does not excuse the apparent dangerous riding being reported in this instance

Hope this helps

Cheers