I always check my shoulder before I turn at will, jump etc as pole dancers can sneak up on you especially if they are hitting some speed they have no way of avoiding you at that speed. I also always give way to pole dancers sometimes just easier and more peaceful.............also easier for us I guess....I can't pole dance so this is purely speculation on my part.
But like everything lets put this into perspective, right or way, merging, roundabouts these concepts do not exist in the principality of WA...... I'm just saying.......!
Two words: give way
kitesurfing-handbook.peterskiteboarding.com/safety/right-of-way-rules
And to more: be nice kitesurfing-handbook.peterskiteboarding.com/safety/etiquette
a couple of thoughts for windsurfers to keep in mind about learner kiters:
1. kite control is not great and keeping high or low takes time to learn
2. you can't just jump off the board like a WS and things come to stop... you lose your board upwind as you get pulled downwind, possibly by a kite loop
after doing 2 a few times the kiter wants to stay on board and moving and so won't keep an eye on surrounds that much
i reckon this phase lasts for about 10 hours all up before you get confident moving along in control at a steady pace
Being a kook who has just learnt to get going a few days ago I've found I've got two speeds - fast & sinking. New guys like me are probably common and more conscious of getting in others way than most. A new surfer will be quickly chased out of a crowded takeoff zone if he's getting in the way - as there's always plenty of beach to safely practice. This doesn't seem to be the case in kiting. From what I can tell there's only two flat water locations on the Goldie and it seems to get a bit crowded at times. If you think a kiter is not giving way it could be someone like me who's got one eye on the kite, one eye on the board (and the 5 meters of water ahead) hoping to F&$k I'm not about to hit a sandbank again, trying to remember to keep my front leg straight, wondering where those channel marker poles are and worrying about being too far down the beach I won't be able to get back again!!
The thing which I find helpful is observation.
With a windsurfer you watch them to see what they are about to do.
With a kiting, you watch the kite not the rider as the kite movement will give a good seconds warning as to what the kiter is about to do.
As a windsurfer sitting down for half an hour watching how the kite moves in relation to the rider gives is invaluable for learning how to read what they are going to do.
Just repeating a tip someone posted on a previous discussion on the same subject...
When heading towards another water user, to indictate your intentions...
- point to self, then point to indicate change of direction
- friendly wave on way past
Note: please don't do this to try to 'force' right of way; rather, use it as a way of letting another rider know your intentions
Funny how port and starboard rules and other basic sailing rules have existed for 100's of years ... yet some egos feel they can just ignore them or dont think they need to know them.....
Sailing rights of way should be a mandatory part of kite lessons.
Hey guys,
i kind of skim read all the posts. Kite Billy pretty much got it in regards to "The Pond". There is a kind of clockwise rotation of kiters going out to the bar, boosting on the way back, and then out again.
I'm a kiter, but it doesn't matter who you are. If you can see guys using that part of the water for the technical tricks, do everyone a favour, keep it safer and use the other water out at the weedbank. There really isn't any reason to further crowd the spot with basic "through traffick".
you may not have even realised what the kiter was trying to do, which was make his way to the high and tight corner for another run. he's probably thinking "why does this windsurfer need to go in the boost area when he has all this other space?"
I myself try and use the weedbank as much as possible as its a larger area of water. See you there
I stayed well away from the pond the whole first season that I kited at safety bay. And now I only venture in there when the numbers were low.
It is definitely not a spot for beginners and people that are not confident. The weed bank is nice and flat and shallow and there is heaps of room out there.
I have seen some utter kooks in the pOnd on a busy weekend..
iv'e been sitting in the water at the pond after a crash, kite at 12 waiting for room to re start, only to see a windsurfer on a collision course with me and have had to quickly body drag down wind or be run over
there are idiots and arrogant people in any sport, you just have to make a judgement call at the time
not biased against windsurfers either iv'e seen plenty of runaway kites and kites nearly crashing on people or gear or kiters getting too close overtaking etc.
Thanks again for all the polite replies.
It is easy enough to be rusty on the right of way rules because you don't have to use them very often. It is not as clear cut as on a road.
I have been windsurfing for years but I still have to say to myself "port gives way to starboard" when someone is coming towards me.
Regarding looking at the kite to determine if the kiter is going to change direction, I am always busy concentrating on the water where I am going, it would be dangerous to be looking up in the sky.
The issues I alluded to in the first post all occurred over the weedbank. You expect people to get in your way in the pond, it is a crowded spot. You just make way for each other and get on with it.
On the day in question there weren't that many kiters around but it was amazing how many times the ones that were there managed to get in front of me (and seemed to be oblivious to my presence). They couldn't have done it more effectively if someone was paying them to obstruct me! Probably just a couple of newbies who hadn't learnt to check their blind spots yet.
The easiest way to remember the head on rules is ... turn right to avoid a head on collision. Obviously the starboard rider cannot turn all that much so the port rider ends up doing all the turning.
It's still a moot point when you're 50-100 metres away and not quite sure if you're upwind or downwind of the oncoming rider. It can end up with the starboard rider jamming upwind across the port rider's path and creating the situation you're trying to avoid.
The far more effective method is to:
- head out for open water and stay there
- signal your intentions a long way ahead through kite position, eye contact, body position and waving.
- take evasive action long before you need to.
I still think the concept of riding around with the expectation that you have any kind of right of way is fundamentally flawed and not applicable to kitesurfing or windsurfing. Great for boats sailing in straight lines through marked courses. Pointless for people slashing and bashing and boosting and blasting. The rule that is used in military aviation is better, see and avoid. The ocean is big. Find your own bit and go nuts.
