Had a fantastic sail on Saturday .
There was about half a dozen us polers smiling , whooping and waving , it really was a good day.
Walking past a group of kiters mabee thirty at least ( something was going on ).
We were doing the walk of shame past them because I was helping a mate walk his stuff up the beach because he snapped his mast.
Fair dinkum , not one was smiling , not even at our misfortune.
Whats going on ? It looks like fun what there doing.
Have they got there humor gland removed ?
They should work at airport security !
i smile at the kiters and they smile back
when we are "looking" at the wind to decide what to rig, I chat with them ALL the time
some of them are better buddies than the asinine windsurfers who think they are better than everyone else
there are good n bad in all groups ...
kiters are NOT all bad !!!
Oh, Good on ya Joe!
You've ruined another good thread where we can hang crap on kiters
Now take your nice comments back
A few times over the last couple of weeks at Middle Park, a couple of kites have had a chat as I rig up the race board. Most want more wind & one said he was jealous I was sailing in 6-9kn.
Nigel
Yes it does depend on the kiter group. Generally speaking a higher populated kiting area you will see more idiot kiters around. Where I live, there are only 2 windsurfers and 3 kiters. We are all good buds and get along. Thet being said, it's because our group is very small. We all help each other out when one of us gets into trouble on the water.
When I lived in Southern California, much more kite populated, and more room for idiotic kiters to act like dush bags.
kiter girls are hot !! and there's that special something about the stance that's makes me slow down..... 
I'm always smiling at them, they never smile back..... maybe cause I'm behind them ??? 
You'll find the good and the bad everywhere, and not all windsurfers are charmingly friendly with a smile on their faces anyway.
Like us, Kiters are also watermen, we both enjoy the magic combination of wind and water so we have a lot in common. I understand that in congested situations there can a minority who are irresponsible and greedy and end up ruining the co-existence, nothing different to when you are driving peacefully on the highway and a dickhead tailgates or cuts you off for no reason. The fact that there's 20-25 metres of lines between the rider and the kite makes their presence more apparent, and the same inconsiderate behavior becomes more noticeable on a kiter than on a windsurfer.
Most kiters I know or met on the beach are nice people, we talk about the wind, the water conditions, the spot, we laugh, we shake hands and move on.
As a windsurfer and kiteboarder, i can confirm - There are dushbags on both ends.
What i have found is that windsurfers are more likely to be more passionate about the sport than kitesurfers - simply because windsurfing requires a lot more dedication than kitesurfing. Where it takes 2 years to start having some fun in windsurfing, it'll take a week in kitesurfing. That's why you have less windsurfers than kitesurfers, which is a good thing really.
Personally, i have got a few simple rules: (1) Flat --> Kite, (2) Below 20 knots --> Kite, (3) Above 20 and swell --> Windsurfing.
At the end of the day, nothing beats surfing a 4 foot swell in 4.7m2 ;)
Best thing we ever did was change the name of our local club from 'Canterbury Windsurfing Assn' to 'Canterbury WindSports Assn' and got all of the kiters to join up.
Club membership more than doubled, got lots of new, young guys keen to do the club committee stuff and the bigger group means more clout with the local council with access funding etc.
The club has great w/surf events and kite events and tuition for both.
Everybody gets along and we just don't get any of this 'them and us' stuff.
Apartheid just doesn't work.
Select to expand quoteTe Hau said..
Best thing we ever did was change the name of our local club from 'Canterbury Windsurfing Assn' to 'Canterbury WindSports Assn' and got all of the kiters to join up.
Club membership more than doubled, got lots of new, young guys keen to do the club committee stuff and the bigger group means more clout with the local council with access funding etc.
The club has great w/surf events and kite events and tuition for both.
Everybody gets along and we just don't get any of this 'them and us' stuff.
Apartheid just doesn't work.
See it is possible to get along with each other ....you just have to reach out 
like your photo Te Hau.
