O.k. so theres a certain breed of kook kiter that has been annoying me enough to have to write this..... Hopefully it will be read by the ones that really need to take note;

When a group of people are surfing waves with kites they are like surfers - competing for a limited resource of waves.... This means that, same as with surfers there has to be a basic code of practice understood by all involved so as to avoid accidents, angst & aggro.

Unfortunately kites allow people ( Freeriders, kooks, tootlers & happytackers) with Zero wave / surfing knowledge the ability to negotiate the impact zone on a beach.

This type of kook also tends to like following others around & bunch - up close....

So when they see a few guys riding waves they come along to join in the fun....

But their idea of joining in is to tack backwards & forwards directly across the path of the waves being ridden, totally oblivious to the surfers code.... Whats surfing got to do with kiting? Well if your truely surfing waves with a kite - alot.

So whats the surfers code?

Firstly there is the Pecking order, if you're inexperienced or a fresh face, respect the local crew that have the place dialled - observe how they ride & follow suit.

On waves peeling in one direction, the person closest to the curl / impact zone has right of way - theyve claimed ownership by good positioning.

Do NOT obstruct that persons progress on their wave - if youre tacking back out you may have to bear-away, lower your kite, turn around or stop.

Do NOT follow people, give people space & make your intentions clear.

By crossing the path of someone riding a wave, or following a rider into the take-off zone these tootlers dont realize that apart from stuffing up someones wave & pissing them off - they are risking some really nasty collisions.

Once you are riding a wave you are often locked in comitted to one path along the wave and loaded up with a huge amount of apparent wind The last thing you need to deal with is having to avoid some tootler with their kite high cutting across your path.

Hey Im a reasonable guy, its a big ocean out there, you can ride how you like - just dont ride near me if youre a Get in the way kiter.

Of course if after being reasonable, you continue to be annoying, me & my mates will have to use the old tried & true - aggressive local tactics. :twisted:

The only guy that got in My way on Saturday was you dude, when you fell off a couple of waves in front of me. There was a brief moment of panic when I saw you and my kite luffed but the wind filled in and disaster was averted.
Did see a guy on the inside going back and forward in the waves, I was thinkin WTF when i had to bear off one wave to avoid him and head back out to the lineup. :roll:

Yep, thats me..... I have some pretty intense wipeouts...

Maybe another rule should be beware - be very aware of unstrapped unhooked nutters...

Riding unstrapped unhooked you are on a knife edge of control or chaos, last thing you need to see is someone crossing your path as you fall off your board & hurtle over the falls with a fully powered kite in your grasp!

There's no rules against retrieving boards - apart from keep your kite real low if someones riding through behind you.

Sorry if I've upset anyone with my previous posting, but there are real issues here & it's only gonna get more crowded in the next few years & it always ends up being the sad old bastard thats been there the longest that has to lay down the law. :roll:

Hey Mark ! I was just remembering something about saturday.....

I fully snaked you on a wave completely contravening rule #2:

On waves peeling in one direction, the person closest to the curl / impact zone has right of way - theyve claimed ownership by good positioning.

But my excuse for this was I was obeying rule # 1:

Firstly there is the Pecking order, if you're inexperienced or a fresh face, respect the local crew that have the place dialled - observe how they ride & follow suit

Plus I kept out of your way, just hehe!

My missus read this topic & says I sound like an up myself a$$hole.

And yeah, she's right.... but I find it very hard to get my point across without sounding like that.

I was hoping I might ruffle a few feathers & get these kiters who think it's o.k to get in the way to justify why they are doing it.

One real obvious thing about all this is that at Raglan you have the choice of 2 square kms of waves - so why if you're a green wave-kite grommit, ride where all the grumpy old surfer shredders are riding.

Dude!! if we all rode like you do it would be chaos out there

I think with a place like raglan there is a saftey in numbers thing going on. Its a long way out there and the tide is taking you offshore if the shit hits the fan. Its good to know you can count on a brother to rescue your board or tow you in (except for Rick, he's hopeless )

The way I ride? What about Jezza ! That guy is not called Calamity Jane for nothing....

He very nearly decapitated me on saturday, I was heading back out, bearing away with my kite low so he could ride through but he swooped his kite straight at me on his way through.

Fortunately I know never to assume he is in control of his kite and had the forsight to dive off the board and into the water when I saw his kite coming straight at me.

Later on he told me his lines swiped my board.

I have to add though, Jezza is a little ripper and we have even shared waves - crossing over doing cutbacks / rios around each other..... And that my fellow tweakers is a perfect example of how it is possible to ride waves in close proximity with others - so long as everyone is riding the same lines & there is clear understanding between riders.

[quote="Skyrider"]

What? With kites?? You're full of poop my friend..

Nah southernman, its for real mate.

Me an Jezza have been riding these Raglan bar waves for 10 years +, be it on; Kites with surfboards, mutants, rectangular bisexuals (tt's) and previous to that - wave pole-boards.

We get cross-on conditions here & it's not hard to cutback with your kite low below the other guy.... just whip your kite in the other direction just above the water ( applies to C kites only ) when cutting back- gives the other guy stacks of room to do a rio.

I went through a stage of snaking the hell out of Jezza, & yeah - sometimes it has worked out that we've carved the crap out of the same wave & not had any dramas.

Both of us have surfed since we were kids - though J is a more competitive surfer than me. I've been less surf focused in the past- I have done around 1000hrs of hang gliding & that seems to give me an edge over Jezza with the kite flying.

wow skyrider....you must be the best bro......

Come on X3 , taking the piss is easy...

How about you mate, how is the riding in the bay? I have always thought you must get some good days on that coast!?

Topics on this forum seem to be focussed on competition & "Look at me pics & video"..... I don't see why in writing about some of my experiences I should be shot down in flames?

I have never really been into competitions with sports - not really interested in who's the"best".

Everyone has their own style & the real winner is the person enjoying themselves the most.

I guess the good thing about competition is it brings people with similar interests together, which can really help individuals & the sport itself grow.

Is there anyone out there in Kiteforum.NZland interested in an informal surfing-with- kites get together ?

happytackers... very funny.

hey those waves in Raglan sound pretty awesome man, i'll have to come up at somepoint and get in all you's way. :twisted:

As always the sky tweaker has come up to the mark and lanced a steadilly growing boil on the backside of an 8 foot closeout....

Unfortunately dude, 99.99 percent of the kiters you are both dealing with and ranting to here will never have a single clue about anything you are talking about... How many have you seen riding dowen the line in the naki over your many years of wave chasing... a handful of the enlightened...

Basically i think it is great what you say but do not expect anything to change, we are all tweakeers so far up our own assholes that no respect will ever be given to any local legends...

aloha bro

ps: it did clean up in teh avo bro... just as you said it would - next time we need to leave a couple of days for the mission!!! I did see you cranking some nice strapless, unhooked floaters on that gusty fateful day though, you are a legend. I will listen to you!!!

Haha......haha.

Hey that Arvo session that Hippies referring to wasnt crowded. Once the waves get grunty even the pole surfers are far enough away from the peak to be out of the way. 8)

Anyway when your charging down the line frontside looking at the wave committing to pocket top turns, folks riding out gotta realize you aint gonna see them till your coming off the top, and basically its on there head to take evasive action, cause when your coming down with the lip options are limited.

Like Hippy said most Folks dont give a rats about whos wave it is etc, so the only answer is to commit and hold your line, and the others soon work it out.

The only time its really an issue is in head high, once its starts to crank the peak gets clear of obstacles.

Come down again when its on. Kina Rds been winding in the NWers,.. double >>triple overhead and clean, and the Kumera patch is going off at the moment,( heaps of sand), and as always down here when its cranking, no crowds.

Cheers from the Naki.

Hey you's fullas! Looks like there's a few guys prepared to stand up & say there is some shit we gotta make clear for some kiters

In my clumsy abrasive way I have tried to scratch the chummy-groupy veneer that kiting has got going on...

Riding waves is inherently a selfish pursuit, as I have said before, waves are a finite resource - the more crowded a break gets, the more intense/unstable the group dynamic becomes.

Imagine traffic at a round-about - (a psychadelic moving merry-go-round that you have to chase after or wait around for) when the traffic volume is low and every driver allows other drivers room to enter and exit easily - things work well & people get to their destination without stress.

Now imagine the volume of traffic increasing & people not giving each other enough space - they try to jump the queue - stress quickly starts to build ....

Now finally, on this busy stressed out round about, imagine a learner driver turning in the opposite direction & driving the wrong way around - chaos ensues.... That my fellow tweakers, is a "Get In The Way Driver" :shock: :roll: :twisted: :twisted:

Shout outs to my fellow br'ers, Hippy & the forum virgin Westwaves... Lets get together again soon & share some waves 8)

(surfed clean 4-6 ft (somewherebetweenoverhead &++overhead) today, got barrelled Hoooohooo!!! Kiting doesn't even come close to that feeling )