Kiteboarder collides with a windsurfer

[C. Moore]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e94_1210609285

I still dont see a kite. hmmmm

[Steve-O]

Let's hope this isn't the scene at Sunset Beach next year when Howard Park gets shutdown and the windsurfers and kitesurfers up there have to share space at Sunset.

With as much room as there is out there....it really shouldn't be a problem in the water.....rigging on the beach however will be a circus. I can hear the music and see the pink elephants dancing.

[Skyway Scott]

how to be stupid (http://www.liveleak.com/e/e94_1210609285)
blown up better.

He drilled that guy and could have killed him. Not awesome.

[Danimal8199]

Yesterday there were many people sharing the launch area.

Kiteboarders, Windsurfers, and yes, families. Right smack in the middle of it. I guess it really was a three ring circus! I'm not sure why someone would want to sit a few feet from the launch area with a newborn, but they did and it worried me.

There were kids playing in the water 10 feet to the east of the launch, Bryan May can attest to that, which made launching difficult for sure.

Luckily everyone seemed to be cooperative, patient, and kept level heads.

So as crowded as the launch area was, it seemed that everyone had fun without incident.

Danny

[oldschool]

it is really easy for us to say to ourselves - "What the heck are the swimmers, beach goers, etc, doing in my way"

BUT you must correct yourself and say "They have every right to be here - I need to be a good diplomat for kitesurfing and always be courteous and friendly"

Down in Sarasota we have to practice that mantra everyday because our beaches and surf areas are always packed with people

OS/Sarasota

[Danimal8199]

it is really easy for us to say to ourselves - "What the heck are the swimmers, beach goers, etc, doing in my way"


I guess I should have made myself more clear...

At sunset park, not sure if you've been there, but it is very obvious with many people launching and landing and rigging and everything else that goes on, that if I am a responsible parent, I would not put my kids near such a busy area.

I'm all about staying out of everyones way, trust me on that, and I make no argument with you onthat point. I just find it mind blowing that with all of that going on some people sat down with their newborn, and some other parents decided to throw their kids just a few feet east of kiters coming and going from a very small launch/land area...

[Skyway Scott]

Most people are totally ignorant to the possible harm we pose to them.
That works in our favor. But, we definitely need to do the "right thing".
95% of riders in this area do, and that is AWESOME!!

[Tom Stock]

Let's get George right on it.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=196_1186504114

[Brian360]

Let's hope this isn't the scene at Sunset Beach next year when Howard Park gets shutdown and the windsurfers and kitesurfers up there have to share space at Sunset.

With as much room as there is out there....it really shouldn't be a problem in the water.....rigging on the beach however will be a circus. I can hear the music and see the pink elephants dancing.

If we made it work on Sunday then it shouldnt be a problem. There mustve been 10-13 kiters, 4 windsurfers, and abunch of families around. Besides polesurfers cant ride in one foot of water or less with there large weed fins on lower tides. But it's going to be very intersting to see how it goes when Howard park closes.

[Danimal8199]

you guys are on some positive energy kick right now and I think thats AWESOME!

[Tom Stock]

awesome!

[BigR]

Let's hope this isn't the scene at Sunset Beach next year when Howard Park gets shutdown and the windsurfers



Steve, you are actually confirming that fred howard is going to shut down on windsurfing activities starting next year?

Can you provide a link?


:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[TBKA]

We have a local who works there! They are closing for repairs and there's a thread on here somewhere with the info and discussion.
TBKA had previously alerted AWSI and USwindsurfing of this closure, in our effort to bridge the gap in relations with windsurfers and other water users, they may be able to offer some assistance in opening the park to kiters again.It is going to get quite crowded with the most popular windsurf spot closing, so we believe that acting now to better relations is the best approach. We could use help in this effort, especially from former windsurfing kiters, and will be discussing this at the upcoming meeting.
One suggestion was to create "Windsurfing Has Been Reinstated" "Windsurfing is REAL" and "Windsurfing is Awesome" bumper stickers.
These are some awe inspiring ideas, I am sure there's a plethora of others out there- multi-sport comps, cleanups, parties, clinics?
Let's hear them, wind sports fans!

[Skyway Scott]

Definitely staying positive.

I like some of those ideas Steve and hope to be at that meeting.
I would love (Steve and I discussed this and like the idea) to cooperate with a local(s) who would like to become a "historian". This is basically what RickI does an excellent job of state-wide. My vision is to have someone who would like to keep in touch with all the positive "goings on" in our community. They (more than one person is great) would talk to people, get photos (themselves or off of people) and then write an "article" once a week or 2 weeks or so.

I would then upload it to the new site that is being built http://www.tbka.org/
in a blog type format (time line oriented) to document all the great stuff around here. We have had a lot of good things happen just recently with Bill, Mike, ... the list is long. I think it would be great to start documenting this.

This serves to boost our moral, give shout outs, and in times of need, if it comes to it, the site could serve as "proof" of all the good going on around here.

So, anyone that is interested, please let me know.
Any and every article written for the site will have the author's name and date next to it with a link to wherever they want.

This is not a thing for me to make money off of, zero is the actual total.
But, I never do anything w/o a reason. I am hoping it might boost moral and in so doing, ultimately preserve access.

I will be pimping the site itself to clients, so... I am not against a little kite pimping (little) if it gets good stuff up on a site that is positive and contributes.

I hope I get a few volunteers. We could do podcasts, videos, just write articles with pics. There really are no limits, whatever you guys think up can be put on the site. :)

Currently the site is as bare bones as a site can get. It will grow, like a virus. :)

[Tom Stock]

I would recommend a sticker that BOTH wind surfers and kite boarders would want to use... so there is a tie between the two groups, even if it's just a sticker. Something more generic with a picture of both a wind surfer and a kite boarder.

"Wind Powered"
"If it's blowing I'm going"
"Knot working"
"Riding the Wind"
"Florida Wind Boarder"
"Just Blow Me" (sort of kidding with this one)

Not the best examples but hey I tried!

[oldschool]

it is great to see you trying to bridge the gap with windsurfers

I have not been up to WSW in a while but if they still have any of those "Windsurfing Has Been Cancelled" stickers maybe Steve O can get them tossed in the garbage - they pissed off and still piss off lots of windsurfers

anyway, kudos to you guys

OS

[Big G]

Looks like a stunt gone bad to me IMHO. Not to take away from the fact the kiters should leave windsurfers and surfers with a safe distacnce between them.

Keep it positive.

[Tom Stock]

Try to be more positive BigG! I didn't see a thumbs up on that post!

great job guys!

[Skyway Scott]

With the green revolution all over the place, what about something that taps into that? Something catchy but that says we don't abuse the environment or are powered by Mother Nature. Tom's wind driven is pretty close.

Or, maybe something to do with the Beaufort scale, since all wind sports depend on it (having some good Beaufort anyway).

"Got Beaufort?" with an artistic impression of wind, maybe.
"Got Wind?"
"Have you been Winded Lately?"

"Rust in the Wind" for us old guys.

[C. Moore]

If its Windy or Wendy's, Scott's in love.

[Skyway Scott]

My major professor's wife was named Wendy. I commented the first time I met her how a better name was simply not possible. She knew right off the bat I was sort of off kilter for loving wind THAT much :)
I just ate at Wendy's last night (big surprise).

more crap.... "Addicted to Wind" "Wind Addict" "Wind Junky" "Wind Me Up" "Get Blown"

[TBKA]

"Wind...makes me GRIN!:D "
"Mother Nature is a HOTTIE!"
Scott's classic license plate: "Prey for Wind"

How about a relay race with kiters and windsurfers on the same team?
Lesson exchange program among instructors?

[bryanleighty]

its pretty rare for us to deal with a huge windsurfing and kitesurfing population in one area...

ive kited in the gorge and recently in hatteras area.. there are places where the windsurfers outnumber the kiters 20 to 1 or more.. almost like a wall of windsurf sails across the water.. every time you try to yield to one, youve got 3 more riding up behind you full speed expecting you to get the F outta their way... you cant jump, you cant tack.. its a mess in some areas..

i dont think its a problem in our launches..

some days are busier than others.. but i'd say weve got bigger things to worry about..

it is kinda sad that there would be any sort of annimosity between two groups of people looking for the same thrills on different equipment..

id bet a lot of it is overblown and invented..

[Skyway Scott]

I don't know what the deal is at other places, but everywhere I ride I feel zero animosity among kiters and windsurfers. I usually try to race with them and stuff. I knew most of them from when I use to windsurf (not well) a ways back. Many of them have become kiters (Randy and Raul possibly the first), but many are still dedicated solely to windsurfing.

I like the idea of getting the windsurfers and kiters together for a race. That would be fun. We had a couple join in on one of Matt's impromptu races.
I am moderately confident that Britt from NBWS (http://www.nbwindsurfing.com/)would be interested and am sure Steve-O could get some windsurfers interested. I would just like to course race more period. I suck at it, but it's very fun.
All we need is a few guys and something to aim at. It doesn't need to be a big deal. :)

[Tom Stock]

I think a friendly, and free, but official (advertised, permit if needed, etc) race for both wind surfers and kite surfers would be a neat event.

I would avoid mixing us in one race because lets face it, we have 3x as much sail area higher up, and no mast in our face, and no sail to pull out of the water when we fall ... too many differences to make it even.

But a joint event would be great...

Would have been cool if they could have been part of the tampa bay race... but I'm not sure how much fun winder surfers are going straight down wind.

Thank God for Wind

[TBKA]

How about a short DW or upwinder for us, tagging off to our windsurfing teammate who races a course set up just past the finish area? Fastest paired with slowest in both to keep it fun.

[Skyway Scott]

What if I don't want Tom as my partner, though? :wink:

[Tom Stock]

What type of partner are you referring to? No more back rubs?

[C. Moore]

What type of partner are you referring to? No more back rubs?


Thats Awsome!! :)

[Big G]

This post is giving me wood! Thats a positive thing.....I think.

[C. Moore]

My new Avatar is Awsome!! Right Danny.. :)

[Danimal8199]

Not just awesome Chris, you forgot to mention, sexy, studly, and just down right badass!

[Skyway Scott]

Funny.

[Skyway Scott]

Here is a related thread going on about surfers/kiters.

http://www.extremekiteskiteboarding.com/viewtopic.php?t=1220&highlight=

[Whitey]

Thanks for putting up that link Scott. It was very refreshing to read a thread without the "A" word in every single post.

It actually caused me to look thru other threads and spend time in that fourm, as our local one has been reduced to sounding like an elementry school playground.

[Tom Stock]

thats awesome

[Skyway Scott]

A few of us have made a conscious decision and effort to focus on the positive more than the negative. I personally think it is a good idea to stay more positive, so I followed suit. Conversations with a couple guys convinced me this was the way to go (for me, anyway).
Being light hearted and trying to do/say more good stuff has made me feel better. If it's grade school, that's cool, I liked that more than grad school anyway. :) I think it's easier to have a true since of community when all feel welcome. The forum (at least our section) has had a tendency to focus on behaviors that aren't good and need improving, but that are in the minority and not focus on the good stuff. I think the news does that too. I don't watch the news for that reason. Several of us are just trying to focus on good stuff more, to balance stuff out. Maybe it's off base or a bad idea, but I am sticking with it for as long as possible.

If you read through the EK forum, you will notice every single post I made on there was positive (one exception only), as are most by everyone on there.
I hear what you are saying Whitey, I just wanted you to know there is a larger purpose to what might appear to be a joke.
Several of us are actually taking this "switching gears" quite seriously. :)

[Whitey]

Don't take me alive into Kid Charlemagne into my old school into peg into Rickey don't loose that number etc etc very nice jam. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker wrote some really great stuff.

[Skyway Scott]

Yeah they did. Very impressed that you noticed most of those. Thanks for noticing them. :)
Yeah... Donald F. and Walter B. were basically a couple of my heroes growing up for very many reasons, one being they put the music first and knew how to call in for "back up" They always had the best on call to fill in solos, etc. I (tried anyway) to pattern a lot of my drum playing around learning their songs. I learned just about every song, except obviously for the solo on Aja. No one but Steve Gadd himself is gonna pull that one off.
I quit drums and playing in a side band 2 weeks after I started kiting, btw. Not enough time (on weekends) for both.

I read that they actually had over 9 guys (paid pros) come in and lay down tracks for the solo in Peg until Jay Graydon nailed it. That solo is one of my favorites. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEhRnBSGPjA

It's obvious each song was crafted with extreme attention to detail, and that's why (for me) they simply are awesome. :)

(after ''hill street blues' or whatever comes some steely riffs! from Larry Carlton)

http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=WkArP1YjlQ0&rel=1&eurl=&iurl=http%3A//i.ytimg.com/vi/WkArP1YjlQ0/default.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskKaI2WhT7KScYU8wmyJqDZr