Part of why its taken me a year to feel comfortable without someone definitely looking out for me is because i was reading these posts and seeing the scares and kites in trees at the skyway, etc before i picked up the trainer kite. I did take a lesson at REAL as well as with Steve after he was certified and learned some safety stuff, but my main instructor as you all know was Toby and although we argued a lot, the majority of it was based on the fact that safety was always BOTH of our main priorities Him being worried about me and me being scared to death that something bad was going to happen
. It wasn't about speedy progression or learning to jump right away. It was about getting to know my kite and my control of it. The IKO instructors ARE required to LEARN and DEMONSTRATE TEACHING many safety skills including self rescue, etc. If they are not implementing this into their curriculum, that is their choice. I beleive that no one should even be able to BUY a kite without previously proficiently flying a trainer kite and be able to talk about wind window, safe launching practices and body dragging. Kites are a great way for people to make money but as in this instance demonstrates that it can come back and bite you in the A$$ if that is your objective.
We've discussed this many times before. I am no great rider, but i have walked up to someone i didn't recognize at the beach, introduced myself and intiate a conversation about their kiting background. This is nonconfrontational and an effective way to judge if the person is ready for our sacred launches that we don't want to lose as well as a great way to meet some cool new people. I am ALWAYS referring people to some of the local instructors that i have seen with my own eyes with a focus on safety and that includes matt and mike, steve and steve-o, and a few others. Learning from my boyfriend didn't make me a risk to everyone on the water because we always tried to be smart about it.
I think this thread needs to end soon because we are all on the team here and all want the same ultimate goal and its just getting ugly. Safe, fun, stress-free kiting!!
So for those of us that frequently read and post on the forum... i expect that next time we're at the beach and people are either inquiring about lessons or after discussion clearly haven't been trained in the safety aspects of the sport (and this includes going by the rocks, the bridge, etc) we politely tell the person that they NEED lessons before they should ride here because people have gotten really hurt and that good lessons can provide some of the skills to save their a$$ one day too.
So... season is coming...we're all cranky cuz we haven't ridden in a while, most of us haven't even seen each other in a while. We are a team and we need to follow the same pattern CONSISTENLY when dealing with the inevitable new riders. take the 5 minutes to talk to them on the beach. It gives the chance to save you or your buddy.
Till then, I'm really looking forward to getting back on the water with all of you. I'm ALMOST going upwind (i know...slow progression) but i'm finally having fun and not having to trudge thru the muck anymore and appreciate people "keeping an eye on me" as I will for all of my co-riders as well. Whether its equipment failure or knowledge failure or just a very fast accident, we look out for each other. Period.
