The School was Kite Republic.

At least 10 to 12 leasons on at the same time.

I am happy to lodge a complaint to the council and I belive if we can get a group of local riders to do the same then maybe we can have something done about this practice.

It may be better to follow the path of contacting them first and including KBV in on it. If there is no luck going through that channel, then approach the council directly. I'll have a chat to Derek from the KBV.

I think you'll find that Kite Republic had one of their club ride days where they take a bus load of beginners out and 'supervise' their progress. From my understanding of what they offer, it's not a lesson but it is a supervised session where their team riders (instructors) will keep and eye on, help out and provide advice to newbie riders who have just completed their lessons.

I don't think complaining to the council is the right way forward with this, if it is indeed going to be an issue in the future. The issue is that the newbie riders just need to be instructed as to the safe area's to flounder and flail around; ie. away from the 1 foot deep water that everyone is attempting to throw down tricks in. As for the wall of kites at 12 when ever you go near them, that's a practice that should NOT be taught. Again, education of the newbies is likely to result in a better outcome than whinging to the council... unless we want more regulation.

Again, for any beginners/newbies reading this thread:
- If you're not confident and are floundering around then don't attempt to ride in the same area that the more advanced riders are using for their tricks.
- If there are other kiters in the area then DO NOT put your kite to 12, instead park the kite on the side of the window at ~45º. As long as you keep your kite steady whilst other kiters are close to you then we'll be able to ride past you and get out of your way much faster and without tangles.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there Jev.
I'm fairly sure there is a fee charged to attend the ride days, most probably to cover the cost of the bus and food/drink etc. It's probably a fine line between a commercial operation which would probably require a permit with the council, and a social outing with someone privately hiring a bus to transport all of their 'friends' to the beach.

I'd still be recommending that anyone with a concern about this speak with the group in question instead of just riding in to the council on their high horse.

I remember the days when there were 2-3 kiters kiting Altona after work ( usually Saffer, Dan, Fecal, and a few others ......) and more than 6-7 on the weekend was a crowd.

Funny thing is it was not all that long ago....... but this sport is growing at a crazy rate.

Unfortunately as the sport continues to grow more and more noobs are going to be heading to Altona. I personally would support just one school being allowed to teach here and that would have to be through Steves new shop after all he is paying rates etc... to council already. By getting the council onboard and say licencing just the one operator it should head off the St Kilda situation where there are 3-4 schools all with 2-3 instructors working at the same time which suffocates the kite area.

Taurus said...

Did you actually see them teaching or are you talking ****? It was probably a team rider having a sesh in one of their tops.

Big eeeZeee said...

Saffer said...

markey said...

if your on about kssaltona they dont teach from the main beach at altona they have a completly different spot for this reason

and yes they do have council permits

as for the st kilda shops coming over i have no idea if they do ?

Thanks. Good to hear they haven't gone with the altona main beach as their teaching area.

well im pretty sure kiterepublic are teaching there then. A few instructors out on the water on sunday with 'team' written on their back

Nah, not talking **** MATE.

if it was sunday just passed it was rele busy yes, kite republic had a ride day on so took about 20 people down to altona, im a begginer too and it was far to busy for me near the pier so i went further down and had no problems at all!

belty said...

if it was sunday just passed it was rele busy yes, kite republic had a ride day on so took about 20 people down to altona, im a begginer too and it was far to busy for me near the pier so i went further down and had no problems at all!

It's great you had a good time, just bear in mind that further down is the area where the intermediate and more advanced riders try to throw some tricks. If you're sitting there with the kite at 12 than that makes it harder for them to pass you. And there were a few beginners there doing that.

Hi guys,

just to clear this up, have just spoken with Derek from KBV in regards to the club trip to Altona last Sunday, first we had heard of anyone with any complaints.

We're more than happy to chat to anyone with questions via either [email protected] or the shop phone, 03 9537 0644.

There were no lessons going on in Altona last Sunday, rather a group of like minded kiters that have completed their lessons and have their own equipment that would have been in Altona either way because of the Easterly winds that were coming through.

There was a KR KITE CLUB Ride Day there which is aimed at enjoying a great day on the water with passionate kiters, meeting new people, and safely enjoying their kiting.

As mentioned, please feel free to contact us on 9537 0644 or via [email protected] for any further information.

Hope you're enjoying summer and getting some great sessions in, shaping up to be a great season,

Chris - Kite Republic

Back to topic of Cabrinha in tree.

Anyone got the full story?

I saw aftermath - dude climbed to top of pine tree in 30 knots, trying to get his bar and lines down and out.

The chaps name is Simon and he's not a beginner, I did point out to him that everyone else was on 7,8,9m kites but he assured me he would be fine (what else could I do?) anyway when he was launced the chicken loop feel off and it went up real quick, he let the bar go so it would flag on the safety but the safety broke and off she went...turns out it was a new kite to him and the first time he had flown it, and he had connected the safety to the wrong place (read the owners manual please)
He managed to pull the kite low enough to disconnect the lines from the kite then went up the tree to retreive them, pretty agile and ballsy for a 50+ bloke. kite had a very small rip and the power stayed on thankfully.

On the issue of "What else can I do?", I think the general consensus in these types of circumstances is that we need to get a group of 5 or 6 kiters to approach the kiter together and "kindly suggest" they don't launch. If no sanity prevails, then simply deflating the leading edge should be the next cause of action, obviously with 5 or 6 kiters as your backstop. One on one, people tend to get aggressive, one on five or six, they tend to realise maybe they're making a mistake.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I recently saw someone who was trying to self launch a 12m Rebel with all the lines tangled in 30-35knts only 3 or 4 meters away from the wall at St Kilda, I had my kite in the air at the time but someone ran over and deflated his kite before he could launch it probably saving his life. He had never kited before and had no lessons.
When it doubt stop someone doing something stupid and ask questions later. He then put up his trainer kite and was again nearly blown off the beach before one of the instructors convinced him to go home for the day.
Imagine if no one had said anything, they would have to live with the fact that they might have been able to stop a fatality.
WHEN IN DOUBT SAY SOMETHING

Lebowski said...
I recently saw someone who was trying to self launch a 12m Rebel with all the lines tangled in 30-35knts only 3 or 4 meters away from the wall at St Kilda, I had my kite in the air at the time but someone ran over and deflated his kite before he could launch it probably saving his life. He had never kited before and had no lessons.
When it doubt stop someone doing something stupid and ask questions later. He then put up his trainer kite and was again nearly blown off the beach before one of the instructors convinced him to go home for the day.
Imagine if no one had said anything, they would have to live with the fact that they might have been able to stop a fatality.
WHEN IN DOUBT SAY SOMETHING

Yup. Or could you imagine the impact of him getting blown into rush hour traffic and causing a major accident. I have less of a problem with people removing themselves from the gene pool, thats where darwin's theory comes into play. I do have an issue with people them affecting other innocent bystanders who have done nothing wrong. I.e. loose kite wrapping around the throat of a child walking with their parents or dragging a pram into the road in front of cars because they happen to be walking along the esplanade.

My first preference is to protect the public, dumb kiters come in second to that. (particularly dumb kiters who know better but or too lazy, arrogant or over confident in their abilities)