Courtesy and Right of Way

I have noticed over the last couple of months an increasing level of discourteous riding and a lack of awareness of other kiters around the various spots at Botany Bay.

It seems that short tacking other riders is now an acceptable behaviour amongst many experienced kiters along with standing on the beach talking to other kiters for lengthy periods with your kite in the air (on high tide) not allowing other kiters any chance of getting past you if they are walking back up the beach and blocking entry areas for other kiters who want to launch.

I have also had a lot of newbies not understand right of way rules when on the water which is pretty normal but there has been an increased number of them which means less room to avoid them.

This summer I have noticed a significant increase in the number of kiters on the bay particularly on weekends as the popularity of the sport grows. I write this post not as a whinge but more from the perspective that if certain behaviours become endemic then sooner or later someone is going to get seriously hurt either a kiter or member of the public.

IMO here are some key points we all need to keep considering when kiting for the safety of others:

1) Don't short tack other kiters. It's rude and creates aggravation. Regardless of how experienced you are its not cool.This includes cutting less experienced kiters off by using speed when clearly they had already tacked and where heading to the same spot you want to do a trick but are not going as fast you would like. (I have seen this on more than a few occasions)

2) If you are following another kiter in to do a trick and the kiter in front of you crashes and loses their board....its not worthy of abusing that kiter.

3) Be aware of whats happening in your downwind catchment before boosting....I saw someone nearly land on a beginner the other day expecting they would be out of the way but the beginner dropped their kite.

4) It is your responsibility to understand right of way rules and be able to follow them even if you are new to the sport.

I don't know if anyone else is observing similar behaviour. I would be interested to know if I am the only one and would be willing to eat humble pie if the majority of kiters are not observing similar things.

Couldn't agree more & it is not just limited to other kiters - the total lack of awareness & courtesy also extends to other watercraft. The Dolls Point area seems to be the worst. Either these people have no idea about the right of way rules & simple courtesy or choose to ignore them - either way they need to wake up to themselves and be aware of other watercraft around them. Are general right of way rules being taught to new kiters?