BayAreaKiteboarding.com

Yesterday was a great day at Sherman Island with tons of people getting in lots of awesome riding lit on 12's and 10's. I got in 3 sessions thoughout the course of the day, the first lit on an Outrage 12 for maybe and hour and a half or then a couple one hour sessions on a Type Wave 10 which have left me kind of sore today.

A couple times when I first went out on the 10, I was kiting a bit and doing kiteloops within the perimeter of the markers. I soon realized this and made an effort to stay outside of them afterwards. I have done this elsewhere at times. Well, as they say, recognizing your problem is half the battle, and if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem, so I will stay outside of the markers for the season. I noticed some others riding within the markers also, so maybe we can all set a good example for each other this season as it will undoubtedly be crowded at times.

One thing I also realized is that if a kiteloop or trick goes bad and the kite starts looping fast, what kind of downwind buffer do I have? Not much. I've had that happen before and two or three out of control loops can happen so fast and make you cover more ground than you thought possible. Something to think about.

I'm not surprised you're sore, Ollie. I saw a couple of those crashes -- it was scary to see how much and how fast that TW moved after you hit the water the first time, and how far you went before stopping.

I was just working on learning how to boost on my TW, and just a couple of times I sent it a little too hard and got dragged all over the place.

It's pretty easy to imagine getting bounced onto shore -- like what Z. said happened to him the first time he tried that kite.

It's a big river.

I think we need to make an effort as well to tell those doing tricks that close to consider alternative spots. Too often the crowd just sits by not wanting to come across like they're dictating policy, but this inevitably leads to someone getting hurt (because they end up on shore after a crash). We s/b mindful that this is our playground so long as damage is kept to a minimum so it's in all of our best interest to advise others when possible and have the support of all in this process.

Now, get back out there and SEND IT!!!! :-)