Crissy Field to Berkeley Downwinder - July 11th, 2009

[al-kite-a]

On another note. Just ignore all the Crissy locals and their negative complaining drama. They're just jealous they missed the event. I think this event was very professionally done and the fact that over 100 kiters participated and to my knowledge no one got hurt...enough said.

FYI -a lot of us ( the locals) kite to Berkeley and back in an event at that was scheduled months ago and done for years.

I am sure you event was fun but when you take over a place like that you should think about other that use the the beach.

[funmilton]

You would think Chrissy was in southern CA with all the negative dialogue over the event. :-({|=

I don't see what the big deal is, I had a great time and saw others doing the same. Sure there was a bunch of us, but really appreciated the opportunity to be on the water with everyone.

A bit of a bummer to see our site turn into a Ikitesurf Belmont beach battle blog.....Don't worry everything will be back to normal soon.....

[Piotrp]

yes, yes, yes... let's not take this thread into bashing/defending locals theme. They're cool and they got their spot back today, so let's talk about what really this discussion is about: our downwinder.

It was cool and gave me (doing it for the first time) an opportunity to experience the Bay like I've never had before: different views, different wind and wave conditions and lot's of good kiters to watch. It was GREAT! A good part of this greatness was, however, the fact that it happens infrequently and in such a scale - that make that event really special. As much as I'm with Sonny on the call to do it again in a month, it would be much better to build up the expectations for another year.

[Tony Soprano]

Great! :mrgreen:
You all had a good time! :mrgreen:
My concern is safety and access.

[bhsu24]

I had an amazing time this was my second crissy berkley downwinder and the first one ended very similarly as yesterdays no wind at the end and swim in. But when i was floating in to the beach i would look over to my fellow kiters also in the same situation as i was and i just busted up in laughter, because just an hour ago i was riding in the sea of kites and amazing views all around me Alcatraz, Golden Gate, Pier 39 and much more world sights that most of us locals take for granted. we were "in the bay trick". as far as the burden we imposed on the launch beach i thought it went pretty well considering the mass of kites needing to get out on the water. I think we accended on the beach rigged our lines and went on our way and gave the beach back to the beach goers. Thanks to everyone who setup this amazing event and thanks to the beach goers who let us unknowingly take a piece of their beach if only for an hour or 2 so we could go and have fun out on the water.

I cant wait for the next one hopefully it will be sooner than later.

bryan

[Sonny]

The locals have a very good point and I hope they allow this type of event couple of times a year so that kiters like myself can kite crissy. I'm too scared to kite at crissy without the boat support, I had a great time and I always look forward to kiting at crissy.

[OliverG]

I've got a few more pics of the fleet coming in on the downwinder, and after the wind drop, dozens of kites no the water, which was an amazing sight in itself, but while we were hanging out well before everyone came down, we figured we'd make room and tidy up the beach a bit:

[Piotrp]

I commend Live2Kite for organizing and overseeing this event - it was great. What I'm about to write is not any criticism addressed to those great guys, but a word of feedback.

With the event of this size it is important to be on time. It wasn't event that bad that we started later than originally planned, but that the delayed caused some impatience on the part of participants. The anticipated orderly launch of kites (20 kites, every 15 minutes) could not happen. As someone already indicated, moving the entire schedule an hour earlier may help in the future.

I wonder, if it would be possible to set up a (small) space where the event participants should NOT launch. That space could be designated to all those who are not participating in the event, but simply want to kite at Crissy that day. I think, the locals would appreciate that gesture.

In my opinion, the rescue came a bit late: we watched from the beach as the kites were going down, expecting the boat/jet skis to be there at any moment. It didn't happen that way. I'm sure there were good reasons for that, but I'm wondering what they were. Is there any way to avoid in the future?

Again - Live2Kite deserves all the praises, but we should learn from these imperfections to avoid them in the future.

Cheers!

[jonosf]

I have been known to kite Crissy, and I think I know who the 'locals' are - they great people. I think if you look back at the forum every year after this event, it is the same positive/negative stuff. I have done many down winders in the bay, including this one in the past, and I think it is such a great event to get people out there to experience the fun of kiting in the bay: I was bummed I missed it.

Now, Evan is a 'local' if kiting at Crissy from 2000 onwards makes you a 'local.' I am sure this event will happen again. Why not send him your constructive ideas for the next event to live2kite.

Lastly, remember, we were all beginners once.

Jonathan

[Boardsports]

I went to Crissy to watch the launch and had fun watching everyone take off. Despite the huge crowd, the launch seemed to go really smoothly and it was quite a site to see that many kites take off at nearly the same time. The biggest gift for me was having the bay almost all to myself for a nice session around 5pm. The wind dropped off, and I opted to head out on a 10m rebel for a nice session up at the north tower. The water was butter smooth with the ebb, porpoises were swimming around everywhere, and there was nice steady wind. I watched the amoeba of kites disappear east, and it was a very cool site. The event looked like a ton of fun and I am glad everyone got in ok! Perhaps I will join next year. Koodos to Evan and crew for organizing a fun event...sorry I missed the after party in Alameda! Here are some pics that I shot of the crew launching at Crissy

Jane
Boardsports School & Shop
Alameda - San Mateo - San Francisco
Voted "Best of the Bay"
http://www.BoardsportsSchool.com
415.385.1224