Cape Town Visitors - Avoid killing each other

[Van Hunk]

Ahooi everyone

First off, a belated welcome to the hundreds of international kiters who have descended on our shores.

The last 72 hours have presented us with EPIC conditions heh? Nuking winds combined with 6ft plus walls of Atlantic ice water relentlessly rolling into Table Bay. As a local who has kited all over the planet I think it is fair to say it has been world class.

That is apart from a pretty significant fly in the ointment or perhaps more accurately a turd in the punchbowl – rider chaos. (Using my local spot Dolphin as a reference point but I suspect that it is a credible proxy for other spots in the Mother City)

International kiters have a tendency to all bunch together like flies on elephant dung. (50 kiters together when you have an entire bay, why?)
When you combine the conditions and crowds with varying skill levels, wave riders out of their depth and monster egos and arrogance on the water and you get a fokop. (Yesterday saw trashed kites, mangled lines, deep facial lacerations, oi it was a mess.) Interestingly though no locals were involved in any of these dramas, as far as I m aware, as the locals know the conditions and avoid tourist riders like goats with fleas- given that they can simply not to be trusted.

Irrespective whether you are a pro or a kook, Cape Town is wild. And it takes no prisoners. (ask Nic J) So, for tourist safety (because you all have the seeming intention to murder one another) please take heed of the basic rules and vibe guide below.

1.Be friendly and smile! You are in Sunny SA!
2.The first 50m of water is for guys coming in or leaving the water. Don’t jump or do free style here. It is just dumb.
3.Roll your lines up when you have landed your kite, or someone will do it for you.
4.Rider with right hand forward on bar has right of way. (in other words the dude or dudette on the incoming tack at e.g. Dolphin beach has right of way – really it is not difficult)
5.Avoid beginners and give them right of way.
6. Know your own limitations and do not risk it in conditions where you are not sure you have the necessary skill required. Please. It is not only about you but the other water users as well.

[SonnyRider]

Ahooi everyone

First off, a belated welcome to the hundreds of international kiters who have descended on our shores.

International kiters have a tendency to all bunch together like flies on elephant dung. (50 kiters together when you have an entire bay, why?)

2.The first 50m of water is for guys coming in or leaving the water. Don’t jump or do free style here. It is just dumb.

Unfortunately most kiters in the northern hemisphere like to ride amongst other kiters. We call it sheep in the pen mentality I have no idea why they like to do this.

Point number 2. Again, rights way & etiquette are not something they all do. Esp at spots with waves, they are drawn to the flatter water in the shallows.

I feel you pain. It's like this at my local spot on every busy day

[rynhardt]

From the perspective a being a regular tourist to Cape Town.

It's great that the locals have established a set of guidelines that work for them. However, unless it is signposted somewhere visible, it's unlikely that visitors will be aware of these.
Posting on the internet forums is a good start, but you may reach only a tiny percentage of kiters this way.

South Africa is not unique in having everything below the mean high tide mark considered free and open for public access and use. Visitors know this.
Unless you want to get into a pissing contest about whose rules take precedence and who is a local and how do you go about proving it etc etc, a good old signpost will go a long way to getting everyone on the same page.

Also keep in mind that visitors probably have different customs and culture from the locals, ergo, they do things differently. You may not understand why, but understanding is not required, only tolerance.

Lastly, unless there are minors involved, most kiters are adults and are able to make their own decisions and live with the consequences. Like riding in a crowded spot. It's a choice.

[mopman365]

It's great that the locals have established a set of guidelines that work for them. However, unless it is signposted somewhere visible, it's unlikely that visitors will be aware of these.
...
Lastly, unless there are minors involved, most kiters are adults and are able to make their own decisions and live with the consequences. Like riding in a crowded spot. It's a choice.

These are not locally established guidelines (apart from point 1 that is). It's internationally accepted kiteboarding rules that's been in place since the inception of the sport to prevent the chaos described. Some guys (including some locals) simply choose to forget/ignore them.

I agree on your last point. The combination of gatvol locals, bodydragging students, Italian freestylers with short-tack-sindrome and der downwind shorebreak surfen schwein just doesn't do it for me. Nice spot out of season though.

[Toby]

I wonder why signs would be needed?

These are basic rules in our sport! Everyone should know them and act accordingly.

I very much know not all know and do, riding on Brazilian lagoons...the question now is why don’t they know???
Kite schools and instructors can/should be held responsible?

[Strekke]

It's great that the locals have established a set of guidelines that work for them.
...
Unless you want to get into a pissing contest about whose rules take precedence and who is a local and how do you go about proving it etc etc, a good old signpost will go a long way to getting everyone on the same page.

Also keep in mind that visitors probably have different customs and culture from the locals, ergo, they do things differently. You may not understand why, but understanding is not required, only tolerance.

I disagree.

Every time I have visited "popular kiting destinations" places like Cape Town, I was shocked by the number of arrogant douchebags that our sport attracts. It's when you ride in crowded places like these that you are confronted with the many incompetent, unrespectful, and asocial wannabees that are on the water sometimes. Right-of-way rules as described above by OP are internationally set and are IKO standard - if you don't know how they work, or how to implement them, you should take another lesson or 2 in a shallow lagoon in a designated teaching area, and you definitely do not belong on the water in Cape Town. A signpost in Cape Town about the rules on the water is therefore not really a useful suggestion in my opinion: if you need to read this signpost to learn about right of way etc. before going on the water, you shouldn't be pumping up your small kite on Kitebeach in the first place.

I am not from any of these places myself, but when I do visit, I make sure to respect the rules and not piss off the locals. If it was my world-class backyard being treated like that by visitors, I would definitely not be happy. Mad respect for the patient locals for not cutting more lines or deflating more kites .

[rynhardt]

I wonder why signs would be needed?

These are basic rules in our sport! Everyone should know them and act accordingly.

I very much know not all know and do, riding on Brazilian lagoons...the question now is why don’t they know???
Kite schools and instructors can/should be held responsible?

The thing is, _we_ see it as _our_ sport, and we follow certain guidelines. But there are plenty of people who buy a used kiteboarding kit and just start.
Apart from common sense, there is nothing preventing them from just pumping up on the beach and going for it.
Legally there is no law against it, and should any other member of the public threaten them with assault or willful property damage then that member of the public could and should go to jail.

Unless the local municipality enforces something like a valid IKO membership card there is really no reasonable recourse. Of course this can only be enforced at beach access points, as even the local municipality's rights terminate at the mean high tide mark.

[knotwindy]

Forgot a rule that helps us all:
If you are downwind, lower your kite
If upwind, raise it
Even just a little, to show you know the safety aspect and have done this before and to allow more sheeple in a small area.

Also, if you act like a kook (read as*hole) and threaten access to an area, don’t be surprised if you get threatened in return. Not advocating this but not surprised by it either.

[plummet]

Kiters have a tendency to all bunch together like flies on elephant dung. (50 kiters together when you have an entire bay, why?)

This is standard anywhere I go. The sheep mo backwards and forwards usually within 50 meters of their launch spot. Its dumb arse and stupid and it wont change.

My suggestion is get the hell away from the sheep, have fun with your own session and forget about it.

[tautologies]

This is standard anywhere I go. The sheep mo backwards and forwards usually within 50 meters of their launch spot. Its dumb arse and stupid and it wont change.

I think it is awesome, because it just opens up the rest of the spots for others (me).