KiteChicks III was a resounding success!

45 chicks + partners and instructors.

All up, close to 100 folks turned up. Perfect wind, perfect weather, perfect camaraderie and excellent organisation by Priya.

Loads of smiles and heaps of hoots.
More photos to come later.

An amazing weekend!!!! Thanks to Pryia and everyone who donated time, goodies and equipment!! So much to be said for such a full on 2 days of lessons, laughs and fabulous people!!

Was a really good weekend and it was awesome to see so many of the girls going home so stoked wither their achievements and with the sport. Great job Priya

I never had that much fun body dragging I'm sure!

... and I sure hope my instructor didn't have that much fun teaching me!

Was the house on the corner a rental or does someone into kiting own it?

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wdric said...

Was the house on the corner a rental or does someone into kiting own it?

Place was a rental, perfect place for a kiting weekend though.

Was a great weekend, lots of smiles, great conditions and progression for most if the girls. Oh and plenty of cold beer ;)

Looking forward to more photo's Rob

I agree on the weekend - it was generally pretty cool and I'm glad to see so many women getting into the sport. A big thanks to Priya for her awesome organisation!!

Downsides? i'd have to say the complete and utter lack of common sense by some of the MEN. Such jems as:

* one instructor riding on saturday parallel to the beach, 2m from the shore for about 50-60m before crashing his griffin kite into my g/f who's learning, thereby putting 8 neat little holes into the canopy of my newly acquired Rev 2. He came over to tell her that "it was ok, its repairable" before walking off. Thanks for killing the resale value on my kite, a**hole.
* another instructor on the same griffin kite (demo?) putting his board through a girls kite tearing a massive hole in it. No apology, just wandered off.
* having show ponies doing tricks and ride right up close to the beach where girls were learning.
* watching a girl hot launch in sundays heavier wind and the instructor saying "oh, I was waiting for you to move round the window to launch"

Not once did I feel like there were any issues with the girls learning, but I gotta say that the sheer number of douchebags showing off near where the learners were was really off putting. So many girls waiting while guys rode back to the shore and did transitions 5-10m downwind of where they were standing trying to learn.

Based on this experience, I won't be attending again and I'll probably think twice about going to other NSWKBA events :( It's a pity that the minority spoiled it because I met a few really awesome people.

Good to hear it was fun. Shame about the c*cks. Same thing happened last year too - bit of scary showpony 'wave' riding in the shin-high chop, right in front of where all the girls were learning. Some fellas are truly tragic.

totally agree with spungles post, I was helping out with the girls and couldn't believe that with all that beach and water there were still some absolute weapons who wanted to kite in amoungst the learning area.
It's hard to control, but someone shud just tell the experienced guys who are not helping out to feck off somewhere else. It was after all "kite chicks III" weekend.

Massive well done to Priya & the gang tho, amazing effort on all their behalves to get it organised and thanks to everyone that helped. Was down with 3 learners & they all loved it & are fully addicted now

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spungles said...

I agree on the weekend - it was generally pretty cool and I'm glad to see so many women getting into the sport. A big thanks to Priya for her awesome organisation!!

Downsides? i'd have to say the complete and utter lack of common sense by some of the MEN. Such jems as:

* one instructor riding on saturday parallel to the beach, 2m from the shore for about 50-60m before crashing his griffin kite into my g/f who's learning, thereby putting 8 neat little holes into the canopy of my newly acquired Rev 2. He came over to tell her that "it was ok, its repairable" before walking off. Thanks for killing the resale value on my kite, a**hole.
* another instructor on the same griffin kite (demo?) putting his board through a girls kite tearing a massive hole in it. No apology, just wandered off.
* having show ponies doing tricks and ride right up close to the beach where girls were learning.
* watching a girl hot launch in sundays heavier wind and the instructor saying "oh, I was waiting for you to move round the window to launch"

Not once did I feel like there were any issues with the girls learning, but I gotta say that the sheer number of douchebags showing off near where the learners were was really off putting. So many girls waiting while guys rode back to the shore and did transitions 5-10m downwind of where they were standing trying to learn.

Based on this experience, I won't be attending again and I'll probably think twice about going to other NSWKBA events :( It's a pity that the minority spoiled it because I met a few really awesome people.

Spungles
I agree there were some idiots around but considering the number of beginners all learing in a reasonably small area I was impressed that there were no major disasters. Also you cannot hold the NSWKBA organisers responsible for the actions of a select few.

Unfortunately this is the real world. There will always be the odd human being who feels the need to show off his "skills" and is oblivious/ignorant with regard to the safety of others. The best thing we can all do is continue to support events like this and stand together in discouraging poor behaviour. If you chose to not attend future events because some idiot has ruined it for you so be it - I for one will certainly be at the next event.

Many thanks to Priya and everyone else who contributed their time towards organisation, gear, instruction, food and a fantastic weekend!!!

I agree with HowieD too, it's not the NSWKBA that was at fault, just a few individuals....we should all continue to support these events, it's great to see the sport growing & together take a negative stance on the few offending muppets.

KITECHICKS wouldn't have been half the success without the kind support, time and contributions from all the volunteers, instructors and sponsors of this NSWKBA event. It has been remarkable to see this industry come together to demonstrate their love kiting and support for KITECHICKS. Thanks again!!!

It was an awesome event to organise and was rewarding to see so many happy smiles on all of the KITECHICKS, instructors/coaches and partners faces.

It is unfortunate when accidental damage happens to our beloved kites. I do know that in both instances there were sincere apologies and a willingness to offer help to fix the damage. Spungles, if you require contact details please call me directly on my phone, your KITECHICK has my no.

NSWKBA is a non profit organization run by NSW volunteers with a love of kiting, with the aim of making kitesurfing more FUN and SAFE in NSW. Similarly to running KITECHICKS, we are striving to hold more events to benefit our members. If anyone has spare time to assist in making our events more successful please contact us at http://www.nswkba.com.au

Cheers to the next KITECHICKS (hopefully in Feb)

x
KCHX

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spungles said...
* another instructor on the same griffin kite (demo?) putting his board through a girls kite tearing a massive hole in it. No apology, just wandered off.

If that's the incident I think it is, then that was followed up by an offer of a loan of a similar sized kite and finance to help with the repair.
There's also a bit more to the story and it's not quite as damning as the above description paints it, but it's quite long winded.

Anyone know what the story with the boat was? I finally got out for a sail on the Sunday arvo, when things were winding down, and the boat was unmanned and floating downwind. It was out the back when I saw it, but slowly heading towards the south end of the beach.
Seemed weird, I was looking for someone in the water but I couldn't see anyone around it and no one seemed concerned on the beach. I was very tempted to hop in it and "sail" it back to the beach!

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Also you cannot hold the NSWKBA organisers responsible for the actions of a select few.

I certainly don't hold NSWKBA or the organisers responsible for this. I think they did a fantastic job. It's a mammoth task to organise this kind of thing and it was pulled of flawlessly.

That said, if the events being held attract the occasional tossers, then I reckon the easiest way to avoid those tossers is to avoid the events.

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It is unfortunate when accidental damage happens to our beloved kites. I do know that in both instances there were sincere apologies and a willingness to offer help to fix the damage.

No offer of repair was made by the kiter who crashed into my g/f. Maybe it was made later, but this is the first I hear about it. I can assure you I would have been way less pissed if the offer had been made.

Anyway, bygones.

The repair is easy and it won't affect the performance of the kite and if I'm able to match the colors, will be barely visible.

Good winds and safe flying..

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timk said...

totally agree with spungles post, I was helping out with the girls and couldn't believe that with all that beach and water there were still some absolute weapons who wanted to kite in amoungst the learning area.
It's hard to control, but someone shud just tell the experienced guys who are not helping out to feck off somewhere else. It was after all "kite chicks III" weekend.

Massive well done to Priya & the gang tho, amazing effort on all their behalves to get it organised and thanks to everyone that helped. Was down with 3 learners & they all loved it & are fully addicted now

First off congratulations to priya for organising an awesome event,It was an awesome site to see so many chicks turn up and I'm sure the local community and kiters would love to see the event there again some time soon..
Just in defence of some of the experienced guys you talk of kiting in the area KITE CHICKS III chose to occupy (not sure if they were the trouble makers that you talk of or not tho).Collingwood beach is pretty much the only safe place to launch/kite in a NE'r on that side of the bay and from about halfway down the beach the wind tends to do weird things im sure some of you would of noticed it anyway thats why a few locals myself included were huddled up kiting in the area near the rocks..

Quick point to note that all Vincentia local kiters were very supportive of the KITECHICKS event and moved themselves on 'their' beach to cater for the way we had separated it into 3 sections - beginners, getting on board, and more experienced (near the rocks). thanks guys!
x
KCHX

Well done Priya and everyone involved, good spirit, awesome organisation, awesome WE!

The location was great, but a bit tricky at mid/high tide with very little beach space for teaching perfectly safely. I am very glad everyone seem to have remained safe and had a good time

Looking forward to the next one!

(side note: why do some people always have to criticize / emphasise on a little negative thing??? I wonder! Are they just trying to make themselves interesting?)

Bye
Jacques

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Trant said...

spungles said...
* another instructor on the same griffin kite (demo?) putting his board through a girls kite tearing a massive hole in it. No apology, just wandered off.

If that's the incident I think it is, then that was followed up by an offer of a loan of a similar sized kite and finance to help with the repair.
There's also a bit more to the story and it's not quite as damning as the above description paints it, but it's quite long winded.

Anyone know what the story with the boat was? I finally got out for a sail on the Sunday arvo, when things were winding down, and the boat was unmanned and floating downwind. It was out the back when I saw it, but slowly heading towards the south end of the beach.
Seemed weird, I was looking for someone in the water but I couldn't see anyone around it and no one seemed concerned on the beach. I was very tempted to hop in it and "sail" it back to the beach!

Sorry if it bothered you, but out the back was the safest place for the boat... my students had gone to lunch and I took the opportunity to have a kite myself. Also it allowed me to keep the kite in the air and away from the beach. When I picked up my student the two of us were able to bodydrag back out to the boat.

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neil2118 said...
Sorry if it bothered you, but out the back was the safest place for the boat... my students had gone to lunch and I took the opportunity to have a kite myself. Also it allowed me to keep the kite in the air and away from the beach. When I picked up my student the two of us were able to bodydrag back out to the boat.

Hey Neil, didn't bother me at all, I just wondered what the story was as it seemed a bit bizarre at the time!
Thanks for clearing that up.