I know this has been covered before but I'm getting old & I've forgotten..
Last time I sailed at canton it was pretty busy with sailboarders & kiters and I was sailing along downwind and behind a kite and I realised I have no idea where their danger zone is what I have to do etc..
Where is a safe spot to sail.. what sorts of things can cause problems etc.
When sailing with Kiters, watch the kite, not the sailor.
Windsurfers you can see what they are about to do by their bodies, with kiting the kite moves well before the kiter starts doing anything
I think its best to sail upwind if possible, I've been in a few positions where I've almost severed kite lines due to a kiter loosing control of his kite and it ending up in the water directly in front of me. The lines are almost impossible to spot in the water so keep an eye out for kiters in the water then just head up wind.
Keep your eyes open and keep looking around. Don't sail underneath the kite if possible. I quite like windsurfing with kiters, except that old bloke who was kiting too close to us that Sunday. Not sure what his problem was.
a shout or a whistle is a good idea, just to let them know there's someone to leeward. and if they look like they're a learner you're better to gybe out of there or pinch upwind.
and if you're heading towards each other on opposite tacks the kiter should bear off so that the poley passes upwind, away from the lines.
I was out sailing on the same day as Moby and Sue are talking about the other Sunday. The kiters that were out were pretty good, its just that as a non-kiter you dont know whats going to happen.
As Elmo says, with a windsurfer you mostly know whats gonna happen. Plus when a windsurfer stops, he stops bloody quick. With kite lines and kites your not sure where the kite is going to end up. Most of us know that if a kite boosts or does flicky spinny things they are going to end up quite a ways downwind.
As it was pretty crowded on the water that day it seems there is no "set" way of being safe. I, along with others had to take evasive action even if it was out of "Buggered if I know where this bloke is going so Ill play it safe".
then again this is coming from the guy who T-boned his mate with half a dozen kiters on the water. 
Plan A is stay upwind of them. Upwind of them they cant get at you with the kite.
Stick to the Starboard rule, but dont assume they will. They will often be better passing downwind of you even if they are on Starboard tack, so if you see them starting to do that, let them.
Watch out for a kiteboard in the water if you see a kiter in the water being towed by the kite. If the board is upside down it will be very difficult to spot.
Remember Plan A.
Waterhouse wouldnt have given good odds on it anyway.
A kite is way more harder to control than a fixed sail no matter how experience the sailor is in really windy conditions l would stay way upwind of a kiter just to be on the safe side.kites & sailboarders do not mix
^^^^^^This is only true if sailboarders think that closed minded way. Which most dont.
Have had many sessions with mixed water users with no problems.
You just need to accept that others also use the water and learn how to approach it.
Which is why sboardcrazy is being a responsable waterman and asking questions to keep harmony on the water.
^^^ you [were] doing that with good advice right up until you said that Markie will be here with some troll blah blah.
Usual crap because you have some kind of obsession with me.
Peace out.
To be fair to lotofwind in this case Mark he was not his usual troll-ish self and actually provided some useful content to the thread. Sure, he threw a line in specifically for you, but you've got to give him that one, you two troll each other all the time and you must admit it was thrown with significant jest. I think in this case you've somewhat ****canned a fairly decent thread by taking the highly sarcastic bait.
On topic, I sail with kiters all the time, never a problem, just try and pass upwind where possible, watch their kite and them to see if they have seen you and try not to get too ****ty when they take up 20m of the wave ^_^ As always though self preservation is the key, be prepared to take evasive action/bail as sometimes, particularly in the the waves, shirt happens.
^^^ yeah well CJW what you missed was - after I replied he edited his post to make it look like he "predicted " my response then promptly he posted to say he was right. Then posted ahelpful reposne. All orchestrated.
Juvenile crap so I deleted my post to show him for what he does.
I do not troll, I state what I see on the water from kiters. Simple as that.
I'm a preety open minded person when I said kites& sailboarders don't mix lm knot being biased to anyone lm just saying when you got 50 odd kiters & sailboarders out in 20 knot plus winds it can be dangerous we are all fellow watermen or woman let's keep it that way.happy sailing.
You cant always stay upwind of a kite for various reasons . The question is does this Kiter know Im here .
The Mast abeam rule no longer exists so if the kiter who is travelling on the same tack is windward but in front they still need to give way to leeward . Its this position I worry about, as you are in the impact zone if the kiter decides to do one of those up you go jumps which takes them downwind and into a collision course with the leeward board . A normal tack for the kite is no drama as they can turn on a dime and effectivley avoid the leeward board .
All the kiter needs to do in this case is look prior to jumping . This needs to happen a little more often.
Starboard does a kite know what this is ? Im pretty sure most do however is it an accepted right of way rule within the kiteing world.
The opposite is when I'm on port how much of the kite rig am I expected to give way to ? I always give way to the board rider but often pass under the kite.
I dug up this thread from the kiting forums. www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/General/Right-of-way-4/ It seems some kiters have different views on what's what when launching. Might be worth considering.
