hehe…
those surfers dont give a shit about us kayakers. imagine that rope being tight, hehe..thats the most dangerous aspect in this clip id say..some of them are really good.some are not. last season i saw a sailboarder crach into a sailboat ina force 7...he didnt see it..
Playing well with others …
I think what a lot of kayakers miss, is an understanding of the rules of the game in areas that are frequented by other people riding surf craft. You need to learn the rules of the road and stay out of the way. Sail boards don’t have a right of way, but nobody in their right mind is going to drop in on one when moving a full speed.
It’s very likely that if the others using the break thought the swimming kayaker was in any grave danger they would have come to help. As it was they probably thought he was a “kook” and left him alone to learn his lesson. Performing a rescue with a sail on a narrow sail board in the break zone would be pretty tricky.
yes.
when the waves get this bit its not so easy to see a kayak, or surfer for that matter…you are focuced on the conditions, and all of a sudden they are there heading streight at you. Ive paddled quite a lot with surfers and its been great. serving them caffe from the kayak and chatting.
Around here
Surfers, sailboarders, and kayaks tend to avoid being in the same place at the same time. Surfers REALLY dislike having kayaks among them for obvious reasons. Kayaks are (typically) under less control (since they don’t cut as sharply or as well), have lots more mass, and continue to travel in the wave even after the capsize. Collisions between surfers and kayaks don’t end well for the surfer.
Worse, most of us don’t use or understand the surfer lexicon and hand signals, so lots of kayakers simply don’t get the message. For this reason, many of them are shunned by the surfer community.
Sailboarders probably have a more comprehensive view of their surroundings than either kaykers or surfers. They have to look well ahead of them in order to plan and execute. They are standing, of course, which helps a lot. Because they are moving a whole lot faster, as you see in the video, they need to see further ahead to respond to conditions they will encounter. On the downside, that sail can block a lot of visual area, so if you are on the opposite side of the sail, you can’t assume you’ll be seen.
They tend to be more aloof than kayakers in this area. If talked to, I often get nothing more than a grunt in return. It seems that if you don’t share their interest in the sport, they don’t really seem motivated to interact. Kayakers seem to be much more gregarious (around here, at least).
This could stem from the amount of crap that surfers throw around to keep everyone off “their” beach. These folk tend to be much more territorial. A more surly lot I’ve seldom seen, though I can understand their safety concerns.
And yes, these gross generalizations are not to be applied to individuals, since there are lots of variations in human behavior, but the trends are there.
Rick
The GOOD NEWS
Sailboarders and kite surfers only tend to surf around here when it is so windy it’s not worth board surfing or paddle surfing.
I’ve only encountered really good windsurfers at Davenport, and seen some in Aawaii when not surfing. I’ve encountered a few trying to surf here, but they were not very good.
do
you know Halvor? he was an awesome kayaker, but has stopped, to become sailboarder.
what about the sailboarder?
Can you conceive of a possibility in the video where the sailboarder was at fault? Capsizes happen, even on a sailboard. Didn't appear to me that they dropped in on the sailboarder. They may be surf-savvy in your neck of the woods but not always the case here.
Sailboarding in surf isn't the same as surfing. Your range is much greater.