Return-Path: <jmilum@saba.com-DeleteThis> Received: from opus.labs.agilent.com (root@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis [15.0.168.176]) by jr.labs.agilent.com (8.9.3 (PHNE_18979)/8.9.3 AgilentLabs Workstation) with ESMTP id NAA08280 for <wind_talk_ls@jr.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis>; Mon, 24 Jul 2000 13:24:29 -0700 (PDT) Received: from msgbas1.agilent.com (msgbas1.cos.agilent.com [130.29.152.58]) by opus.labs.agilent.com (8.9.3 (PHNE_18979)/8.9.3 AgilentLabs Workstation) with ESMTP id NAA12246 for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis>; Mon, 24 Jul 2000 13:24:28 -0700 (PDT) Received: from SABAHQMAIL.saba.com (nat.saba.com [208.197.163.94]) by msgbas1.agilent.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 73A1D319 for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis>; Mon, 24 Jul 2000 14:24:28 -0600 (MDT) Received: by sabahqmail.saba.com with Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) id <30Q43ZVR>; Mon, 24 Jul 2000 13:25:27 -0700 Message-ID: <D36440DD7F4FD4119F1000D0B77CF8088E9CF8@sabahqmail.saba.com-DeleteThis> From: Jeff Milum <jmilum@saba.com-DeleteThis> To: "'wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis'" <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis> Subject: RE: Kite sailing concerns - god help us all Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 13:25:26 -0700 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----_=_NextPart_001_01BFF5AD.4D6A8060"
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As cool as kite sailing is, it's just a matter of time until there are
serious incidents.
The analogy that they sail differently (snowboards vs. skiers) doesn't go
far enough because additionally they just take up a lot more airspace. You
can probably have 10 windsurfers sailing in the same patch of water that 2
kiters (at most) could sail on. For a lower level kiter, it's even worse.
As the numbers of kiters increase this will cause some serious problems.
Also currently most kiters are advanced windsurfers so they understand and
respect windsurfers. Going forward we can expect an uneducated, and more
"extreme" element from the wakeboarding and surfing crowd who all see this
as a "cool" alternative to windsurfing. I suspect that some of the same us
vs. them snowboard vs. skiing mentality will pop up, but this time the
snowboarders will require 10 times more room and have a dangerous weapon in
their hand.
That being said I really want one for light air!
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