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IDIOT at the Event site

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Northwest Kiteboarding -> Gorge / Portland / Oregon Coast
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J.P.

Since 10 Mar 2005
638 Posts

Addicted



PostMon Aug 01, 05 9:42 am    IDIOT at the Event site Reply with quote

Who else had the unpleasant experience of being harassed by an old geezer on a red pole smurfer who was displaying a rather high amount of “River Rage?

The moronic idiot with "River Rage" came from upwind and literally attempted to run me over more than once.
I saw him harassing other riders as well and heard others on the bar discussing his behavior.

What' the best approach in dealing with these types of IDIOTS????

The sad thing is if there’s any contact you know this jerk is going to play the role of victim when his behavior is clearly predatorial.

jp

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danimal

Since 03 Mar 2005
12 Posts

 



PostMon Aug 01, 05 12:45 pm     Reply with quote

River Rage yes. I saw the sandbar on sunday afternoon and it was out of control there must have been 40 kites in the air and another 30 on the beach. Throw in 50 or more poleboarders between the event site and the hatch along with all the hordes of kids, swimmers, boats and pets and you have the prefect recipe for river rage.

With a situation like that it's only a matter of time till bad things happen and someone gets really hurt or talk of bans start.

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BigR

Since 05 Jul 2005
372 Posts
White Salmon
Obsessed



PostMon Aug 01, 05 2:43 pm     Reply with quote

I don't know if its the same guy but he fits the description.
last week old geezer on reddish rig retorts F*&K you & get off the water
as I was beating upwind to Wells. Oh yeah, modus operandi is coming from upwind of you straight at you on his slalomus.
sounds like he wants the whole river to himself, whats the river rage from ? can't sail at the hatch or rowena got him in a bunch?

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Nak

Since 19 May 2005
4199 Posts
Camas
XTreme Poster

CGKA Member


PostMon Aug 01, 05 6:13 pm     Reply with quote

It sounds like this guy is clearly in violation of the law... If he is really riding in a manner that could cause injury and he is doing it intentionally, sounds like he is, call the police. Make sure you have witnesses on the beach to his behavior who are willing to back up your story. Reckless endangerment is illegal. Maybe a trip to the Police Station will calm him down... My guess is that he's trying to provoke a confrontation so that he can be the victim. Calling the police will turn the tables on him. Good luck!

Nak

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zipperline

Since 02 Aug 2005
66 Posts
Hood River
 



PostTue Aug 02, 05 5:40 am     Reply with quote

I have run into this guy since early April. He has one of the Gucci motorhomes and for sure is retired. He wears a bright orange or red helmet and rides Tushinham sales and a big ole slalom board. He is a bitter old man who despises kiters. A month or so ago I was heading to the hatch and came across him on starboard tack with him downwind of me. I brought my kite way above his mast and let him go by. He yelled that I almost killed him and that I was out of control. I then immediately came back and followed him about 3 feet off the tail of his board and with one hand on the bar told him that I was totaly in control and that he should not worry. He than told me that I was going to hurt someone and that he was going to sick his lawyer on me. I then proceeded to ask him why he was so bitter and that I have been windsurfing in the Gorge for 15 years. He started cursing at me and said that kiters should not be allowed in front of the event site. Since then he has aimed straight at me several times and I think would like nothing more than run into us. Pretty hilarious. I go out of my way to give him a smart ass smile and heckle him every time I am kiting.

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KiteKarl

Since 02 Mar 2005
213 Posts
Stockton, California
Stoked



PostTue Aug 02, 05 5:50 am     Reply with quote

His lawyer would have a hard time defending him with all these online testimonials. Laughing

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pauls

Since 20 Jun 2005
562 Posts
white salmon
Addicted



PostTue Aug 02, 05 8:18 am     Reply with quote

Guy sounds like a total jerk. Hope one of you guys can track down and report him to the cops, port, cgwa etc. All of you are kiting in the way and where 99.9% of windsurfers and port are asking you to. Scary thing is sooner or later he'll freak out a novice kiter and cause a wreck a with kiter taking the rap. I'm posting the message to nw-windtalk maybe someone on there will know the guy or at least watch out for him and set him straight.

paul

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Slipin Lizard

Since 23 Sep 2005
88 Posts
Hood River, Oregon
 



PostFri Sep 23, 05 1:03 pm    close quaters... Reply with quote

Well, here goes... I know the "old geezer" being discussed in this forum, and yep, you're right, he hates kite boarders. But, as always, there are two sides to every story. When I first came to Hood River, I watched the kiters and thought what a beautiful sport is was, seeing all the kites sweeping gracefully through the air. However, after several seasons of windsurfing, I have had the unpleasant experience of kiters coming within less than 5 ft of my board. I have had kiters not give way when I am on a starboard reach, and there seems to be no care for what the rules are. More than that, a number of kiters actually seem to get a "kick" out of passing as close to windsurfers as they can. I have many times held my course on a starboard reach only to have a downwind kiter pass within a few feet of me.
The kiter that wrote in saying he now goes out of his way to heckle the "old geezer" and rode 3ft off his tail is just feeding the fire and making the problem worse. Just like driving in traffic, if someone breaks the law that does not entitle you to do the same so that you can retaliate. Reporting this guy to the police isn't going to do a thing when kiters are already developing a reputation as being confrontational on the water.
Now before everyone starts typing in their "poleboarder!" retorts, let me say this. 1st place of "christ that was scary" goes not to a kiter, but to another windsurfer. I was getting ready to water start out past the red nun, and had another windsurfer almost run me over, yelling at me to "get out of the way".
The point is, there are tons of kiters out there, and so many of them ride responsibly and with consideration for others on the water whether they are kiting or windsurfing or whatever. But there are individuals that seem to go out with an agenda to come really close to windsurfers and "buzz" them. I watched as a 12 year old kid, who was going out for his first time since having a really bad day on his windsurfer (he got under his sail in the water and panicked) had a kiter come right into the Event Site bay, turn around and jumped over the back end of this kids board, missing the kids head by about 5-8ft. Wow. I don't know what kind of individual gets a "kick" out of doing something like that, but I'm sure he went back to the sand spit to tell his victory story and get congrats from his pals. But there are plenty of bad windsurfers out there too.
I also watched as the "old geezer" harrased some poor kiter who was unable to relaunch his kite, and had to come in at the Event Site. I felt bad for him, apologized for the "old geezer's" behavior, and gave the guy and his gear a ride back to the sand bar.
I think if we all could just put aside our differences, quit the silly name calling, and respect each other on the water, then there wouldn't be people like this "old geezer". What good is it to be deliberately looking for this guy on the water, as one kiters admits, just to "heckle him" Sure, he's aggressive, and he's wrong to be so and has a bad attitude. But when he comes in bitching about a kiter, most of us can relate because of the experiences we've had too. Keep in mind too, this talk about lawyers and cops, if you're going out there provoking someone, believe me, its going to come out that you were doing so if there is an incident, a judge may decide that you brought the incident upon yourself.
I don't react to getting buzzed by kiters, but believe me, its hard not to sometimes.
I know this is a very long post, and probably there will be just a bunch of name calling and blaming, but I guess I'll end with this. You just came close to a windsurfer and now's there's yelling going on. Before you call the police and "report them", be honest, I mean really, be honest about it:
were you on starboard or port tack?
starboard: did you hold your course?
port: did you yield the right of way?
did you try to keep a minimum of 25ft between you and the windsurfer?
did you fly your kite over top of the windsurfer?
did you do EVERYTHING you could to avoid a collision even though you had (or thought you had) the right of way?

Oh, and you better believe there are a ton of windsufers out there that could use a good going over of that check list too! Smile

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pjc

Since 06 Mar 2005
649 Posts

Addicted



PostFri Sep 23, 05 4:47 pm     Reply with quote

Minimum 25 feet? What planet do you ride on? People get closer then that all the time with no hassles or words exchanged.

Read zipperline's post again... sounds like he was just trying to talk to the guy and demonstrate that he was in control.

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Slipin Lizard

Since 23 Sep 2005
88 Posts
Hood River, Oregon
 



PostFri Sep 23, 05 5:55 pm     Reply with quote

Well, I'm really not trying to start a war of words here, though I suppose that's going to happen anyway, but your comment illustrates my point exactly. In this forum topic people are talking about police and lawyers and how when there's an incident, this "old geezer" guy is going to be in a lot of trouble. But right there, you're wrong. Sure, people come closer than 25 feet. People run into each other too... and if there's a collision people are going to ask what you were doing and why. You're supposed to maintain a minimum of 25 feet distance from anyone else. Again, I'm not trying to say that people always maintain that kind of distance, but if people are going to get the law involved and "report this guy to the police", they'd better be sure that they were obeying the rules of the water first.
If you get clobbered by a windsurfer who loses his rig while you're scraping by downwind of him, and then cry foul to a cop, lawyer, judge or whatever, you're going to get asked just what the hell you were doing so close to another person on the water when you could have just bore off and avoided the collision.
Its this whole attitude "when I'm on the water I can do anything I want so long as I don't contact you" that is causing all the problems. Sooner or later there will be a major accident in the Event Site area because of it. Comments like "what planet do you come from??"... hey, I come from the planet where I know the basic rules of conduct, and I don't go out on the water looking for a fight. I think you have to ask yourself, do you really want to see windsurfers and kiteboards getting along down at the Event Site and Sand Bar, or is it more fun to hold a grudge and go out on the water with a big chip on your shoulder? Isn't that what "the old geezer?" is doing? Wasn't the whole point and question of this thread on how to deal with it? Well, if you think passing really close to him and others is going to lead to a better kiting environment, then I don't think you have anything to complain about.
Personally, I don't care about people coming close by or flying a kite over-head when it gets busy. Its the guys that work their asses off to get right beside you that tick me off. Remember, if there is a collision and you want to be "in the right", you'll have to prove you did everything in your power to avoid the collision. I just think everyone could be more honest about their own behavior and wether or not they are contributing to a bad vibe or not. If its busy, and you do your best to keep out of each other's way, then everyone should be happy. If you're working hard to get close to someone so you can boost a big jump right beside them, then you're just part of the problem. My friend on his first day visiting the Gorge had a kiter come from up wind and tried to show off by doing a big aerial right by him. The kiter lost control of his kite, and it crashed right iin front of my friend who had no time to react and ended running right into the kite tearing it with his fin. He felt really bad about it, but really, who's to blame? Why the hell would take a risky jump right in the path on someone? It's these kinds of incidents that just keep giving kiters a bad name, which is a shame because personally I think most of the guys kiting aren't like that at all. Its up to you though, your conduct on the water is your choice.

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BrDRdR

Since 20 Aug 2005
26 Posts

 



PostFri Sep 23, 05 6:03 pm     Reply with quote

Danimal. Your art 'signature' looks like a HR version of the Dead Set cover art (SF bay). Where did you get that from - looks cool from the small pic. Thumb's Up
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RidiN is LiviN

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