Crissy Field to Berkeley Downwinder - July 11th, 2009

[OliverG]

I have been known to kite Crissy, and I think I know who the 'locals' are - they great people. I think if you look back at the forum every year after this event, it is the same positive/negative stuff. I have done many down winders in the bay, including this one in the past, and I think it is such a great event to get people out there to experience the fun of kiting in the bay: I was bummed I missed it.

Now, Evan is a 'local' if kiting at Crissy from 2000 onwards makes you a 'local.' I am sure this event will happen again. Why not send him your constructive ideas for the next event to live2kite.

Lastly, remember, we were all beginners once.

Jonathan

Wise comments, thanks stopping by and thanks for the post Jono!

It is the same kind of thing for every downwinder event, the bus, or buses, show up, everyone storms the beach. Not everyone is always aware of local guidelines or etiquette. The best thing to be gained is to use the feedback to make the next one better and smoother. ;)

[perukite]

2 observations:

1) hopefully live2kite will have/has a better relationship with their neighbors in alameda, boardsportsschool, than their predecesor.

I really thought it was genius, although a bit "cheeky", that boardsports school took the opportunity to capitalize on the live2kite event by putting promotional material under the windshield wiper blades of every car in the Crissy parking lot on Saturday.

2) I think the launch of 130 kiters from crissy could have been classified as a "flash mob" event like the valentines day pillow fight in union square and the michael jackson dance party at embarcadero a few weeks ago. The look on peoples faces walking along the waterfront at such a spectacle was priceless, imagine being a tourist from buttplug, nebraska on one of the bay tour boats that afternoon navigating through a cloud of 130 kiters. WTF? Dem Kalifornians is um craaaazy...socialists for shure.

[eag]

clearly I put a bee up everyone's butt by starting this with a joke borne out of irritation. I may have only been kiting Crissy for a few years, but I'm there almost everyday and I have seen lots of dumb stuff. My ONLY worry is access, and I know the U.S. park service will prioritize sunbathers and kids over us ANY day. I know those agencies, and if they decide against us after an incident it will be a hard battle to get our rights back. With the warm weather this becomes a big deal.

So.. our sport is growing, a ton, so just be careful and watch out for little kids on warm days.

[Live2KITE]

Live2kite / Kite415 Downwinder PHOTO UPDATE:

As we are all anxiously waiting for more photos, here is the work of Dimitri Volkmann who summarizes it pretty well...
Thank you Dimitri again for all the hard work.
The rest of the photo links will follow soon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98fcBCEHgjI

Evan

[Sonny]

clearly I put a bee up everyone's butt by starting this with a joke borne out of irritation. I may have only been kiting Crissy for a few years, but I'm there almost everyday and I have seen lots of dumb stuff. My ONLY worry is access, and I know the U.S. park service will prioritize sunbathers and kids over us ANY day. I know those agencies, and if they decide against us after an incident it will be a hard battle to get our rights back. With the warm weather this becomes a big deal.

So.. our sport is growing, a ton, so just be careful and watch out for little kids on warm days.

We don't want to upset the locals but this event allows me to enjoy Crissy that you enjoy all the time because I'm too scared to kite Crissy without some type of support. =D>

[pososhok]

2 observations:

1) hopefully live2kite will have/has a better relationship with their neighbors in alameda, boardsportsschool, than their predecesor.

I really thought it was genius, although a bit "cheeky", that boardsports school took the opportunity to capitalize on the live2kite event by putting promotional material under the windshield wiper blades of every car in the Crissy parking lot on Saturday.

2) I think the launch of 130 kiters from crissy could have been classified as a "flash mob" event like the valentines day pillow fight in union square and the michael jackson dance party at embarcadero a few weeks ago. The look on peoples faces walking along the waterfront at such a spectacle was priceless, imagine being a tourist from buttplug, nebraska on one of the bay tour boats that afternoon navigating through a cloud of 130 kiters. WTF? Dem Kalifornians is um craaaazy...socialists for shure.

I completely agree with the comment about Boardsports school - finding their flyer on my windshield at Crissy did send a slightly sleazy vibe (although I think they are a great shop). I hope they work out a decent relationship with Live2Kite.

Great analogy to a flash mob! We should advertise the event as such next time :) There definitely was a great deal of interest from onlookers to all the commotion happening at the beach at launch. I had been approached by multiple random non-kiters asking "Wtf is going on?".

[Jeb Mud]

Anyone who got rescued by the Cal Sailing Club rescue skiff by two guys (Francis and Christian), please contact me or just post a note in this forum. They are getting grief from the Club for being out so long rescuing your soggy asses and a note of thanks would be in order and go a long ways. (As well as the standard beer offering)
Sander

[burtonac]

Does anyone know when/where the full set of pix will be available? What an amazing day...would love to see a consolidated set!!!