I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for making the kite buggying sport what it is.

I also want to make a comparison between us kite buggiers and boarders, and the NALSA landsailing group. I have only been involved in this sport a few years. Personally, I have always felt welcomed at any venue where there was kite buggying whether is was down in Monterey, CA with Dave, Christoph, and now Josh, at Shoreline Park in Mountain View, CA, or Elmir's at Buggy Boogie Thang, the annual Berkeley Kite Festival with the Ozone crowd, and my first NABX event this month, always just bunch of nice friendly folks.

And the Power Kite Forum is a wealth of information and activity. There are new posts here every day. Questions posted here seem to get answered, even if it has already been covered before.

Now if you haven't been there before, have a look at the NALSA landsailing website and their forum. The information is stale and fraught with broken links. In the last couple years I've seen all their forum posts get zapped because it is hosted on a free forum site where if there is no activity for a few weeks or months the site gets removed.

And here is one new comer's account of just how unwelcome they felt by the landsailing community: click
Probably why the Blokarters feel more at home with us than with NALSA, eh? That is just plain sad. I can't imagine that happening here. I can only hope they come across a kite buggier, like I did.

So, thanks for being a bunch of nice, friendly, helpful folks out enjoying wind powered sports and encouraging new folks to do and be the same.

Several years ago I stopped off at Ivanpah on the way to the pre-event at Elmers to check out the land yachts. I met a real friendly fellow (wish I could remember his name), and after talking for awhile he said to come meet the gang.

We walked up to a group of about 15 pilots and whatshisname said "Hey everybody this is Dave, the first kitebuggy-er here". Everyone turned their backs on us in unison.

I think poor whatshisname was as embarrassed about it as I was. And that was all I ever needed to know about land yachters! :frog:

PS Blokarts welcome in my camp anytime.

I have had the same reaction time and time again out on Elmers. Although Richard Jenkins, and The Bobs from the Iron Duck are the exception, most landsailers i've met seem to be from the Yacht Club, or somewhere else where they put their pants on both legs at once!

I don't know why, since we have so much in common, but hey, we welcome all wind worshippers.

If you notice, we have blo-karts, mantas, and homebuilts. If it is wind powered, we welcome you to our event.

Yes we emphasize kite buggy's, but that does not mean we are prejudiced. Besides, the real excuse is to race our little shot cars, and gather in buggy town for another meeting in town hall around the fire, or yet one more bar b que out on superior as the sun sets and the bombs go off.

Haven't been there? Next year, i'm skipping Elmers all together!

So, bring what works with wind, nothing to strange for us, and no strangers to us!

Someone invite that guy who had the bad experience at the NALSA event, please!

aoxoloveswindandwindypoweredthingys

I gotta say, the guys that showed at NABX with their blow carts and such are welcome back any time. I don't thing I saw one person in the crowd, buggier or blow cart who was anything less than kind and friendly.

The carts and bugs seem to mix quite well on the playa and even better in buggytown.


But then I think it's probably a slightly different crowd of carters that came to buggy town than the ones that normally go to the blow cart type of events.

I attended two days of the America's Cup this year and left with mixed emotions, but ultimately felt the same as most of you.

First let me say I have two good friends who landsail. John rides the pink twin manta that was at NABX and Capt. Ron also sails (though to his credit he also does everything under the sun too). They are two of the nicest guys I've met and have actually made me feel more welcome in their camps than my local buggy crowd (there are a few exceptions, but here is not the place).

That said, the kite crowd at NABX was phenomenal. More invinting than beyond my wildest dreams.

The crowd at America's Cup, was IMO, split in it's decision on where to go next (stay with a bunch stuck ups or come to our dark side). Upon enetering the playa, a man with a flat asked me to give his wife a ride back to camp. I obliged and they invited me to their camp. I quickly deduced and was later told I was hanging out with the stragglers, the people who just come to enjoy sailing and maybe even watch a race. Of course now looking back it's no suprise that this was the blokart/manta crowd. And now looking back it's no suprise that the guy who has won first place every year in his 30,000 plus landyacht wouldn't even wave back to me, even though he was cruising slow enough and close enough to check out my setup (I don't care WHO you are or HOW much your landyacht costs, the kitewing/dirtsurfer combo grabs your attention)

Add to that the first and last conversation I heard between the racers, "So how much does S0-and-SO have in their boat?" and you have a pretty good idea of what you are up against. When was the last time a buggier asked you how much you had vested in our sport for the sheer thrill of a pissing match? Buggiers ask numbers because we want to compare DEALS, not blown money.

Also add that these guys invest my full years worth of pay into a "toy" while my setup cost me a month's worth and it's pretty clear why we dont mesh well, at least with "landyachters". Actually it's pretty clear why we mesh well with blokarts/manta riders. Hate to say it,really really hate to say it, but it aint just the wind, it's money!

Personally I think the kite-buggy crowd should be making an avid grassroots campaign to recruit people on blokarts/mantas to our group for out "future" organization. They have more in common with us than the higher classed yachts.
Screw trying to extend the olive branch to NALSA. Sounds like they are putting the works to their own members. Organizations work best built from the ground up, not the top down. We don't need any leaders,yet. A truly heroic effort from each single person to get one more landsailor to NABX,I think, would be the beginnings of a fine group of multi-use wind driven people. So basically it sounds like I am saying lets steal their members (not leaders!) and start our own group, one that represents ALL wind-driven activities.

YO, Ex-buggier, current Blokarter here. I have been bringing new Blokarters to NABX for a few years now and will continue to spread the word and grow our ranks. As far as NALSA goes, I have no complaints. They are, as individuals, a fine bunch of people. I have had friendly interactions with the bulk of them for the past 4 years. They are primarily a racing organization and behave as such. This is not bad, just quite different from our non-organized activity base of members. Only a few buggiers actually come to NABX to race. The bulk of the attendees are there to cruise around and play. Blokart races were held in Longbeach prior to NABX and some of the competitors come to NABX to play afterward. In the coming years you will see many buggiers "convert" to the Blokart as i have. I see the Blokart as "buggy retirement" not as landsailing exclusively. (You really have to try very hard to get injured in a Blokart.) I welcome the newest Blokart convert, NABX godfather, Fran Gramkowski. Surely there is room for more diversity in our group. We can all play nice together and grow our powerbase while we are doing it. Windpower!!!!
Jason Robbins :karate:

Reminds me of Dave Kennedy's story about how he motored across Elmer's to say "Howdy!" to the landsailers one morning, and one of them commented, "I hear landsailers and kite buggies don't get along!".

"Okay", Dave quipped, and rolled up his window and motored across to Walt's Cove with nary another word.

But seriously, folks, this IS an opportunity! If we could gather the disenchanted, disenfranchised, malcontents from every other wind-powered sport out there, why, we could have the biggest organization of disenchanted, disenfranchised, disintermediated, malcontent, rabble-rousing, curmudgeonly playa bastards on the face of the planet!!!

Oops... too late. We did that last year. <grin>

-Dooley :moon:

Hey Dooley how's the house. Pictures please.

Susan

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PKD Brooza's 2, 3, 4 and 5.5 meter
Libre V-max and big foot light V-max buggys
Nasa wings
Quadrifloil xm for sale

Hiya, Susan...

Here's the pics, don't have any good ones of inside, yet.

Only a few more days until closing and then... (sigh) moving!

I just keep telling myself it's the last time, ever. Stick a fork in me, I'm done!

-Dooley :moon:

Nice house! Can you buggy with it?.............aj

Looks nice Dooley. When are you having the buggy family over? Waiting to hear from you.

Susan

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PKD Brooza's 2, 3, 4 and 5.5 meter
Libre V-max and big foot light V-max buggys
Nasa wings
Quadrifoil xm for sale

Next important question, does the buggy gear get it's own room?

I'm on my way Dooley, we missed you, so i thought i'd bring a few friends, some shot cars, and fuel, some sleeping bags(we don't expect to stay long)and could you fix us pancakes in the mornings?

Anyway, awesome, and looking like you might find some aoxomoxoa there for sure buddy!

total aoxo, yeah!

Quote:

Originally posted by action jackson Nice house! Can you buggy with it?.............aj

Probably not but it looks like he could kitesurf in the front yard in that first photo. Is that a No Wake Zone sign in the yard?

Hahaha... just kidding Mikey. Nice house! Moving sucks, but the feel of home ownership is sure hard to beat.

Gee, thanks, guys, for all the words of encouragement.

And yes, I just ordered a 6-by-14-foot shed, painted to match the house, with a workbench and extra door at one end, and double swing-out doors facing onto the driveway, JUST WIDE ENOUGH FOR A PETER LYNN SUSPENSION AXLE!!!

So, yes, the buggies get their own little room, nice and dry, I even upgraded to a small window, so they can see if the wind's blowing, and call to me... buggy, buggy, buggy, buggy, buggy...

And hey, I'll have a small workbench for changing bearings!

A place to dry kites!

A hose to wash off the salt water, so my wheels won't look so crappy anymore!

A big halogen lamp to grow.... oh, nevermind.

Life's good, but I'm definitely feeling a lack of buggy this year; lookin' at all those pictures made me self-piteous and moody, so I kicked Corey in effigy.

Glad you guys had fun, and didn't waste much time in meetings or planning sessions, which wouldn't have been any fun, anyway, without me there injecting a healthy dose of "curmudgeon" into the process, eh?

Oh, and as for the guy in the snakeskin speedo, goodonya, mate! If yer gonna make a fashion statement, make it one that nobody can possibly know how to take! (That photo certainly puts the "rainbow" back in kiting, where it belongs, eh, what?)

Now, back to poring over the HomeOwners' Association Rule Book, to find an exemption for kite buggies... nope, it's not a scooter, it's not a bicycle, nope, not a motorcycle, neether... mooooohahahahhahahaha! It's a GOLF CART!!! Perfectly acceptable in Geezer-ville, doncha know!

-Dooley :moon:

hey gang
sorry i haven`t posted since i got back.
i couldn`t get on line for a few days and i got
hit with 7 inches of rain in 24 hrs and my basement
flooded. i lost my tower. i had about 4 inches of water.
i couldn`t buggy in my house but i could of kite surfed. LOL
i still got alot of clean up to do.
hey dooley.
good luck with home ownership.
at least your basement won`t flood.
i really did miss you this year.
susan
thanks for storing my buggy.
i`m glad it wasn`t in my basement.
look for me at DBBB.
until then take care everybody.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I hope you get things back to normal soon.

As for storing your buggy you would have done the same for me.

Susan