Hi All

I have it on good authority that kiting is under the council spotlight, and the "b" word is being considered. Sutherland Shire council will follow whatever Rockdale do.
The problem is the careless behavior of a few locals, and a lot of newbies. There were many incidents, near misses, and rescues last year and over winter.

In the last week I have witnessed 2 well known Botany Bay regulars, who ride Cabs, and who ride with no leashes.
Numerous near misses and beach drags from experienced riders riding close to shore and doing tricks or big jumps, not looking before turning, etc.
People with old gear, fumbling with lines taking 45 mins to rig, and then flying a big kite in high winds on the beach upwind of children and family groups.
People walking up the beach, trying to put their board on the path so it does not get sandy while their kite is flying over the tops of the local houses and roads.
People walking upwind with the kite high and within a few feet of the Norfolk Pines at the super narrow part of the beach near the rock groin to gain ten meters of upwind.
Experienced riders violating the Maritime NSW "30M distance off rule", repeatedly.
People rigging over the top of other kiters lines, nearly all local kiters finish a session and leave their lines unwound all over the beach.
Etc.etc,etc,etc,etc,etc,etc,etc,etc,,,,,,,,,,

Many rusty riders from last summer, with old gear (or newish gear), fumbling with lines, stuffing up their rigging, trying to self launch and land.
Kites unattended, unsanded on the beach.
Riders with no idea on how to relaunch or self rescue being stuck in the water for 30 mins or more.

Its only a matter of time before another major accident involving a member of the public or one of the influential owners of the waterfront homes in Carruthers Drive, and a total kiting B-N is applied to Botany Bay,

My suggestion, is to form a local Botany Bay Kiters association ASAP (affiliated with NSWKBA), and join up with either the Kurnel Catamaran Club, or the St George 16' Sailing Club, so that we are all insured. We then need to work out a roster of volunteer beach marshals for weekends, it is not fair nor will it realistically work to prevent a ban to rely on the good work of people like the "sheriff" or the few deputies. We need some big guys, because sometimes we need to persuade big guys not to be irresponsible.
We need to appoint a PR committee to work with local councils and lifeguards, with pro-active kite friendly, self policing initiatives.

We need bigger warning on www.kitebeaches.com about Dolls, Kurnell, Wanda, and especially Brighton. NOT BEGINNER FRIENDLY SPOTS - ASSISTANCE REQUIRED WITH LAUNCHING AND LANDING - NO BEACH JUMPING OR FLYING.

The Kitepower school will minimise use of the beach at Dolls, and maximise training in the water, we have a no trainer kite experience, no lessons policy, so that we minimise beach time, but we need co-operation from local kiters when conducting lessons. We have a number of other practices and techniques that reduce the risk of accidents. We have cut all external advertising this year, we are doing everything we can think of to minimise risks and our impact on other kiting and non kiting beach users.

Brighton is well within the Federal Airports 4klm restricted airspace zone, only experienced kiters who ride with leashes should be kiting there, extreme caution needs to be exercised by all kiters all over the Bay in Southerly winds like today, a loose kite can end up on a runway (or a road) and a ban will be an immediate result!

Its time to act. Come on lets all pull together on this and save the Bay from the "b" word.

Suggesting we have a meeting at the sailing club on 7th October, Saturday evening, next weekend??

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve McCormack

Hear hear STeve and a big yes to the Botany bay Kite club.it is the best way forward.
i was about to post something headlined "Stay out of the F***en flags when I read this
Today a bunch of newbies (with an ebay special )camped themselves about 30 m upwind of the flags .I went and said g'day and asked about their experience and told them about the importance of not creating grief for other beach goers in a poular and onshore (today) spot and told them about our club and how we have worked hard with the lifeguards to keep the beach open, more than welcome to our informal meets (beef food etc at the crown and anchor )etc etc etc.
30 mins later one of the guys is dragging thru the flags .Doh

then about an hour later a more experienced guy fluffs a move directly upwind of the flags and crashes his kite ,relaunches but by this time his board has blown into the swimming zone .Double DOH!

FOR CRHISSAKES EXPERIENzCED GUYS THIIIIINNNNNKKKKKK!

My advice to experienced guys and club members .think about the example that you lead and don't be afraid to say g'day to noobs and even be a beach nazi and suggest a quieter less populated beach for their first few gos and body drags for the sake of everyone .
BTW well done west coast eagles ,a great game (I thought the swannies were a bit too 'Comfortable and relaxed "in the lead up .WHAT A GAME ! (Glad it was windy early for a sess before the game )

Cheers

lach

Ummmmmm why not move to a place where you can kite with relative amounts of freedom.
I thought this lifestyle was about enjoyment and having the most amount of fun you can, not getting involved in politics.....

go to your local beach in a busy city or even quaint township, and read the big sign.
it usually has black outlines of activities with a big red circle and cross over that activity, stating that your dog, motorbike, tent, surfboard, giant bonfire, 4WD, jet ski, clam diggin pitchfork, dumping of rubbish, exposure of tits and genitals, urination, defacation and expectoration are not permitted.

kitesurfing is an easy twenty dollar sticker to add to those signs.
if they get complaints they will act.
the answer for you guys is not simple and no arguing committee nor beach bouncers will change human nature to try a new sport where they see others doing it!
good luck.

Definitely a great idea Steve.

Yesterday I tried to go out in the late afternoon but the wind had died down. Ended up doing two short downwind runs before giving up. Both runs were pretty close to shore because of I didn't have enough power and on the second run I had to come in at the narrow part of the beach to avoid the rock groynes.

I should have given up after the first run. The whole time there was a guy videotaping me with a camera. After Steve's post it has made me paranoid this guy was collecting evidence.

We must be careful at Dolls. Not just for safety but also who knows what anti-kite person is videotaping and just waiting for someone to do something silly.

Timely topic.

Today experienced kiter doing 10ft jumps in 1 inch of water right at Brighton beach. Ate it a couple of times (I bet it hurt!), later tagged a couple of beachgoers with his lines.

Hmmm.. a club may be a good idea... a big wooden club to bash common sense in?..

From my experience in Sydney, mainly at wanda, its only a matter of time before kiting is banned there. Wanda is not a place to go if your a beginner, especially in summer. The wind is usually cross-off and gusty.

Last year I saw so many near accidents there, from people dropping kites, ridng through groups of surfers, getting lofted on the beach in gusts etc etc.

I don't really kite much in Sydney anymore but in my humble opinon if we don't self-regulate the sport someone will do it for us.

Keep it real kids!

RP

Many people have commented on how hard it is to control or self police, and that organising ourselves will be a thankless and difficult task.
There will be challenges for sure, but the job will be a lot easier if we all stick together.

Just imagine, as of tomorrow, kiting is banned at all Sydney beaches, even Wanda and Kurnell, and all the Northern beaches. If you flaunt the rules NSW Maritime chase you off the water and the NSW Police are waiting on the beach with a $400 fine!!!

Imagine that!

Getting motivated now?

Its been suggested we move the initial meeting to a weeknight, probably the following Weds or Thurs. I'll get back to you all on that asap.

Imagine - no kiting in Sydney waters!!!

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve McCormack

OK Guys,
I think this is the green light to start letting people know when they are doing stupid/dangerous thing at out beaches. We can all list stupid stuuf we've seen, but usually we just shake our heads and we're glad that nothing bad happened and no one was hurt.

I'm not talking bladder slashing or line cutting but jut a friendly reminder.

Steve posted some guidelines here last season, most of which we see broken everyday, perhaps a sign at the beach listing these is needed.
FF

Steve keep forging ahead.With the CQKSA it was found that if there was any problems created by kiters or any concerns then it filters through offical channels not just a blanket ban.This then allows the club to call a meeting to adress the problem.Even better if you have the problem addressed before it comes and you have are seen to have a pro-active response in place.A good repore with the SLSC and the Council always helps,but this does take time to establish.

Hi guys,

In Oahu they the exact same problem to what you have at Dolls Point a few years ago and the beaches in Kailua were almost closed to kitesurfing.

The local crew got together and decided to work together to save their favourite riding spot. They formed an association to represent the kiters when dealing with the local authority and began sharing the responsibility of protecting the beach.

EVERYONE helped and used a little selfless contribution and it worked, they still kite at Kailua today. Firstly they erected a sign detailing all of the local rules applying to the area and put it on private property with the assistance of one of the local residents, this got around the councils need for PL for the sign and cut through a bunch of red tape.

The second and most important thing they did was to take turns in being beach marshall. The responsibility of the Beach Marshall was to launch and land kites, assist people with rigging and generally helped stop carnage before it began. They met new riders before they rigged up and explained the rules.

They also made a rule that within 2 line lengths off the beach, you were not allowed to jump, this became the gybe/transition point. Locals and semi permanent visitors (like me) took it in turns for an hour every couple of days to help out and be BM.

This was a small price to pay for continued access to one of the best riding locations on the island. It worked because EVERYONE got behind it and supported it. Everyone would speak to you if you jumped inside the "no jump" point and if you acted irresponsibly everyone would have a quiet word with the offender. You see it only works if everyone works together and supports the system.

If you cant be bothered to take responsibility to solve the problem, then your probably also the kind of person who wont take responsibility for the bans when they are put in place.

Ian does a great job on the beach but many people hassle him and make fun of his actions. It is not Ians responsibility to try and control the beaches, he goes above and beyond because no one else will. It's time to step up and help out. It's not a huge burdon when you all help carry the responsibility.

Have the meeting, discuss options, put together a plan, get some locals on side (if you can) and EVERYONE get behind it, if it is left to a few, then it will all fall over. Now's your chance to make a difference, before it is too late.

Good winds,

quote:

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Originally posted by Kitepower Australia

Many people have commented on how hard it is to control or self police, and that organising ourselves will be a thankless and difficult task.
There will be challenges for sure, but the job will be a lot easier if we all stick together.

Just imagine, as of tomorrow, kiting is banned at all Sydney beaches, even Wanda and Kurnell, and all the Northern beaches. If you flaunt the rules NSW Maritime chase you off the water and the NSW Police are waiting on the beach with a $400 fine!!!

Imagine that!

Getting motivated now?

Its been suggested we move the initial meeting to a weeknight, probably the following Weds or Thurs. I'll get back to you all on that asap.

Imagine - no kiting in Sydney waters!!!

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve McCormack

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Steve .... I can only do WED or FRI nights .... cheers col

quote:

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Originally posted by CJP


I have held appropriate conversations with offenders in order to keep our beach open to kiting.

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CJP is the door bitch.
You can't kite the Bay without a CJP doorpass.
lol

quote:

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Originally posted by waveslave

quote:

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Originally posted by CJP
I have held appropriate conversations with offenders in order to keep our beach open to kiting.

---

CJP is the door bitch.
You can't kite the Bay without a CJP doorpass.
lol

---

except at Dolls, we have another sherif for that part of town...

Meeting will be Wednessday the 11th October, at the St George 16foot Sailing Club in Sanoni Ave Sans Souci.
Start time 7.30pm

They have a well priced restaurant, and club priced drinks.
Estimated meeting duration 80 mins.

Will post an agenda soon, please submit any ideas for that to this thread.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve McCormack

Hey you guys,

The beach Marshall thing doesn't have to be a hassle. You take it in turns for 30 minutes or an hour each, then it's not a drag.

If it's too much hassle then you ain't really committed or you don't really think that the bay is in Jeopardy.

Chance your arm?????

Good winds and good luck with the meeting.