What are the odds ?
The odds of the walker (and his dog) checking out this very site ?
Checking out this very thread ?
Checking out all the BS.
lol.

firiebob said...



Tell her nice old uncle Bob can teach her how to windsurf

sorry bob sounds like she still has all of her original teeth

In a way, we're lucky to live in a country where suing people and businesses is not the national sport. I can't help to think about the consequences of the legal precedent that would be set should any injured person win a lawsuit against an unlawful kiteboarding school operation and the council as well. Let's face it, it's only a matter of time before worst accidents happen, say for example a child or toddler get seriously injured from a kite crash…

The councils are either 1) completely unaware of the fact that a number of kite schools are operating without permits and/or insurance or 2) they are somewhat aware of the problem but have decided not to take any actions. I'd go for number 2.
Like other sports of that nature, kiteboarding is dangerous and accidents do happen from time to time. The problem is most kite schools don't have what it takes to protect themselves against lawsuits and don't have the resources to meet some of the most basic safety requirements (like the ones recommended by the IKO for example). As for wdric's suggestion, such “cautions signs” would be great but they have to be allowed by the council, and since most schools operate without a council's permits…well…

It's easy to point the blame at that instructor and talk about the many ways such an accident could've been avoided. The fact is in any school (legitimate or not) with any instructor, accidents are always a risk factor and unfortunately accidents as much as they can always be avoided, they also can always happen regardless of the wind conditions, kite sizes, safety precautions, etc. The perfect teaching/learning spot and the perfect teaching conditions simply don't exist, that's the nature of the sport itself.

Until the councils gets more complaints to decide to take action or until every school can earn the privilege to operate with an exclusive permit in their own allocated area, we can only hope that every school out there takes this incident (and others as well) as an opportunity to revise and improve their approach in safety to help minimize the risk…until then, the show goes on.

Thanks Wave for bringing the real beef of the thread to peoples attention again, A member of the public , carelessly walking their dog got hit by a kite and suffered physical damage as a result. "Man up and take it" will not float in any law court and is completely the wrong attitude to take to a problem that is slowly, due to the mainstream advertising of kite boarding, going to become a much more prevalent issue.

From what i have seen an experienced, kite schools don't teach you enough about safety, the wind, the kite and how the kite flys in different conditions. When i did my lessons (not going to name the school) just before we were going to do our first body drag in the water she said "oh wait. i forgot to teach you about the safety system." Out of the 3 hours that day on the beach, the saftey part went for 5 mins TOPS! Luckily for my dad and i, we were changing from windsurfing and knew a lot about the wind and what not. But the guy that was with us in our lesson looked very confused and you could see the difference between our control and his just by knowing more. But in this case, Why the hell was a 60kg rider on a ten in the first place?? At leighton... with a 3 foot shore break. Surly if you were a good instructer you would look at the situation and say that this is a no go for today and move the lesson to another day. I think that half of these schools are in it for the money $$$ and thats it. When the three hours is up, quickly pack up and go...

Oops wrong quote! This was in relation to Walks comments.

Ocean reef graph showed av of 25, still windy for a 9 I think. Yes you have experience teaching but that is just offsetting skill/ risk. Charl taught me about three years ago and I had a similar day and I was on a six with short lines.
I am often suprised to see kites larger than the one I'm putting up being used by students, surely unless your actually trying to ride, kite size is irrelevant, probably even teaches better kite control!

GMD you are really showing your lack of knowledge within the kiting community...

Mullaloo = KBP run by Rob Gannon

Do some research and you will find your answer to your own stupid questions..

Permit yes
Insurance yes
Council approval yes

Previously was cancelled but through hard lobbying by Rob and WAKSA was granted permit to operate.. If you have questions regarding his business.. CALL HIM AND DON"T BE A DOUCHER HERE ON SEABREEZE!

NoBS said...

GMD you are really showing your lack of knowledge within the kiting community...

Mullaloo = KBP run by Rob Gannon

Do some research and you will find your answer to your own stupid questions..

Permit yes
Insurance yes
Council approval yes

Previously was cancelled but through hard lobbying by Rob and WAKSA was granted permit to operate.. If you have questions regarding his business.. CALL HIM AND DON"T BE A DOUCHER HERE ON SEABREEZE!

Well .. with all that "teachers" around I do not know who is who anymore ..
It was not him answering here .. and I simply asked a question to the poster not KBP .. so chill out .. and by the way .. I could care less about general knowledge of the "kiting community". I just don't stand the language used.
regards
gmd

The student had 4 hrs of lessons under his belt and, according to him, another 3 hrs of bodydragging unsupervised. Once again it was my decision to go ahead with the lesson. Useing headzone helmets i could of ended the lesson at ANY time. This was not the first time he had been in the water, if it had of been he would be on the school 6 but not on short lines, every student has different abilities and that is what seperates the money grabbing schools from Kite Boarding Perth, I have worked in my spare time alongside Rob since 2008 and my safety record is 2nd to none and as you can tell i'm quite proud of it.
Now, rather than judgeing me, why don't you get back to the real issue,
fly by night instructors with no permits or insurance and a injured member of the public.
Rant over

Bloody runaway beach umbrellas.

soft lines ...........hmmm maybe licorice straps

Nice try Bakesy but not really an option me thinks.
Great to hear good feedback from a non kiter though. If ALL kiters worked at maintaining great relations with the beach user public we wouldnt have problems keeping our beaches open to all.

thinking more like a plastic covering that can be removed, bit like the stuff you use on electrical wiring when you have multiple wires all over the place.

^^^^Thats got to be the longest sentence in seabreeze history.

bakesy said...

here's a non-kiters perspective

is it possible to place some type of protective coating on the lines that can be used for those learning?

"Dude, check out the newbie's lines."

"Nice protective coating, Man."

"Dude, check out the flashing lights on his kite."

"Cosmic, Man."

"Dude, listen to that warning device."

"Beep Beep, Man."

"Dude, he's no danger to anyone now."

"Will the kite launch with all that stuff, Man?"

"It's harmless, Dude."

Can understand kiter and member of public having an un-foreseen incident. This can happen in all walks of life.


Can not understand why people being taught by licensed instructor at licensed venue can come into the same category. Firstly the license should oblige the instruction to be within a clearly marked area large enough to allow for kites hitting the ground. The signs should be explicit and carry the council permit number. If there is not enough area for this to occur and members of the public to walk past on the beach/ area, it is not a suitable training area.

Regardless of what you feel your rights are to utilise public space for business activities you should be committed to meeting your obligations and basic risk assessment is one of these.
I think I heard that there is a 3 strikes and you are in jail policy with juvenile offenders in WA - where the same can be shown for a licensed franchise operating on public property replace jail with loss of license - not withstanding any possible criminal charges.

Allowing for inflation since I was born - my 2Cents

PS I hope the cyclone brings some rain down south..

Cheers
AP