DISCLAIMER - I am not suggesting that kiters are in general bad or dangerous. I believe that the majority are good peole having fun and keeping others safety in mind. I have kited for 14 years and love the sport. However, it only takes one idiot to ruin it for all.

How many times have you had a conversation with a non-kiter about kiting and listened to a story of fear regarding kitesurfers endangering other beach-goers? If the answer is 1 or more, it is too many. Personally, my answer is around 6.

We need to act now and self-regulate to introduce a licensing system before a member of the public gets injured or killed and the sport is banned.

Just the other day I was chatting to a bloke walking his dog who recounted an awful experience with a kiter. The main points were:

- man walking dog near water's edge
- kiter crashes kite directly in front of man narrowly missing him and his dog
- kiter yells at man suggesting that he should have been looking where he was walking
- when man responds, kiter "steps-up" to man in an aggressive fashion
- man walks away to avoid violent confrontation.

The man in question is a very friendly, middle-aged bloke. I do not believe he would have provoked the kiter in any way.

This is just one in a series of incidents which I have either witnessed or been told of, that have me concerned for the future of the legality of kiting in WA.

How often to you see idiots kiting right into the beach amongst families and children at beaches such as City Beach? or,
How many knobs have you seen kite within mere metres of surfers?
How many injured members of the public do you think it will take to ensue a question of the legality of the sport?

It is getting to a point where I am almost embarrassed to admit to people that I am a kiter, given the awful perception the public is developing.

We live in a tightly controlled, safety-concious society that would very quickly ban an activity seen to be dangerous to members of the public.

So what should we do about it?

I believe a viable option would be to further develop an official body (such as WAKSA) to the point where licensing is compulsory. Kiters should have to pass a proficiency test at which point they are given a registration number which is recorded (somehow) on a visible part of their kite. This will remove the anonymity which these idiots rely on to reduce the likelihood of facing consequences for their anti-social behaviour. The fee for licensing would only have to be a small amount to provide for liabilty insurance (a service which I believe WAKSA already offers). Those issuing licenses could be trained instructors (there are plenty of those around), who could use the license as an incentive for lessons.

I know this sounds like another regulation making an already (in my own words) tightly, controlled nanny state even worse. But I genuinely fear, not only for the safety of the general public, but for the future of the sport in WA.

A simple test and a small license fee (for insurance) to provide peace of mind that those who wield potentially deadly equipment will be properly prepared to keep the public safe.

Cooky said..
A simple test and a small license fee (for insurance) to provide peace of mind that those who wield potentially deadly equipment will be properly prepared to keep the public safe.

Have you not driven on Perth roads?

Idiots still manage to breed

Maybe we should have to have a license to have children plenty of idiots have them

Please no licences we don't need regulation hasn't worked with anything else only more red tape will it make the public or anyone else safer not,
idiots will still exist.

Vegetarian an ancient tribal word for village idiot that cant fish or hunt

- kitegove - Sure, idiots will still exist. But what about beginners who don't need any lessons or any training to just buy a kite and attempt to launch upwind of other beach-goers? We could at least ensure that people are educated in proper launching, landing, use of safety and being wary of others.

Got an alternative to offer? Or are we just gonna wait until the inevitable law suit. How easy it will be for the state government to ban kiters from most metro beaches?

If not year round, they could ban it for the summer - when people are around and surfing is banned. I don';t like the thought of only being allowed to kite in winter...

eppo said..
Would that be like the skippers ticket training and test I had to sit through (and pay ..and each year after that) to drive boats that I had previously driven for thirty years?

Your concern is noted, appreciated and correct, but I don't like your solution one bit.

That would be the same skippers ticket that my girlfriend acquired in around 2 hours after never driving a boat before, more than half of that was a written exam where you could ask the guy doing the course the answers to the questions. I hear you on that one mate.

"In WA".... there's your problem right there.

The amount of times I've been kiting, setting up, or walking along the beach, and I've had awesome conversations with middle to older aged people who think it looks amazing to be out kiting. They normally are jealous that they're "too old" to kite, to which I explain they're never too old.

I've yet to meet a person with an immediate disdain towards kiting because of the "fear" of kiteboarders or a previous incident.

Licencing of riders is not the answer. How do you enforce it? What does it actually achieve?
Just like licencing cyclist isn't an answer to road issues between cars and cyclist.

My personal opinion is general awareness and consideration of other people in the area, whether they're other kiters or people enjoying the beach.

No matter what you're doing there are going to be dickheads and morons out there, nothing will change that. Lets just hope natural selection takes care of them quicker than the rest.

Think you might need a license to post cooky...

The amount of red thumbs already shows how much you have peed off general public lol

Kiting for me is all about the freedom, no matter what stresses you have when your kites overhead they're gone, the last thing you want would be checking to see if you're licence/ permit was valid, too much bull**** already to deal with, come to think of it no issue licences and have kite police, that way we could out run them boosting over rock walls doing a runner , sounds fun

Australia already has too many stupid rules. PL makes you responsible if you accidentally hurt someone. that guy would still be a dick if he had a license and probably still would have crashed his kite

I found I got more safety and etiquette off the internet then my lessons. I had lessons in Brazil and Melbourne and very little safety other than the kite itself was discussed in either.

Thats probably your answer. And maybe some signs at common kite beaches.

sir ROWDY said..
Don't worry Cooky, you can always move to Germany, you would fit in well there.

I reckon Australia is now worse than Germany for being overly regulated now.

At least Kiting is still under the radar with local coucils... for now.

Tax the bastards if they are over the 15kn threshold.

...also the problem with all government granted licenses is someone will profit...in both the public and private sector, while the middle class gets taxed eventually out of existence. Even better cooky, maybe the license fee could be on an income based sliding scale, those on minimum wage could apply for a tax rebate and the zombie unemployed could have their lessons designed to pass the license paid for by the public Purse. Hell why don't we create a security on the licenses and let the open market determine their price...then the government can suck an ongoing stream of income from exchange gst transactions and any capital gains made. Then use those generated funds to pay for a kiting safety campaign....that they never actually spend.

Fck government intervention and Fck licenses.