Is any1 interested in haveing a freeride or expression session somewhere around newcastle?? or is the state titles and mambo the only 2 comps were are going to see in NSW per year, :(..????? where's my NSWKBA / aksa money going????????
if more people are needed in setting up comps... I suggest AKSA posts something on their site detailing in dot form what needs to be done; might be a step forward, so that people other than the committie and volounteers can input..

also whats wrong with shop sponsored rides??/ comps...
works well over in WA

, why do we need to seek additional insurance cover for a comp, when we allready have insurance through AKSA every day ?????
what is the difference between me riding at a local spot with 20 kiters, and me riding at a local spot with 20 riders unofficially in a comp.. and me riding at a local spot with 20 riders officially???, we don't seek council approval normally to ride there so why would the comp require it ?

Hey chop chop,

I was thinking of running an unoffical downwinder from Birubi point to Stockton (32km) when the NE winds kick in (with 4WD support). Do it than have a freestyle comp at the end. Would be a good social day for riders of all levels, it would get everyone together to organise more comp days.

Browny

Hey dachopper,
have a look at www.nswkba.com.au for the committee contact details, we would love your help to organise events. You must have missed the request for help we sent out with the last couple of newsletters.

Anyone who wants to help or wants our help, please get in contact with us ASAP, we have a few things in the planning stage but are always looking for more ideas.

The insurance thing is a pain, and is due to councils requiring cover fof endorsed comps, but hopefully with more people helping us find a way round it we will get there.

Cheers
Gav
NSWKBA vice pres

Woah, woah,woah.....back it up a notch. To hold anything "officially" or "unofficially" speak to the governing body of the area you wish to use.

If something goes wrong and someone wandering past gets injured, and it's "unofficial" but becomes "official" from a legal perspective, like someone doing a search on this forum for support being rallied for a comp and finds evidence that it was a comp.

You could quite easily stuff the competition possibilities in your area for a really long time. Not to mention the councils up the coast and down. They all communicate on such issues. You would have to wait at least until the present council members are all dead to get permission to run a comp again.

Go to your local council, ask for an "event package" to hold an event in a particular area. Fill out the package and WORK WITH THE COUNCIL to get it happening. All councils that I have dealt with are fully supportive of community run events utilising local facilities. There is even council funding to cover insurance concerns if it is a 'not for profit' event.

Do the sport a favour and yourselves and do the right thing for the future of competition and access to beaches. Unfortunately there's more to consider than just beers and good times when it comes to events.

Good question Da Chop,
Basically its all about building good will with the council and getting them to understand what the sport is all about.
If you know the council because you have worked with them to organise a comp and they see how safety conscious you are (you will have to think of safety) and it goes well then great, it's confidence building in kiting.

When someone goes running to the council because a kiter did this or that, before the council start having meetings and bringing down restrictions and bans that will effect every kiter at that location; you might actually get consulted and asked to assist in the situation.

Its longer term thinking that is needed in these situations. We are living in a society where people no longer take responsibility for their own actions. We need to realise how to keep locations open for our use and having comps is a great way to build community and council support.

I think all the hard work is worth it ten fold if you want your place in the food chain that is the beach to be assured. Next step is to then head off the "cowboys" who run around without leashes and don't follow basic safety guidelines who will be the ones who hurt people and ultimately your access to the beach to kite.

If you have the council on side....a ranger drives a big car with lights and a uniform. He can tell someone to get off the beach for being unsafe. The ranger can be a great friend of the average joe kiter.

The selfish mentality of "I'll do what I want" really needs to be thought over a bit because it will only lead to restrictions. Be that comps or simply riding. Maybe not this week, maybe not this year, but it will happen if you don't stand in front of a council and talk.

So why not use a friendly safe competition to make the first step?. Invite them down, hand em' a free sanga/falafel/veggie burger(whatever) and thank them for all their support. You will be happily surprised with what might come out it.

If you need assistance with how to communicate with councils, I'm sure AKSA or NSWKBA will have someone who can assist you through this process.

If I can do it, so can you.

You da man Choppa, you da man.
Good on you.

Hey Nic,

That’s great work and will no doubt help riders and other interested parties consider holding / organizing an event.

However, 15 years of running and being involved in running windsurfing events tells me that there is a great likelihood that the Waterways will need to be involved at some stage, particularly on the lake and un-patrolled beaches. Event insurance will most likely come up at some stage as the council covers it arse…

In the past you needed both Council and Waterways approval to hold an aquatic event. The really silly stuff started when the council would not give you use of the shore, as an access point to the water, unless you already had approval from Waterways. They did not want to be giving access the water in the face of Waterways who might have had something else going on at that location through arrangement with boating clubs (the council would have no knowledge of this as clubs register events and courses directly with Waterways, as they already own their launch site). On the other hand, Waterways would not give you a go ahead if you did not already have the OK from council to use a public place to launch from. If you were not affiliated with one of the local boating clubs and therefore already have a preordained place to launce from, you had to get approval from the council to use public property for your activity.

To top that off, the waterways would often make you go to all the sailing clubs and “ask nicely” was it OK to run your event on the water at that time and date. This is because each year all the clubs register the water that they want to use for the full year for their races, their courses are many and varied to cater for all conditions. On some weekends some clubs have the entire waterway assigned mainly to them as they do ‘round the lake races’ and other stuff. Imagine how keen most clubs were to help this rebel sport of windsurfing, now possibly kiteboarding….not to mention their standard pile of bureaucracy.

I mention this NOT to deter anyone but to give some background to what might still lay ahead. I think that your Jannet has given you the bare basics only…hope it works. Perhaps you are unaware of the major drams that went on regarding insurance issue with the Gero Nats. Not only did it need ‘event insurance’ as well as AKSA rider insurance , it then needed to be a special type, then it needed to be a certain value, then it needed to be underwritten in a certain way, then underwritten by someone who met certain criteria…..

Let me know if you want some help.

Regards

Andrew Regan