SA
42 posts
Beginner Kiters are the future of kitting. If more people kiteboard the more power the kite community has.
Saksa; what is you written policy for dealing with; Attracting more people to the sport, Beginners, Kiters (advanced and beginners) who are disruptive to beach users, and Dealing with access problems?
974 posts
Ben - this thread in the public forum is only inflammatory - I can't see what you wish to achieve as we have made contact with you , but I will answer it anyway.
The SAKSA guidelines for what the association wish to achieve are basically to maintain beach access, provide insurance, run competitions and social events and to provide a point of contact for the general community.
When there is a chance to promote kitesurfing in a positive light we will, but as a committee SAKSA must work for its members and it is questionable whether encouraging heaps of newbies is in the general members interest.
Our beaches are already experiencing council scrutiny due to numbers more than anything. The main threat being to henley as you know. The other day I spoke to two guys beach jumping and carrying on at Henley- they had seen a guy teaching there and followed his example (wonder who that was ?).
The SAKSA committee are all volunteers and we have had our hands full with other projects but we are now starting to look at what the next ten or so steps are to ensure beach preservation.
If you have anymore questions please feel free to contact me.
SA
478 posts
Ben you have been in the sport for about 5 minutes as an instructor and about 10 minutes as a kiteboarder. SAKSA is trying to promote kiteboarding in Adelaide and also trying very hard not to get it banned in our metro beaches. How about you put up your hand and help SAKSA rather than bashing them on a forum. Also this is not the smartest way of making friends in the Kiteboarding community!!!!!
SA
164 posts
I think there's a mountain from a molehill here, so I'll do my best to put some perspective in play...
SAKSA and AKSA welcomes all skill levels of kiters equally. One of the major goals of the association is to work to retain beach access and a huge number of people over the past 7+ years have done considerable work to achieve this.
The primary reason Largs etc are ideal for learners is Safety; safety for themselves, safety for the public beach users and safety for other kiters.
Henley Beach is heavily populated for beachgoers with deeper choppy water and more obstructions ie swimmers, beach fencing and the jetty; all things that Largs doesn't have.
Experience has shown us that if you are unable to control the kite at all times, then the likelihood of an incident is greatly increased at Henley. When public safety is compromised, then the council has no choice but to enforce restrictions.
We are very fortunate to have a unified kiteboarding community and it's the activity that gets banned, irrespective of who is the kiter. Many kiters own properties on or close to the beach but if the councils place bans then we will all be driving to the mid or the south coasts just to get a ride; experienced, beginners, kiteschools- everyone.
Compared with other states we are one of the luckiest to still have our current metro beach accesses; it should not be taken for granted.
We'll continue to push to work with the councils and with that, we'll continue to take the necessary steps to ensure public safety.
Cheers,
Chappy
SA
79 posts
Ben,
I speak from my own perspective mate; and with all due respect;
A brief history;
Over the past 5 years SAKSA has not existent, not even 1 person driving it. A few people got together to make the 2005 state titles happen.
If you had been around for some of this time you would know this. We've never met...How long have you been kiteboarding?
The boys whom I believe you've dealt with (SAKSA) have done an amazing job over the past year, hosting SAKSA sign-up days, social events and making 3 major competitions of the year a reality. Not sure you quite understand how much time this all takes... An amazing job in the time the association has been rekindled. So don't try and make life hard for these individuals buy pointing the spotlight, escpecially when you have contact has been made. What was you aim in this thread?
All these competitive & social events help to build a much more solid & better educated community which has a good understanding of the safety issues. Educated as in self policing the beach environment, if we don't police it, who will? – in terms of a formal policy, of "Attracting more people to the sport, Beginners, Kiters (advanced and beginners) who are disruptive to beach users." - Well I guess it's not all that easy, there will always be the odd D$#head who doesn't listen and kite dangerously. That’s life, as a community we have to nip it at the bud as soon as something is spotted rather than allowing it to become part of the beach culture.
And… Dealing with access problems? - What exactly do you mean? Accessing the beach is quite easy on the metro, and notifications have been posted on seabreeze & the SAKSA website. The members with knowledge are making it clear that riding in prohibited areas is not tolerated by the riders. I believe a series of signs are underway in that department.
More importantly, Henley Beach, the 2nd most heavily populated beach on the metro coastline is prime position. There are at least 3 registered kiteboarding schools in (local) SA. All of which do NOT teach here... The reason for this is simple… too many walkers, swimmers and kiteboarding traffic... All these school representatives have been in the sport have no less than 5 years and, I can assure you and we've all been here to seen accidents happen. Many of us have seen a large chunk of our coast line (City of Holdfast) taken within moments of the accident. Have you ever lost a beach to the council? The boys at SAKSA and the members have worked too hard to let this happen again! So don’t do it!
You'll make no friends teaching at Henley beach mate! Sure, it may be convenient for you and students. It could all go in the blink of an eye. Your newly founded operation could just do the trick. I mean no offence to you mate, you've gotta hear this from us, the riders.
I hope you can take this information and use it constructively.
