Hi Everyone,

With Spring finally here, KBV are pleased to announce our 2011-2012 Victoria Kiting Events Calendar, in association with local industry. This calendar provides a summary of planned kiting events by local industry, and also by KBV. Dates and event formats are weather permitting, and subject to change, so please look out for updates on the event organiser's website. KBV will post updates here, as and when we receive them.

http://www.kbv.org.au/kbvdocs/2011/20111004_KBV_Events_Calendar_2011-2012.pdf

New for the 2011-2012 season will be the introduction of a KBV Events Series. In this series, Victorian Kiters will have the opportunity to compete for a 'King / Queen of the Bay' title over 4 separate events across a number of different kiting classes (including course racing, freestyle, kite-cross, big-air). This series will be run by local industry, in conjunction with KBV. This promises to be an exciting addition to our calendar and will provider Victorian kiters with the opportunity to experience a number of different kiting classes, while also providing the chance to network with other kiters and local industry.

While the overall event series will be free for KBV members, some events may be subject to a competition fee (e.g. Sail Melbourne event). For more information on the event series, please see below. We will also publish additional information on the events series, and on our first two events of the season (The Zu Downwinder, Sail Melbourne Competition) in the coming days.

Also, following a busy off-season, KBV have also been working on a number of other initiatives including:

Progression Series:
KBV hopes to run a number of progression days this season to support new and intermediate kiters with their progression. This is still in the early stages so stayed tuned for updates.

Website Update:
Following the migration of membership registration/renewals to AKSA, we are looking at updating our website and bringing some of the documentation up-to-date.

Westbeach Discussions:
At the request of Port Phillip, KBV have been in discussions regarding Kiting etiquette at Westbeach, in conjunction with local industry and Parks Victoria. There will potentially be some changes coming this season (mostly a reinforcement of the launch/land areas, right of way rules etc). Please stay tuned for updates over the coming weeks.

Finally, we will also be releasing a short survey in the coming weeks in order to obtain KBV member and non-KBV member feedback on the Victorian kiting scene and KBV. Watch out for our post on Seabreeze - this will be a great opportunity to get your view heard and incorporated ahead of the start of the new season.

For any KBV queries, please contact KBV at [email protected] or visit us at www.kbv.org.au. For more information on any non-KBV events on our calendar, please contact the specified event organiser.

Hoping for a windy season. See you out on the water!

Yours,
KBV
[Derek]
For queries, please send an email to [email protected]
For KBV information, please visit www.kbv.org.au

Overview of the KBV Events Series

Over the 2011-2012 season, Victorian Kiters will have the opportunity to compete for a 'King / Queen of the Bay' title over 4 separate events across a number of different classes (including course racing, freestyle, kite-cross, big-air).

Top placing kiters in each event will receive a points score and will be ranked in an overall league table. To ensure fairness, kiters will be scored and ranked across their best 3 events. At the end of the season, the top ranked kiter in each of the following league tables will be ranked 'King' or 'Queen' of the bay at our KBV End of Season Awards night in February:

Male Senior (Over 16 years)
Male Junior (Under 16 years)
Female Senior (Over 16 years)
Female Junior (Under 16 years)

This series will be run by our local industry partners with support from KBV and promises to be an exciting addition to our calendar. There will be a trophy and prize for the overall winners of each category. There will also be individual event trophies and/or prizes for each event.

Participants do not have to enter the entire events series but can participate in individual events only. To participate in the overarching events series, you will need to be a KBV member. However, with the exception of the State titles and the Sail Melbourne Event, non-KBV members may be eligible to participate in individual events (without qualifying for the overall 'King/Queen' of the bay title).

We will be running this year's inaugural series as a trial. We hope that this event will provide an exciting format for our community, and will provide a good way to explore different kiting classes and to network with local kiters and industry. Subject to participation levels and your feedback over the season, we may look to make this series a permanent fixture in our calendar.

Interested in participating? KBV will be posting instructions on Seabreeze, our website, and to our KBV mailing list in the coming days. Stay tuned!

And why arnt there any wave events?????????????
Would be good to see some as we do have a few good spots not to far from melb

Thanks guys.

Choppychap - To compete and win prizes for the overall King/Queen of the Bay series - you will need to be a KBV/AKSA member. However, to participate on individual event days only, without competing for the overall title, specific organisers may allow non-KBV/AKSA members to participate - please check with the event organiser for the event you are interested in. The exceptions are the Sail Melbourne Event and the Victorian State Titles where you need to be a KBV/AKSA member. This is due to a combination of factors, including public liability insurance arrangements for those two events.

Salt - Good question. I'll get this added to the agenda for the next KBV meeting, and we'll discuss bringing this forward as part of our ongoing engagement with Port Phillip. I'd also suggest that you or anyone else with a passion for this topic should lobby your local council representatives. Feel free to mail us at [email protected] if you would like to discuss further.

Yours,
KBV
[Derek]
For queries, please send an email to [email protected]
For KBV information, please visit www.kbv.org.au