I attended the Boating review last night in Portalington. This was the first of five reviews being held to help give feedback to Marine Safety and Parks Victoria on there proposals for regulating boating zones in Port Phillip and Western Bays. Some sites have been identifed to work on immediately and it was some of those that were proposed last night.

The region covered lst night was basically the bellarine peninsular from indented head to Geelong.

The issue that we have is there is a marine law stating that all vessels must go slower than 5 knots with 200m of the shore. Kiteboarders are a vessel and hence are included in this restriction. This means that at the moment we are all effectively breaking the law by kitesurfing within 200m of the shore.

The Review has considered this and in all honesty I don't think we can get exemption from this law globally (I would like to and it is something that we will work towards) but what has been offered is kiteboarding zones which allow kiteboarder to be exempt from the 5 knots rule in these specific areas. This is not ideal but it is a good compromise. It means that we can still kite anywhere where boating is allowed but must be 200m offshore to do so at speed. we still need to keep to the minimum distances of 50m from boats and swimmers (and hard objects such as piers / groynes) and 100m from divers.

What we need to do is to identify as many kitesurfable sites within the bay that we use, so these kitesurf exemption zones can be included. We need to ensure that they are at least 50m from any popular swim zones or 100m away from dive zones but that is pretty much it. The more sites we can identify and get on the plan the better our chances of getting the 5 knot rule a global exemption as it would cost too much in signage and buoys.

So let start making a list of all areas that we want to kite / do kite in the bays and post up a satellite image of the area marked up with wind direction and general area that is used. They have already accepted the areas on the KBV site it is other areas that we need to know. I realise that this may disclose your secret spots but I will make it legal to kite there and ensure that Kiteboarding as a sport can grow as we wont be forced into crowded small areas.

The guys proposing the plans are receptive to the idea of adding more kite zones and did not hesitate / query the two extra zones I suggested as they know we tend to go out when the rest of the other water users do not (except the windsurfers).

The meeting was really proactive and it allowed us to educate other water users of what kitesurfing is and what we do. It was definitely a positive meeting and the support from the authorities is really good. We just need to ensure that we open as much bay up to kitesurfing as possible.

So let us know what areas you kite and in what direction so that we can ensure that any signage and buoys are not in our way so that we can kite safely in the future.

Matt

Please post responses here or pm/email to myself or Robert Reeves. Try not to be negative on this. (as the 5 knot rule is an existing law not a new proposal). Lets just work to ensure that we get what we want from this process, as once this has gone through it will be difficult to get things changed.

First of all it is great work by KBV to engage the relevant authorities and have a voice in such matters.

However WE need to be cautious as to having designated kiting zones at the risk of any "not designated" or "exclusion areas" for kiting.

Being born and bred in the Geelong/Surfcoast area, I have spent my life boating, surfing, fishing, diving, and now kiting most of the bay and coast, the speed and distance restrictions have been in force for a very very long time.

We have to accept that it is a privilege not a right to use our water ways and in doing so acept certain responsibilities. One of which is that every kiter should have public liability insurance to protect himself and others as do most other "vessels".

Acknowledgement of kite surfing is a forward step but we need to be careful not to get painted into a bureaucratic corner.

At the end of the day common sense behaviour when kiting anywhere will do more than zones and regulation. Being involved in the administration of laws and regulations for the last 20 odd years, I can assure you that you can't regulate against fools.

Matt makes a good last point, "Lets just work to ensure that we get what we want from this process, as once this has gone through it will be difficult to get things changed."

Food for thought ! Good work guys.

Hi Guys,
The meeting was held this evening at Safety Beach and disappointingly only attended by myself and Tim AKA Hookworm. It is a shame that none of the local guys made the meeting. The key points that I have taken away from the meeting in no particular order are as follows;

1..The workshops have to date only been based on the Port Phillip bay / Ballerine Peninsula. Until now there has been no focus on Western Port bay area however there are now plans for further meetings for Western Port so watch out for future notifications on meetings for these areas. Also be aware that there is an elderly gentleman who was hit by a kite board 2 years ago at Balnarring and has been writing letters etc to all levels of council and government ever since. He is extremely dissatisfied with this whole process but was actually OK with us?? The local yacht clubs may also have some issues.

2..This whole process is based on cleaning up the zoning and the remarking of the zones to ensure a consistent approach. The introduction of the kiting areas is acknowledgement that our sport is different to others and is an attempt to help us work around the 5 knot / 200 metre rules that have been in existence forever (but we ignore).

3..It was categorically stated that no sport what so ever will ever be given a total exemption to the 5 knot rule.

4..At this stage a 'No Kiting' zones will only be put in place where their risk assessment has determined that there is a significant risk to the Kite boarder i.e. power lines overhead. The view is our safety not the general public as they are catered for by the no boating zones and 5 knot rules.

5..It is very important to get as much local buy in as possible. Tim and I could only guess on the areas that we are aware of between Mornington and the heads. Unfortunately while one area has been nominated as a kiting area at Rye, the majority of the zones between Rosebud and Rye that we kite in are also designated boat mooring areas which will not be considered as kiting areas, we added requests where we could such as the southern end of Safety Beach.

6..I have requested electronic copies of all the areas covered tonight as we were only supplied the Rye portion. Maybe some of the locals could then mark up their preferred sites.

7..Tim suggested that Parkes Victoria attend a KBV meeting. This was very well received and the invitation accepted in principal. Probably a good idea to get all who have been involved to attend the meeting so we can be sure that we are all singing the same tune.

8..We made sure that is was well understood that KBV is about promoting the sport including the public awareness aspect. We also reiterated that as a group, kite boarders in general try and ensure that we approach the sport in as safe a manner as possible. I think that the fact that there is an association and some level of organisation is seen very favourably.

9..All other groups were very supportive of us, I think the PWC crew are happy for another group to be wearing some of the heat for a change. I spent some time talking to the key stakeholders. They all seem to be very willing in making this work for all concerned.

10..Be aware that when implemented this initiative will mean new pylons and buoys will be installed in ALL areas. The current markers that we happily kite outside of in a lot of cases are only about 50-75m from shore. The new ones will be 200m out (500m down around Rosebud and Rye).

11..I Raised the question of having additional seasonal influences on zones that would see them open up considerably in the cooler months, i.e. Rosebud / Rye in winter northerlies. This was noted and could be considered.


Sorry to rabbit on but it is hard to convey everything in just a few words, PS mental note for Hook, don't use any more gun analogies!!

Regards,

Andrew