Certification REQUIRED.

[ricki]

Kiteboarding certification and registration are already required at Crandon Park, Key Biscayne, FL, USA.

Manditory certification and registration are being considered to preserve access at Ft. Lauderdale and Lauderdale By-The-Sea and other areas.


Why?


Riders are coming inside out of bounds swim buoys and in some cases have insufficient ability or motivation to stay upwind out of designated swimming areas. KITERS NEED TO GET OFFSHORE AND STAY WELL OFFSHORE UNTIL TIME TO COME IN. Failure to do this has been a consistent cause of problems all over for years.


We have brought this on ourselves by our actions despite years of warnings, guidelines, examples of lost access, riders nearshore being injured BY being too close, etc. etc.


We will likely continue to bring on certification and registration requirements in more congested and technical launch areas where rider numbers and complaints force these measures to preserve access.


Just because you are certified doesn't mean you won't deliberately ride irresponsibly, obviously. In several of these cases minimal kiteboarding rules enforcement by police is planned or to be proposed.


Take care of your access and work to AVOID these sort of restrictions

[ricki]

Kiteboarding certification and registration are already required at Crandon Park, Key Biscayne, FL, USA.

Manditory certification and registration are being considered to preserve access at Ft. Lauderdale and Lauderdale By-The-Sea and other areas.


Why?


Riders are coming inside out of bounds swim buoys and in some cases have insufficient ability or motivation to stay upwind out of designated swimming areas. KITERS NEED TO GET OFFSHORE AND STAY WELL OFFSHORE UNTIL TIME TO COME IN. Failure to do this has been a consistent cause of problems all over for years.


We have brought this on ourselves by our actions despite years of warnings, guidelines, examples of lost access, riders nearshore being injured BY being too close, etc. etc.


We will likely continue to bring on certification and registration requirements in more congested and technical launch areas where rider numbers and complaints force these measures to preserve access.


Just because you are certified doesn't mean you won't deliberately ride irresponsibly, obviously. In several of these cases minimal kiteboarding rules enforcement by police is planned or to be proposed.


Take care of your access and work to AVOID these sort of restrictions

[RG87ST]

hi rick
how can we enforce certification.??

this weekend i've run into a record 4 newbies (87st). i was out on an 11mt / 7mt, very windy/gusty/waves.
1 guy refused to land his 18mt untill i promised i would rip it apart if he didnt (yep it came to that after he almost ran over small kid).

the other guys were more reasonable but still wouldn't accept it was dangerous to learn on 25kts wind on an 14mt. one older guy even admited he had to "let go" of his kite and it landed "safely" on some trees... got into the "nobody owns the beach" argument, etc etc

ive tried being reasonable and explaining the dangers, tried a more "there are rules" approach, everything..

most regular or semi regular kiters (guys out of crandon/ matheson etc ) shrug it off.

it's certain there is going to be another bad accident at some point

in your experience what do you think can be done besides waiting for that day?

[bigkite]

We will continuously encounter this kind of behavior from kiters who are not at all aware of beach parameters as well as the well being of future kiters and spectators.

BigKite offers Lessons for anyone who is willing to better understand and learn more on how to Deploy, activate and Recover a kite.
Also, to develop a broader understanding of beach access and different launch/land scenario's.

I strongly recommend to any kiter that "you use the original bar made especifically for the kite Model, Brand and Size that you are going to use".
This will tremendously decrease the amount of "loose kites" on our Beaches. As well as, non - functional leash/kite deploy systems.

The idea is to Organize, Filter and Clean up any Kite Access Areas with these types of problems.

Please count on BigKite's help for this, or any kind of kite related enquiries.

We can Organize and Set up a meeting for the 87th st group of kiters who are willing to better understand and cooperate with normal kitesurfing rules for their area.

All of this combined, will be the key to preserve our kitesurfing access for the future.


Kind Regards,

Miguel
www.bigkite.net

[Daudbhai]

Hi there,

I've been to Crandon Park last year just before the new regulations were implemented and asked about the rules. They were not unreasonable at all and easy to observe. Now I understand that you have to be certified. I've been kiting since 1999. What is the certification process if I am to come back for vacation to ride at Crandon? Don't have a lot of money to pay for a course that says I can stay up wind so how much and what is required for the certification?

Thanks

[ricki]

Hi there,

I've been to Crandon Park last year just before the new regulations were implemented and asked about the rules. They were not unreasonable at all and easy to observe. Now I understand that you have to be certified. I've been kiting since 1999. What is the certification process if I am to come back for vacation to ride at Crandon? Don't have a lot of money to pay for a course that says I can stay up wind so how much and what is required for the certification?

Thanks

You need PASA or IKO Level III certification among other requirements to ride at Crandon Park. Some instructors will offer "mossback" certification to experienced kiteboarders at varying prices. It would be best to arrange for this certification before coming back given time and weather requirements if feasible.

These requirements have been stated by the Park Management and not by local kiteboarders in lieu of liability insurance that was historically available but is no longer obtainable. Crandon is just one small launch in a large state with MANY launches. If in doubt, drive to less populated areas with fewer restrictions.