60 Mile Race CANCELLED, Ft. Laud. Launch at RISK

[ricki]

This just in from Neil:

"Hi all, I deeply regret having to send out this e-mail but due to a greatly increased regulation of the rules here at Tiki beach we will not be holding the 2009 race. Tiki beach and myself are being held somewhat responsible for every kiteboarder within the vicinity of Ft. Lauderdale and feel like the authorities are just looking for an opportunity to shut down Tiki Beach and arrest me.

I am so so sorry to let you guys and girls down and I know a lot of you have already done a lot of work of filling out forms, printing T-shirts, organizing trophies and opening/closing parties and so on., but we are under a large spotlight right now with Tiki and myself to be held responsible.

I personally feel "gutted" right now but this is getting extremely serious with police boats patrolling the area and marine units on the beach. I can assure you I personally will do everything I can to prevent any kind of ban here in Ft. Lauderdale
but please be aware and abide by all our rules:

Leave the beach between the for red buoys until past the swim area. Once out, stay out. Riding waves within the channel or elsewhere is not permitted. Continuous riding in and out from the beach is not permitted (out and in once per session). If you can not go upwind this is not the place for you.

Sorry once again everyone but by running the race we will be setting ourselves up, hopefully things will calm down.

Cheers Neil"

[antoinedons]

this is sad! why doesn't the state just close down all the roads and waterways because of irresponsible and wreckless behaviour of a few. Although here in South Florida it seems to be just a little more than a few! my point being that there seems to be some sort of a witchhunt on kiteboarding. where, granted there are a number of idiots involved that give the rest of us a bad name, there seem to be relatively low number of incidents in comparison with other activities mentioned........i do not know what the numbers are but this is simply my impression..........the solution i am not sure of and i am sure that you guys have been in communication with the local authorities and that must always be the case. if the communication ceases then their level of understanding will surely drop even further. perhaps it is an idea to get the local community more involved and engaged when events such as this are organised and to show both the civil servants as well as general public the beauty and excitement of the sport...........anyhow, just my two cents.

good luck up there in FLL!

[ricki]

Just got back from Islamorada and will be talking with Neil again tomorrow. Main thing is to help stabilize Neil's situation and avoid further legal hassles than have happened already. Next is to try to ease tensions regarding kiting at Tiki Beach. BTW, if some kiter does something stupid miles away say around Oakland Park, Neil gets blamed by some of the authorities. Idiotic, unfair but true. None of this is a slam dunk. As you point out, there is a long tradition of poor behavior among some but thankfully not all riders. The former is what usually sticks in people's minds. Damage control seems to be needed. More to come on this.

I've said for years, the designated launch in Ft. Lauderdale, aka Tiki Beach, is one of the best run designated launches in North America. Despite that, this sort of thing can happen. Things are heating up in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Pompano, largely because guys are riding too close to shore, over and over again.

The days of riding stupidly putting our access as risk has to stop before we lose more riding grounds. If you want to ride near shore, GO somewhere less populated where it isn't as likely to get us shut down

[kent]

sorry to hear that Neil, you have put some great work in on this event and it was really starting to roll. Given the situation, I don't think that you have any other options. I sincerely hope that you can maintain Tiki Beach for a kite location as loosing it would surely set a precedent.

good luck and keep on fighting. i hope other kiters in the area understand the issues and help you to stay out of the spot light, unless it is in a positive manner.

[Steve-O]

Very sorry to hear about the event not happening. I know many will be dissappointed but yet another wake up call for our sport.

A comment was made about communication of our sport and showing the positive.

Check this out.....

As many of you know, we just had the Tampa Bay Kitemasters last weekend. EPIC!!!

My point is all newspapers and TV stations were sent a press release about the event. This event was not only a race, but a fundraiser for a worthwhile cause, All Children's Hospital.

Not one mention was made in any paper or TV news. Absolutely unexceptable IMO.

Here's a chance to shed some good light on the sport and not one word was reported on it.

However, any time there is an issue, the papers and news are all over it. I know we all know this to be true about papers and TV, but this was a obvious display of there attitude towards our world that we live in.

I am disgusted by this and plan to write each and every paper my thoughts on the matter.

I will post links to specific past articles and the writers if any want to jump on board.

Hang in there Neil.

[b-rad]

huge bummer bro- anything we can do to help?

[eclipsedave]

How about ending the race a little early at Damons beach I dont think the bar and grille there would mind 100 kiters showing up hungry and thirsty

[ricki]

How about ending the race a little early at Damons beach I dont think the bar and grille there would mind 100 kiters showing up hungry and thirsty

Bad idea, again Neil is getting credit/hassled for actual or perceived rider problems area wide. LBTS has it's share of access issues already, going back years. Met with the township a bunch of times. I understand the kite school that was there was asked to leave. I would be real careful there, anywhere in Broward and for that matter Miami Dade to avoid more problems.

Damon Beach? I had to look that up, never heard of it despite tramping all over that area since the 1970's. The real name is "Weenie Beach." That hails from the times when thongs (particularly on guys, girls of course), body builders and implants were the norm there.

[mikerooka]

We have been anticipating this race all year & now nothing. If this isnt a wake up call to respect our launches I dont know what. If something happens in Ft Laud we are all screwed bc guess what your beach is next. Stay off the beach with kite in air , outside the buoys.
Dont worry everyone can still see that jump from 100 yards off shore!

[mikerooka]

We have been anticipating this race all year & now nothing. If this isnt a wake up call to respect our launches I dont know what. If something happens in Ft Laud we are all screwed bc guess what your beach is next. Stay off the beach with kite in air , outside the buoys.
Dont worry everyone can still see that jump from 100 yards off shore!
Lets organize Dania to South Beach run.