Well after seeing the skyway lately... it's not the skill level which is the current problem... it's the advanced riders jumping close to shore.

I too mistakingly thought it was beginners out there who were most at risk but that seems to be a gross error at least on my part.

But like Scott said... it's hard to walk over to someone who has been riding longer and is obviously a much more advanced rider and ask them to ride further out.

I tried once but was told they needed to land close to shore in case they got hurt. To me that just sounds off since shallow water is where you are most likely to get hurt.

Now I'm not really trying to blame the advanced riders... because I think the REAL reason this happens is because the contests promote doing tricks close to shore... the more likely you are to get busted up the higher the points (and this goes with just about any extreme sport). This is just the mentality of ANY extreme sport.

That's just how it is. So, placing this in perspective... maybe it's just not possible to convince advanced riders to stay further out without changing the entire mentality of the sport? It would be like taking gaps, handrails, and stairs away from the skateboarders. That's not a challenge I would like to take on, and honestly I am not sure I am interested in turning an extreme sport into a nerf football and a safety net.

So what now! No idea!

It certainly doesn't hurt to convince the next generation of riders to jump further out... after all they are not riding pro contests and have no reason to be taking such risks.