[bigkite]

This is about last Christmas at Hobbie and I believe some of Rick Iossi's words can come in handy to all of us.

"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"

****I don't know if every one knows, but we had a very close call at Hobbie this Christmas. Please stay away from the shore line while riding!***

Kind regards,

Big Kite Representative