Crossing the line!!!!

[ricki]

Do you guys know of any kiters in your area in law enforcement, i.e. police, sheriff's deputy, marine patrol, maybe even USCG, etc.? If so, having a good discussion with them about this and similar problems would be in order. After explanation of the issues, consider effective ideas of what they think could be done to help the situation and motivate responsible kiteboarding.

Government, interpretation and enforcement of laws and rules can be a complex and sometimes confusing thing. Throw in Admiralty Law and it becomes potentially more complex. In many jurisdictions kiteboarding is not looked on with the same level of concern or enforcement as is the case for numbered vessels. If we can keep things going, I believe it would be in our interest to work to keep things that way.

It comes down to what enforcement the authorities are willing to do. An authority engaged in kiting is already way ahead in the learning curve on many important issues. In the selective interpretation and enforcement of rules they may be able to interface with colleagues and other agencies in working out an effective response.

Authorities aside, Tom's idea or others about having a call list and group involvement when such incidents occur is worth looking into. Working to avoid the frequent "random indifference" problem kiters experience from larger groups of other kiters is a good goal. Physical altercations can lead to bigger messes and should be avoided. You need to bring pressure and valid concerns to the problem kiters in a way they can see and appreciate. No one likes major negative peer pressure. "Creative" application of valid pressure may help more so. There seems to be a practice in some cases of problem kiters confusing things saying "it wasn't me" "you misunderstand" etc. Having a few fair witnesses that are kiters with solid evidence can help to avoid confusion, intentional or otherwise. In bringing pressure to the problem kiter you want to take prudent steps to avoid bringing harmful excessive and overt pressure against the general practice kiting in general in the public's or authorities' perception, "i.e. out of control constructive nuisances" which we are not.

Talk on a forum can be a good constructive thing, if it leads to reasonable, prudent and in this case, group action. I would recommend continuing to resolve a realistic plan and doing it, as a group.

[Kiteboarding Tampa Bay]

That guy (or another one like him) was at IRB yesterday(green Switch 14,Flight Deck board) as was the "handrail jumper" kid, flying a 6m foil with handles.(blonde, about 12 or 13 years old)
The majority of us are safe kiters and very tired of inconsiderate and/or uneducated kiters risking our right to kite.The groundwork is being laid for something simple, effective and fair by Kite-4-Life, which promotes safe kiting and personal responsibility for one's actions.
www.TBKA.org is where local issues are discussed and decided (voted on).
*The north county guys will soon begin laying out guidelines for Sunset Beach, and Ft. Desoto is on the top of the list for south county, so let's lay out some basic and site specific guidelines and vote on them.
No more wasting time, let's get it done.

[Danimal8199]

TBKA,

The handrail jumper kid baffles me because I'm not sure what he is doing??? What his point? He's obviously not trying to learn kiteboarding and he is not doing anything fundamental...

Its just weird

[Kiteboarding Tampa Bay]

He wasn't handrail jumping this time, it was 720 beach jumps in a crowd and then letting his buddy try it.They were also riding a skimboard on the shoreline with the kite.

There are many, many students who have had a few hour lesson and think they are done with their training, purchased gear and think they will figure out the rest on their own. The green switchbalde guy is obviously one of those.
To my students: If you have not gotten an IKO Kiteboarder card from me yet, it means you're not done with your training. When you are able to safely practice on your own, you will get a card. No offense, but I did not become an instructor to teach half a lesson and send you on your way. Hopefully other instructors will follow this lead and encourage getting a sufficient amount of training, especially before purchasing a kite.

*There have been several more profiles come in today! This is good stuff and will be where "officials" and others will review the local kiting community, so take a few minutes to tell us about yourself and what kiting means to you. Also, Scott has put a rotation of kiter pics on the main page, it looks sweet and puts a face on the kiters around here. Send in any pics you want and we will get them up there. The more the merrier! (Thanks everyone who sent in a profile, you ROCK!!)

BTW, I moved the current Sunset Beach and Ft. Desoto discussions back to the top to hash out the details. One things for sure about Ft. Desoto, no uncertified instruction will be tolerated this season, nor will beach-side gear sales. The park has already given the thumb's up on those two issues. Let's lay these guidelines out before everyone gets in the "Let's Ride" mode again.

[Kitespear813]

What Is an IKO Kiteboarder card, How can I get one... I am already a self sufficient kiter but I don't think they had these cards when I took lessons. Sounds Like it might be good to have.

[Steve-O]

I was speaking to Danny (Danimal) about this today and something can make things a bit confusing about the IRB situation.

There is a kiter by the name of Dave that lives at 27th Ave. He owns a 14SB3 Green and rides a flightdeck. Tall and middle aged. He was one of my students as well as Mike Hall's this past spring. It is Dave from 27th that made me aware of this other guy. Dave is the one that approached him about recklessness and it was Dave that got the impression that this guy didn't give two shits about anything.

So the confusing part.....the reckless rider is also named Dave and has a green switchblade.

I know what your thinking.....forget it. This sounds rediculous. The fact is, there are two Dave's with two green SB3's riding the same spot. One of them is reckless, one is not.

This will be my last post on this topic. Kiting is not getting any smaller as this situation will highlight. If you don't ride IRB, then don't worry about it. The locals here will take care of it.

What a mess.

[Whitey]

Handle it in person.

Don't need police involved they are busy dealing with crime.

Don't post a video here makes the sport look more dangerous than it is.

If you get a video of him crashing his kite into people make sure to get a copy to the people at risk so they can ask gary to sue the crap out of this non-conformist.

If I am there to see him crash his kite into people I will run to help him get his kite out of the innocent bystanders right away.

Then while he is pumping his kite back up well have a talk.

Everyone knows the safest way to get a kite out of a goup of swimmers is to deflate it right away.

Try to get to the main fill valve to dump the air but, if you think some one might be in harms way and you are not right in the middle, I was told that your suppose to pull all those little black tubes that go to the struts off. If you can get all of them it will deflate pretty quick and keep the kite from getting away from you. Try not to loose those little buggers, I'm sure he will want those back.

That's why I was given a nickname at one point early in kiting, was to avoid confusion with 2 other Scotts (I know... but there were only about 10 riders total back then). Sounds like nicknames might help keep those two from blending into one schizo person in someone's mind.

This thread on KF is semi on topic and I found parts of it pretty funny.
http://www.kiteforum.com/viewtopic.p...st=0&sk=t&sd=a

[Kiteboarding Tampa Bay]

No offense to anyone's students, but we all know as instructors, people usually get one lesson and are gone. My point is that its hard for a student to know exactly when he's able to practice on their own. The kiteboarder card solves that problem by requiring a basic skills test to verify that they have learned the basics. Every kiter I teach gets a self rescue demonstration in the first 3 hour lesson, but rarely do they return and show that they have learned it. Thats something beyond the instructors control. Create standards and the problem is closer to being solved.
Personally, I am not going to get involved in another (of many) 15 page threads of BS concerning guidelines, signs, tags, or whatever. Its the right way to go considering we now have 300-400 kiters walking on thin ice with the officals of Pinellas County, and now, IRB...
I don't think the guy yesterday was being reckless, just a new kiter who shouldn't be practicing water starts and relaunch 50' from the beach. The other 2 kiters with me said that was probably the guy this thread was originally about, but who knows or cares. It doesn't matter if they are inexperienced or just inconsiderate- a ban is a ban.

[conchxpress]

How about Kirby? K - I - R - B - y KookIndianRocksBeach-y

or DISTIRB Dumb-Ignorant-SOB-Indian-Rocks-Beach