Crossing the line!!!!

[Steve-O]

Awhile back in the spring, we got a call from an IRB city official. A complaint was made by a long time resident about a kitesurfer near 27th Ave. He has been swimming near there his whole life, and on this day never felt as threatened as he did by an unidentified kitesurfer. The indiviual was buzzing by the swimmer and he almost felt he was trying to spay him. Perception is eveything, and clearly this swimmer and resident of IRB felt threatened enough to file a complaint with the city of IRB.

There is an individual that I expected as the culprit and although I don't have proof of the incident that day, just recently another kiteboarder that lives on 27th witnessed this individual being extremely reckless. Buzzing the shoreline, weaving in and out of swimmers, and repeadetly crashing his kite near swimmers with one crash having lines over swimmers. Needless to say his riding behavior cleared the beach. Everyone that was in the water in his vicinity got out of the water and just stood on the beach and watched dazed and confused. The rider seemed oblivious to the situation.

Long story short, this resident confronted the rider and his attitude was basically "I will do whatever the "F" I want. I don't need to follow the rules, I have been in the water my whole life. I got it under control."

Everywhere I have seen this cat ride, he has been a trainwreck. Closecalls with others, flying up onto launch sites at full speed and out of control resulting in trips to the hospital, hooking his kite up backwards, the list goes on.

Clearly, my attempts and others to talk some sense into this guy is not working. I can honestly say I have not witnessed such a wreckless riding practice as this guy.

Since verbal communication is not working, I thought I would try the forum to bring light to the situation. I am also making aware the local kiters of IRB of this individual with an attempt to catch him on video and share what we have seen.

This type of riding behavior will not be tolerated and I hope I have full support of the kiting community here in Tampa Bay.

I will not disclose a name on the public forum, however, if you want to get involved on this one, send me a PM. I will be glad to enlist some troops.

Call me what you want, but if it means protecting access 2 minutes from my house, I will do whatever neccessary.

Where's the wind?

This is going to be an interesting year in terms of stuff like this.
The more kiters we get, the greater the odds that we will have 5 or more guys that are totally self absorbed pricks and don't care what they do.
People like this will most likely respond when confronted while riding 5 feet from bathers and jeopardizing access with "whatever...." and similar responses and just keep doing it.

I just found out who this guy is from WSW, and he has been riding less than a year. That's all I will say on "who".

A couple issues come up on this (for me, anyway). First, the only way to have what you accuse a guy of "stick" on a forum is to video tape him and have "proof". Many people will simply just lie when confronted, or the circumstances might get whack. So the tape is necessary (if a forum callout is going to happen) to show facts. Once video taped and posted, that video is now likely to always be on the 'net. Someone is likely to copy it, and upload it somewhere else.
So, think of that. A tape of a guy acting like a lame as.s on the 'net, representing us. Ughh. Taping it may have some serious consequence. But, if you don't, he will most likely say you are lying. Catch 22.

Okay, now we have Joe-SHMOE in the cross hairs (hypothetical) using the vid. Many riders saw the vid and are mad and want him to stop riding how he does. Now what? Seriously. Is his riding behavior going to stop? Think about this. It's likely that he has already been confronted at the areas we ride already, in person. These types have proven they simply don't care what we say, and keep doing it.
So, is ten people asking going to change the outcome? (maybe it will, that's why I am asking) Do we need to ask a cop to talk to him?
Is that a good idea involving beach police? (I have no idea, btw)

Steve, I am totally on your side on this, as you have known since day one. This post is just to bring stuff up.

The ultimate goal is to stop particular behaviors, right? I don't think any of us are in this to feel good about a call out. I sure am not. We just want our spots protected.
Well, without the cooperation of the problem rider, it seems we will need the help of authorities. How is that going to work? Does anyone know?
BTW, I am talking about over the top, obvious problem riders here.
Someone riding repeatedly close to swimmers (within 20 feet), jumping them, etc. I would like to hear other's takes on this.
It'd be great to get some sort of game plan in place.

For me, as of now, because there is no plan in place, I think putting up positive stuff on TBKA might actually help to counteract, should we ever need to present ourselves (as a group) to the City, etc. I think many of you might underestimate the possible counterstriking ability of the TBKA site, especially the Rider Profile area, in terms of outnumbering the problem riders. I constructed that site primarily for that section, in hopes that more riders would send in profiles. If we have 100 riders on there that look good on paper, that can't hurt if we ever go into a City or County meeting and try to look good.

It takes 15 minutes to send in a profile with some pics. Please do it. If you don't (just being honest) you aren't doing much to help out our kiting community. It's such a small request that could possibly help us out in the future. Not sure what ulterior motive some of you might think is going on with that section, or that site, there is none. You don't have to become a member or the Hari haris or dye your hair to fill out a profile. It's just a section trying to show we have a ton of good people in this community.

Please take the time to make out a profile and send it in.
Thanks to those that have.
http://www.tbka.org/index.php?option...d=27&Itemid=86

It's not the ultimate answer to this problem, but it can't hurt.

[Danimal8199]

I'm almost positive I know who you are talking about. I would hate for this guy to ruin it for the rest of us. I have also witnessed this type or riding and its even more important to follow the rules this time of year with so many people in the water.

[Steve-O]

Update with this situation. Some of you that read this forum have come to the same conclusion that the person in question is Jeff Reisman. The incident that I described on the first post was NOT Jeff Reisman. Jeff is a nice guy and rides on the risky side. I like many others have seen Jeff push things a bit too far....hence the conclusion. But I assure you, after doing more work on this it is NOT Jeff. Jeff I apologize for you taking a hit, but it may make you think a bit about how you ride as well. Nuf' said.

With that being said, I have norrowed it down to one. I will take care of it from here on out. If anyone would like to help me with this situation it is welcome.

Scott....your comments about TBKA profiles are right on and I will be sure to get mine submitted very soon.

On a side note, I went to Cocoa Beach back in the spring and saw some crazy riding practices there on the beach. For them it was totally normal. For me, it was enlightening. Bottom line is we seem to have a standard here in Tampa Bay of what is acceptable and what is not.

Only thing I can say about that is.....Thank God for that.

Good buddy, you need to check the rules before posting:

1) Never discuss a ban before it happens.

2) Never call someone out on the forum.

3) Never post pictures or video of reckless local riders.

4) Never jump outside the swim zone.

5) No negative posts allowed.

You should know all of this by now!

[Danimal8199]

Tom I can't tell if your post is a joke or is serious because of #4...??

Originally Posted by Tom Stock

4) Never jump outside the swim zone.

#4 is correct.

You need to jump where people can see you!

Yes, it's a joke. All of it. Sad part is it's true.

He is being sarcastic about the futility of this forum. (oops, took longer than 10 minutes to post)

Steve, looking forward to getting your profile.
BTW Steve, I brought up those questions hoping for insight, not trying to be confrontational.

This is a true story that I hope serves as an analogy about being "acceptable". I remember going to a pro beach volleyball tourney about 15 years ago out at TI. It was the finals. During the points the crowd was dead quiet. At the end of a point, the crowd cheered. There were at least 500 people viewing it. Again to stress, during points it was silent on the crowd's behalf.

This one guy then comes on scene with a radio. He sits down right in front of some bleachers (ten feet from the court), puts the radio down in the sand, then turns it on full blast, blaring very loud music.
At first people were in shock. "Did that guy really just do that?" is obviously what everyone was thinking, as all turned and whispered to their friends.
Nearly every single person there was annoyed and knew this wasn't cool. It was obvious. Thing is though, not one person said or did a damn thing. They (including me) just looked around and prayed someone else would ask him to turn it off. Not one person did, not even the referee.

The more time passed, the more people became annoyed. BUT, the more time passed, the harder (it seemed) to become to ask him to stop. I think people started doubting themselves about whether this was (un)acceptable and doubting/worrying about what would happen if they confronted him.
I learned something that day. If no one takes action, nothing happens.
The story continues, however.

When new people arrived on scene, they assume the blaring radio has been acknowledged as acceptable. (It IS on, and blaring.. and nothing is being done to stop it). You guessed the progression (if you were thinking ahead). Ten minutes later, another guy showed up and jammed his radio too. Then after about a half hour, two more guys actually had radios blaring.

The crowd as a whole, btw, were still beyond annoyed with the situation. They didn't just get use to it. But, since no one stopped the first guy, stopping 4 seemed 4 times as difficult and the crowd just put up with it.
That was a very interesting day for me. In a nutshell, 4 guys severely limited the enjoyment of 500 others AND no doubt, affected the level of play of the pros. Yet, no one stood up (not even the referee) and said something.

Anyway, you either get or you don't.

I think you did the right thing on here by posting (w/o a name) and calling out for help from those that might be concerned, Steve.

I was only trying to figure out what to do next, because I am curious how to stop someone who could not care less, without the law or similar backing you up.

[bryanleighty]

off topic odd public behavior situation I've seen..

Went to see Lord of the Rings Two Towers (3 hour movie).. right before it started some people rushed in and sat down in the front.. big package w/ them.

Crowd silent to watch film.

About 3 minutes in we hear 1 can of beer crack open.. whatever...then another..

Then we hear a baby start crying.. ugh.. this is going to suck..

Then the dog starts to bark.

WTF!?

They brought a yippie little dog to the show.. jaw dropping..

I saw some people getting up .. obviously to leave or more likely to report the situation..
I was a bit in shock.. messed up the first 15 minutes of the movie before they were asked to leave.

I am amazed at the success of the human race sometimes..

[Woodson]

Originally Posted by Tom Stock

#4 is correct.

You need to jump where people can see you!

Yes, it's a joke. All of it. Sad part is it's true.

Classic! I expect the same level of entertainment at work going forward...

B