An Idea To Avoid Bans?

[ricki]

I have a theory about kiters that threaten our access to ride often by riding too close to shore, bathers and in out of bounds swim areas. They largely fall into three categories and I hope constitute the vast minority of kiters;

Tier 1: Experienced often mature, sometimes young, even pro rider hard cases who know better, have been warned perhaps for years, are aware of the consequences of poor kiting behavior but still do it anyway, because ....? (I have no clear idea why.) Kite looping over the beach & landing in inches of water in restricted areas and showing little concern for bystanders or the future riding prospects for the rest of us. Tier I largely through the kiting culture encouraged at times by the Industry have been role models for other kiters for years. I hope their numbers are FEW, to be determined in time.

Tier 2: Newer kiters, with a fresher outlook perhaps copying Tier 1's poor riding behavior and bringing even more heat down on our ability to ride free and at will. They may have been following other more advanced kiters lead and may not have thought about the trouble certain riding habits will bring down on all of us. There may be more of these type of riders but I HOPE they are more likely to rethink things based upon reason and some pretty strong arguments.

Tier 3: Largely clueless newbies who have done little research, taking little to no pro lessons (quality lessons perhaps not at all) and are out "experimenting" with full sized kites on the beach and water, rigging way too big in strong winds, bashing kites down among bystanders, lacking harnesses, largely trying to get hurt or at least hurt all our abilities to ride. They are clueless and perhaps they may not know any better and will succumb to reason and persuation (we can hope).

Then there is the rest of us, the VAST majority I hope, who don't cause problems knowingly or even unknowingly but still stand to lose our privilege to ride by the actions of the trio listed above. We are losing it right now in fact.


So, the idea consists of the following:

A. Shoot video and post clips of Tier 1 excesses and poor behavior. Identify place and time, leaving out identities (?) or maybe not. If identities are given they had better be easily identifiable in the video. Ideally, let the video do most of the talking. Show points of reference, i.e. buoys, shoreline, bystanders, etc.. to help tell the story visually. Please provide raw, unedited video clips to provide a record of what actually happened without embellishment. Do not make claims or complaints that are not supported by video as that won't go anywhere except perhaps to the discard pile. This puts a burden on the videographer but without a picture saying a "thousand words" I think the exercise could easily degrade into a he said she said pissing match which won't be tolerated on here.

B. Hopefully after drawing attention, likely global attention the stars of these videos might start to think things over. Peer pressure can be a hard thing to deal with when it is pressuring you to change for the good of all. Also, it is likely in time, perhaps not too far in the future either that some may be arrested and/or fined by the authorities further adding weight to things.

C. Tier 2 would be reasoned with and perhaps even included in the video clips described above. Ideally many will see the light and alter habits to keep us all flying through simple reasoning without any staring role in a video. If not, there are always potential legal consequences for them as well.

D. Tier 3 would be dealt with in a similar fashion to Tier 2, ideally with a bit more orientation. I would even be happy to generate some telling handouts highlighting some of the realities of our great sport particularly when taking on in a vacuum of knowledge and training. The handouts would establish the stoke and also the critical need for Quality Pro Instruction. Specific instructor identities would not be provided in the handout but resources on how to find and interview instructors would be included.

No one wants anyone to get into trouble with the law, deal with fines or public ridicule. Then again, if a person knows the consequences of their actions, has been warned, understands how it may severely harm the rest of us and still shows poor riding behavior(i.e. breaking the law riding inside swim zones, etc.), it seems only fair to let things go where they will. It will be a challenge for the videographers to get good, compelling clips without influencing rider behavior during filming with a huge side benefit of improving the odds that we all will still have a reasonable quantity of places to ride in years to come. Also, NOTHING in this is against extreme, responsible riding, just the opposite. Kiters are encouraged to go extreme within their abilities as long as their actions don't harm others directly or otherwise, ideally well offshore. If there wasn't a problem, none of us would have to think of solutions or even consider stuff like this.

It is just an idea, but what do you think?