Making a Kite Beach

[irwe]

One of our local beaches/parks would be an ideal spot to use as a Kite Beach (shallow, windy, bay).
I am meeting with the Parks and Recreation Adminstrator and Local Councillor on Thursday to discuss the matter.
I want to present kiting as a safe sport and that if guidelines are in place it will have little impact on the current users (ie. bathers).
Any suggestions would be helpful.

[Windrider]

Get all the kiters you can to stand with you as a unified voice. Overall, kiters are professional people, tax payers, etc. not a bunch of kids with skateboards. Present yourselves as a body of active, responsible adults who are looking for a place to practice this sport. Encourage your cohorts to speak out as responsible adults with prepared testimony. Down play the "Extreme Sports" aspect of it. That's only good for marketeers trying to sell their wares to teens and young adults. When you are trying to get a designated use area, it's okay to recognize the inherent dangers and represent that as the reason you are trying to get a designated use area... to keep it away from the normal beach goer traffic. A good analogy is a boat ramp. A kite launch/land area is like a boat ramp. There are possible hazards involved in launching and landing kites that the average public may are aware of, therefore they may not recognize a dangerous situation to avoid an accident.

Prepare a plan. Organize as a special interest group of responsible, tax paying adults.

In our case (Kailua, HI), we worked to get 35 yards of beach front at the downwind end of a public beach park designated as a kite/windsuring launch/land zone. The beach park is over 900 yards long. We asked for 35 yards. That's less than 4% of the beach park. The Kailua Bay beach front is about 2.5 miles. We asked for 35 yards. It was a hard, long battle (5 years?) but we got it with support from the Dept of Land and Natural Resources. There is no "kiting in the shore break" along Kailua Bay. We have a 35 yard section to launch and land in. We're not allowed to be closer than 100 feet to the shoreline anywhere else along the bay. That's why the local kiters get pissed when folks start popping tricks in the launch / land zone clogging up the space. There's a whole bay out there to ride in. We do have to do a lot of self-policing, but that's the overhead of having a designated use zone. If you want to keep it, you have to take care of it. It's like picking up your own trash at your camp ground.

[superstoke]

"clogging up the space" - give me a break. Launching and landing is clogging up space. The guy popping tricks has the right of way. If you disagree you are a kook that should switch to windsurfing.

[Hubbs]

"clogging up the space" - give me a break. Launching and landing is clogging up space. The guy popping tricks has the right of way. If you disagree you are a kook that should switch to windsurfing.

Your acually kidding right ??? thank god you don't live near me.

[Kamikuza]

Stoke, if you can't relaunch well enough that you feel the need to boost tricks near the shore so you can touch the bottom or let the kite drift to the beach, you need to work on some basic kite skills.

That's a common problem here too - people boosting jumps right on the shore and not looking where they going. Can't relaunch the kite so it drifts to the shore and anyone trying to go out has to wait while they sort themselves out

... yo we can see the trick even if you're 200m out and we know the kite so we know who it is

[superstoke]

I like to bust all my sick moves next to the beach so all my friends can see. It's fun. If you don't want to risk getting your kite tangled with mine then don't kite downwind of me when I want to bust a move. It's that simple. The guy throwing a trick has right of way. Anyway, no one on the beach wants to watch some kooks proud of their IKO certification trying to get going. Of course the kooks will disagree but they are kooks so who cares. And of course the sell-out instructors that are raping our sport for money will disagree. The area next to the beach is reserved for the guys that have sick ass tricks that are fun to watch. Get out of the way and shut up.

[speedyRider]

superstokes you have the right to throw your tricks where you want except if there is someone downwind of you. You think you are super cool and super extreme kiter...you just suck and you are probably what? 15?. Please try to have some respect for others, its not just you in the beach you know? I would like you throw a trick upwind of me and get yourself or your kite close to me, next minute your lines will be cut...or i will jump into you, hey acording to you i have the right as im throwing a trick so why not stamp my board in your face landing my jump...

what an idiot

[Kamikuza]

LOL sorry stoke had my irony/sarcasm filter off ... good one, you got me!

[superstoke]

speedyRider, you are calling me immature???? You are the one threatening me with physical violence. Grow up and have some fun in life. Kiting is about having fun, not kicking ass and enforcing bulls$it rules by some guys that think kiting is yachting for poor people.

If you get annoyed by people popping moves near you then kite upwind. Maybe you'll learn a thing or two watching us bust some sick as$ moves. Show some respect to those that rip.

The rest of us will have a blast popping sh%t when we want and be stoked to get out of the way for others to throw their most insane tricks when they want.

Try windsurfing. I think it's more what you are looking for.

[speedyRider]

Yes im calling you inmature and unrespectful to other kiters...there must be some rules so kiting its not a complete chaos. Im not for just moving up and down and im all for people throwing tricks, its ok to do it and i also do them but just dont do it if you can endanger someone downwind of you

Im not using violence, just applying your rules, i will throw my trick, i dont care if you are downwind of me, just like you do...but this seems to bother you. Well thats life, if you dont respect myself in the water, why should i respect you?

You must think you are a super cool pro guy throwing tricks here and thre...and you are just pathetic thinking you do killing moves in front of people, go to the pkra if you are that good and stop acting like the beach is yours...Get a life