Problem Kiters In Pompano
 

KITERS ..Please stop riding in the swim zone.Pompano lifeguards are tired of you and your bullshit so am I.I talked to them yesterday they said your riding all over the swim zones,they are going to catch up with you someday. (snip) STOP BEING A -ICK !!!!

A number of kiter's names have come up before a few times in discussion about threats to access in those parts? Any pictures? It would be a great shame to have a short list of people screw things up for all kiters in an entire City beyond the harm and broad loss of access that has already happened.

Ouch!
 

Can this forum be subpoenaed?

In the words of Sgt. Schultz: "I know Nussing."

F.

Yeah Wind Bum, facilitating threats is not a proper role for the forum. Ignoring what merits may or may not exist in this case, the site is not in a position to convey such messages. I had to modify your posts with this in mind. I would ask that you not make further such threats here.

I am passionate about working to maintain access and feel strongly about repeated, avoidable threats to all of us being allowed to continue to kite responsibly, free and at will to the degree that circumstances allow. Personally, I've been banging my head in legal ways to try to maintain access here and globally for that matter for almost 3/4's of a decade. I am sick of behaviors such as described being committed without a care for the harm and consequences. Bystanders are threatened by such actions as is our privilege to ride. I am without personal knowledge of the validity of the current complaints but I am sick of hearing of similar acts from many areas over the years. In short, it is good you are concerned but find another way to resolve this problem other than broadcasting threats of physical violence worldwide here. Anyone know a kiter in the Broward County Sheriff's Department or local Marine Patrol?

Wind Bum, The goal is to locate a concerned officer with the interest and good timing to catch riders doing things that they shouldn't. They may be in a position to intercede and at least speak with the rider and perhaps do more depending on circumstances. Several things might come out of such an interchange. First you are taking steps to establish that there is a group of concerned riders looking to authorities to assist in self-policing in hopefully rare cases when it doesn't seem to be all that effective. Second, the offending parties are put on formal notice. Thirdly, the offending parties now have identities in the system perhaps increasing the level of interest and response should future issues happen. A lot of it comes down to the offense, what is witnessed by the officer and how motivated he is to try to resolve things. That is why I was saying an officer involved in kiting might have a better perspective and desire to help things along in productive directions.

Wonderd when this name would come up. He will not be buying SS kites from me. Cheers Neil

What a scandal:
Government officials making threats of “watch your back” ?
The Marlboro Man refusing to sell over priced out dated kites?
No wind leads to Lynching of local kiteboarder?
Turf war at pompano beach…. Everybody run for your lives, someone is having fun.

Grow up the lot of you and take a step back and think about what is the big picture is here. We are all kiteboarders, that alone separates us from the heard. Just go up and talk to the guy, if he doesn’t listen have an official handle it, pretty simple. From the sounds of it, he is approachable guy on the beach, which I heard is not the same for a lot of the locals at Pompano beach. Don’t make petty threats on forums to people and companies that have no control or the rights over what in individual does. I know RickI already addressed this issue.

Jumpin joe, You know I was not going to post on this because hey whatever, the kid is a douche and he'll eventually get his...BUT, you brought my friend Neil into this, this is your only warning do not ever post anything about him or SS again. Neil has brought more to this sport then alot of people out there, he's the type of person you can call for any reason, and if he can't fix it over the phone he'll fly out to help. So jumpin joe speak what you want about the policing and this shitbrick kid but don't talk shit about a good person.

I agree, keeping our heads is in order and moving for best effect. Idyl threats may make for interesting reading but effective action will do more in the long run. If the authorities need to get involved in a productive way, try to bring them in on an informed basis to try to avoid undesirable consequences for kiters in general. btw, we're heading in the later direction already so see if you can search out some sympathetic officials.

There used to be several guys contributing to problems like this in Pompano, not sure how many still have problem kiting behavior. I understand discussions have been had with all of them, some have improved while others may not have. There may be some grudges in play contributing to misinformation and confusion at times. We don't have time or much remaining tolerance from the authorities to continue with this crap.

Neil has done a lot for the sport, organizing and participating more events than I can immediately recall over about 8 years. Most with little to no cash involved other than what he paid to be there. He was also present at recent meetings with officials in Pompano to try to reopen access there. Several of us were there. It was the right thing to do and it warrants respect in my view. He offered to do one of the very few things he can do. It would be good to hear from other manufacturers who may have current sponsored problem kiters as to what they plan to do about this sort of situation. There has been some confusion about who did what at times. Not sure what the answer is there other than perhaps cutting through the bs with a low to no tolerance policy for reports of problem kiting. That way sponsored kiters should take special pains to maintain things and avoid appearance of causing problems.

People causing the problems in Pompano and everywhere else for that matter need to stop, now. If they see the wisdom in this fine. If not, we need to get the authorities involved and/or other effective action. Peer pressure can be a powerful thing in self-policing access.

problems in pompano
 

As a Pompano resident and beach regular I am well aware of all the issues surrounding the use of Pompano Beach for kitesurfing and all the social and political issues that relate to who uses the beach and how. I have attended the safety and access meetings at the city offices, both out of interest as a local kitesurfer but also to represent Best Kiteboarding to ensure that we do all we can to actively support safe riding within the sport.

Myself and Best Kiteboarding are naturally concerned that any rider who used to be linked to the brand via one of the pre-existing school operations in Pompano has come in for criticism regarding the way he rides and his attitude to safety. We certainly do not condone this behavior and for that reason have retracted the pre-existing gear-deal between ourselves and the rider in question.

That said, the brand of kites that a rider uses has no effect on the way they choose to ride, and severing links with a rider in this way just removes any leverage that we could exert upon the rider, unfortunately sometimes there is no other option.

However, I know that the person in question is not the only one disobeying the rules. We've been self-policing the beaches, and know that there are other riders who are also in need of the same treatment. I also believe if someone has such strong feelings and concerns and chooses to threaten the company that I work for, they should be man enough to give a name and phone number so that we can discuss the issues and they do not hide behind a post.