First Miami Meeting

[ricki]

Thanks for all that attended the first meeting last Thursday. Kent is working up a summary of what was discussed which should be uploaded here shortly. Thanks Kent! It would be great if discussion of important points could continue here to work towards some solutions. I am working up some short guideline lists for a few launches in Miami. These are intended to act as a starting point for working up some final guidelines to distribute to riders at large here, through shops and from an expanded website also under preparation.

[kent]

Here it goes... I'm sure I missed a few things, but this was it for the most part. Let me know if I got anything wrong or omitted ideas or issues.

We had good attendance, but it would have been nice to see Big Kite Miami and Pro Waves in attendance. I'm sure that we will get them next time.

In all, the group had good discussions and hopefully something good will come out of this. We are under fire and need to be proactive on preserving our access.

PS. I think we need a new secretary!

Kent




Miami Area Kitesurfing Meeting
5-29-08

Attendees:

Rick Iossi: FKSA
Stefan Pantu: SFKB / MKB
Ken Russell: Sky Banditz
Jim Desilva: Liquid Surf and Sail
Zasha Langer: Neilpryde
Garry Menk: Adventure Sports
Francisco Escudero: Sky Banditz
Agata Gogolewska: MKB
Christophe Ribot: MKB
Kent Marinkovic: Adventure Sports
Todd Greaux: Cabrinha
Josh Schwartz: Nautical Ventures

The meeting was called to address growing concerns for continued access at many of South Florida’s riding locations. Each attendee was allotted a specific amount of time to provide input and address concerns. The goal of this meeting was to identify the largest areas for concern and to make not of topics for discussion at a general meeting to be held at a later date. This meeting was a precursor to the development of a local wind sports industry association that will proactively address issues in the future. It was well attended, but several schools were difficult to contact and / or failed to attend.

Notes:

Rick Iossi:

Rick initiated the meeting and set the guidelines for the discussions. He made special note that the meeting was not particularly to discuss recent events, but to address all of our areas concerns at a variety of kiting venues.

Ken Russell:

Due to having previous obligations, Ken’s time was limited at the meeting and therefore spoke first. Ken started off by stating that Sky Banditz would no longer be teaching at the Hobie Beach location in on shore winds. He indicated that he and Sky Banditz would assume the role of ambassador for kitesurfing in our area and would personally follow the current guidelines for safe riding. Ken expressed his feelings that everyone should have the right to teach. He asserted that this is not a regulated industry and that no one had the right to require proof if any schools documentation including certification, business permits, and insurance. Ken encouraged only positive promotion of the sport in our area and wants the sport to become more social as it was in the past.

Jim Desilva:

Jim left his time open as he generally wanted to learn more about the issues and concerns at hand.

Christophe Ribot:

Christophe disagreed with Ken and Sky Banditz assertion that the kitesurfing business was totally open and not subject to regulation. He was concerned about the liability of the sport including injuries to 3rd parties and potential legal action against the parks. He stated that guidelines should be strictly adhered to. Christophe stated that “no single Joe should be teaching friends”. He went on to explain the liability issues pertaining to schools that teach with out insurance. He reiterated the point that if schools with out insurance cause an accident that any resulting suit against the park (or other) could likely result in beach closures. He explained how personal liability insurance helped to offset the risk of the park, thus allowing the venue to remain open. When discussing the cost of insurance, he indicated that adding another instructor to the policy was a nominal increase in cost. He thought that the difference in cost went form around $300 per instructor per year to around $500 each.

Garry Menk: Garry was manly concerned for himself and other riders that kitesurf at locations where by schools operate. He raised concerns about the safety of riding in such close proximity with people being taught. Garry pointed out several near misses that he and others have had with out of control beginners. He wants the red buoys to be considered as “hard ground” and never to be ridden in. Garry would like to see an area at Matheson designated for riding only. He would like to see the schools agree to operate to the North and East of the flag at Matheson

Francisco Escudero:

Made several comments about insurance and thought that the meeting was addressing this area too much. He alluded to liking the idea of “beach or launch” ratings. This idea is similar to skiing where by some launches would be black diamonds and other would be blue squares, etc. He feels strongly that Hobie Beach should be preserved for teaching and that by being there schools may in fact have a positive benefit. He doesn’t want to see the time in South Florida that all schools need a boat to teach.


Josh Schwartz:

Josh’s main concern was being able to find legitimate schools to teach his customers. He indicated that he would like to see all schools run like a business. He was in favor of having school operators secure concessions to teach at their locations similar to what MKB appears to have done.

Kent Marinkovic:

Kent raised several points for each of the areas riding locations. He would like to encourage all riders that Hobie is a poor choice of riding locations. Kent adamantly stated that this is not a location that any teaching should be allowed and would like to see all schools agree not to teach from the beach at this location. He raised the point that if a school didn’t agree that at the worst cast they should only teach with 10 meter lines at most. Kent would like to have all local area riders determine verbiage and new guidelines for safe riding at this and all other locations. These guidelines would be posted in a special area of the FKSA.

Kent wanted to see better enforcement of the rules at Crandon for all riders. He asks that the validity of the required insurance for riding at Crandon be supplied. Kent wondered if this insurance was valid in the U.S. He asked that in the future that MKB prepare a “state of the beach” address. This would include seeing the future plans of how to increase the total number of riders at this venue. Wants to know the When, Where, How’s, and What’s of this situation.

Kent indicated that Matheson was totally out of control at times. Indicted the need for better signage at the venture including the water side of the curbs for warnings, etc. He would like to see more people, especially the schools to become more involved in the education of riders that are not complying with the agreed upon guidelines, i.e. No jumping in side the buoys and flying kites in the parking lot, etc. He encouraged defining acceptable areas for schools to teach at this location. Kent was concerned that with the summer weekend closure of Crandon the rate of incidents would rise as well as the total number of riders. On the weekends and in NE winds, Kent would like to see schools teaching out of the south launch only.

Kent would like to see what the real rules currently are for Miami Beach. He wants to determine the best method of informing riders doing “down wind rides” of the swim buoy rules, etc.

Stephan Pantu:

Stephan agreed mainly with MKB’s points and sees the future of teaching as being boat based in South Florida.


General discussion:

In the general discussion recommendations were made to move even the white buoys farther out at Matheson. ASI’s liability waiver was offered to be used by local area schools. Concerns were raised that many of the schools instructors were actually the largest rules breakers by flying kites in the parking lot and riding inside the buoys, etc. The fact that there seems to be inconsistency of the guidelines was brought up. Standard buffer zones, signage, and guidelines were urged. It was mentioned that even a single “official” incident at Hobie would likely lead to a closure of this venue as kiteboarding was determined to be an “eminent threat to public safety”

[kent]

i did forget a few items:

I have some comments from Tim Barber that I presented at the meeting:

He would like to see every beginner be handed a copy of the guidelines at the start of all lessons taught at Matheson.

Tim thought that we may be able to appoint some one in charge of lost and found at the beach. In the past, he was there more often and filled the void. He indicated now if items are left for more than a day or two that sometimes businesses operating in the part often offer the found items for sale instead of reture. He didn't comment on the specific Who, When, and Why's, but it was a concern. He said that we could utilize the lock box at the park for this. Tim also asked the the schools be a little more proactive on helping others to launch and land kites as he sees them often look the other way. I guess that this goes for all of us.

Kent

[kitester]

Hi to all.
Its good to see this type of dialog taking place. As more and more people come to the sport the pressure on our launch sites is only going to increase. Even here in North Florida we see the effect of this pressure. Back in 2002 a ban in our best location, Huguenot Park, was almost put in place. There would have been no kiting of any kind between Memorial and Labor Day. Several times since we have been approached by the management with the suggestion that kitesurfing be restricted to just one small area of the park. This would in effect remove 99% of why this is such a great location to learn and ride in. Only riders with good skills would then be able to use the park only at certain times and under certain wind conditions. In '02 we went to the management with an offer to "self-police" and to train new kiters in appropriate etiquette. Thus far this arrangement has helped us maintain our access. It also gave the park management a venue to address concerns. This fact has helped us keep kiting at the park as much as anything else. Over the years I have trained far more people at the park than anyone else. I took what I learned from the PASA course and improved and refined the lesson plan.
I would like to offer some suggestions that you may find helpful. Providing phone numbers of reliable people that park management can contact should be a priority. This should be the person who is most likely to be at that location training or riding on a daily basis. This person should be extremely familiar with the special concerns of his or her location, have good people skills and should maintain a good rapport with the management at that location.
I developed a set of guidelines for kiting at Huguenot Park. We stress that these are not hard set rules. This allows for some flexibility for weather and tide conditions as well as considerations for peak use times. Every student who takes a lesson MUST sign this and receives a copy for their own reference. They are as follows....

KITESURFERS!
Welcome to Huguenot Memorial Park. Participating in wind powered sports at the park is a privilege that has been fought for and preserved by our local windsurfing club, The Jacksonville Associated Wind Sports, JAWS, and through the efforts of our local kitesurfers. Please help us maintain our access by reading and following these guidelines and suggestions for kiting and windsurfing in the park. Thank you and ride safely.
1. Receive adequate instruction from a qualified instructor. Several of our local riders are PASA Certified kitesurfing instructors. Most other local riders are very knowledgeable and quick to help out. Don’t be shy. Ask questions. Ask for help.
2. Never launch, ride or recover within 200 ft. (60 meters) upwind of bystanders, swimmers, surfers or hard objects. Many surfers ride the waves near the jetty. Avoid this area. Consider launching unhooked.
3. The use of tested kite leashes is REQUIERIED while ridding at Huguenot Memorial Park. A good helmet, flotation / impact vest and quick release systems are strongly advised.
4. Carefully preflight your gear.
5. Avoid higher winds. Be aware of storms that could bring strong gusts and lightning VERY quickly.
6. On holidays, high tides and peak use times the park can become very crowded. In the “pond” Please restrict your launch and landing to the designated windsurfing or kiting areas at those times. On the beach- side follow the 200-ft. rule. It may be necessary to walk or drag out to a sand bar before kiting. Also, many people fish on the point near the bridge. Please be courteous and avoid this area when fishermen are there. A hook can be painful and fishing gear is expensive. A park map is printed on the back of this page.
7. Avoid complaints to maintain our sailing privileges. Be quick to help others as they launch or land. Be aware of kitesurfers who may need assistance on the beach or in the water. Reckless, unsafe, or discourteous practices will not be tolerated.
8. Because of our ability to sail in shallow areas and our extreme maneuverability all other wind or human powered vessels have right of way. Be aware of jet skis.
9. Never sail in conditions beyond your abilities or further from the shore than you are prepared to swim. NEVER sail in the ocean with wind blowing offshore. The “pond” is the only good place to ride in west winds south of Hatteras on the East Coast. Act responsibly and preserve our access.
10. Please follow the general park rules. A list is available at the front gate.

Sign ______________________________ Date _________________________________
If you need more information, assistance or instructions please contact...

Of course there are some dated suggestions there and each location will need to have its own tailored set of guidelines. In addition to this page all of my students sign the usual liability waiver and certification of fitness pages. I also have them fill out a general information page with contact numbers, sports skills, etc. I also include an instructor assessment page so the student can "grade" the instructor. That might be key to your process in South Fl. Instead of official regulation ask local instructors for voluntary participation in a self-assessment program. You could even vote or appoint certain people to "check up on" instructors in certain locations and help them provide better, safer training for students.
I also think a certain amount of conformity between different trainers and lesson plans would help a great deal.

And lastly...I have developed a system that removes almost all of the risk associated with the first few hours of instruction. It can be used with c-shape or bow style kites, on full or short line sets. I have used it in the water and on the land. I found it to be very useful with younger students. I can train in conditions that I would never consider training in before. It allows the student to learn precise flight control, develops confidence quickly and limits the risk to those around them in the early stages of the lesson. The best part is that this method is simple, cheep and extremely effective when used correctly. But, you may encounter resistance from some trainers. The main objection many trainers have to using my method is the fact that it requires one on one training. I have found that most trainers want to run as many people through the lesson as possible to maximize the profit for the time allotted to the students. I understand the need to make money but this is contrary to the promotion of safe, responsible kiting and produces kiters that have very limited safety skills. I know this because I still re-train many people who got a lesson but have no idea how to assess an area or conditions, self launch; self land or relaunch a kite. Some don’t even know how to rig a kite. These dangerous gaps in knowledge happen because some trainers only see $$s when they look at a potential new student.
I hope my input has been worthwhile and I look forward to talking with anyone interested in applying the training method mentioned above. If you have any questions about that or about kiting at Huguenot Park please feel free to call me @904-424-2721. We all have some work ahead of us as kitesurfing becomes more mainstream.

Paul B.