Saffer
You are on the money mate.
Altona's problems are not so much a case of inexperience as total arrogance. This whole situation is made worse when a camera arrives and all the Show Ponies come out to play in two inches of water 5M from the shoreline 
As for people on this site trying to defend self launching and landing on a beach that is narrow and runs parallel to a pedestrian footpath and concrete sea wall, you are RETARDS!
Still, winter will be here soon and those into the stoke rather than the pose will be the only ones left. Roll on April.
its just a matter of time that someone will get hurt then no kites its simple have some respect
yeh its oz wide, we get blow inns at our spot [locals] and the blow inns leave kite and lines left out all over the beach where our community swim with kids and think it fine, boost close to the swimmers and go home sunday thinking there fully sick,
and the locals have to explane its the tourist that are kiteing dangeruosly, in short STAY AT YOUR BEACHES AND **** OFF FROM OURS
yep, compulsory licencing is a great idea. Will stop some kooks from even attempting the sport, will promote some sought of structured learning program that must be adhered to and will help to ensure the cheezels who cause damage to property and other people the 'worst sought of damage', can be held responsible for their actions. Oh and did I say stop some kooks from even starting. I dont care what it costs me for a licence you cant put a price on safety. As an added bonus it might slow down or even stop the Euro invasion and how good would that be.......There are careless and dangerous people in every sport that need to be told!!!!!!!
ah this old chestnut returns.
does having a driver's license stop morons from wrapping themselves around telegraph poles at 180kph and killing/maiming others along the way?
that's right, i didn't think so.
does not having a kiting license mean that most kiters disregard safety and etiquette and right-of-way rules?
no, most of us see the benefit of these things without need for enforcement or licensing.
kiters are the people best able to spot a potential drama before it happens. we know what kooks and tossers look like and what the likely issues will be.
kiters have the most to gain by minimising the number and severity of safety instances.
therefore assertive (and diplomatic) self-regulation will be more effective and more efficient than relying on any impossible to enforce licensing system that's just another expense for those who already do the right thing.
learn to be comfortable approaching others who are doing the wrong thing or look like they are about to. learn to state your perspective clearly and respectfully so that people can hear it and learn without getting defensive.
if some tosser is knowingly and repeatedly doing the wrong thing, take a few mates along for the chat. not to intimidate, but to make it clear that it is a majority opinion being expressed. it's easy to dismiss the request of an individual. it's not so easy to dismiss an entire group.
hi dojo... how's things...?
just to present couple additional points, although i'm not saying one way is better over the other as I haven't researched this topic enough to have ultimate wisdom over it... but the thing is, the driver's license does not stop morons from doing dangerous things and killing others, but it does reduce number of morons doing it. For example, if the license wasn't required, how many more morons would be roaming the streets.
And i quiet like the concept of having something that regulates huge numbers and overcrowding, especially since it's obvious that some participants are more keen, and safety conscious than others. And then the problem of some tourists (nothing against tourists in general) who don't respect how their actions will affect locals... etc etc...
It's true that it would be a difficult task implementing something like a kite licensing system, and it may never happen, but hypothetically, it could be fairly simple. For example, you don't get train ticket inspectors checking tickets every day on every train and every station. But every now and then they show up - check tickets - and then fine a bunch of fare evaders. Eventually cheaters get scared, and most will probably do the right thing to avoid risks. Similar concept could be applied to kiting. You just need someone to show up at the beach every now and then, and check licenses. Obviously there is a lot more to it behind the scenes... all the logistics... funding... etc...(although speaking of funding, it's not like the government never wasted our hard earned money on unnecessary things)... But then, as i said previously, i haven't really researched this in full nor compared all the pros/cons to say it's ultimately the way to go. Self regulating is good too if it could be accepted by all and implemented...
Doesn't SA have a "no aksa tag,no ride policy" Don't ever hear much about the issues that WA and Vic has there . I think the idea is that at least if you have an aksa tag you have 1. bothered to get one and perhaps have bothered to learn properly and might also have a bit of common sense 2 .insured so that if you slice little freddy in two with your kite lines there is insurance mobney to putFreddy back together .
We are fortunate here that if you don't want to drive half an hour you have to learn in an unfriendly ocean environment with lots of wannabes wizzing around you as you are trying to learn and sharks that inhabit the nearby reef plus the flatwater spot is infested with razor shells that slice you up if your aren't careful and bull routs that drill into your feet[}:)]
Very touchy topic this one.....same problem at nearly every beach.
Licences do not work ...its individual attitude that makes people do the right thing. There is always a minority who will screw things up.... often unwittingly. People are far more self centered these days, which doesn't help. On the other hand they majority of people will follow the rules. I like uncles bens suggestion of a sign. It should be standard accross all kite beaches ... iit should be included in kite lessons. I think he has the first line right also....
Welcome to [Insert beach name here]
Respect it or "phuck off."
A map show landing and launch areas/ keep clear areas and some of the local rulz.
At least then you can politely refer blow ins to this., and people may become accustomed to looking for the sign before the start rigging their gear(eternal optimist I know).
Surfers seem to have this troublesome minority under control as can often be evidenced by the claret floating in the water around said minority offender.
I have been guilty of speaking less than politely to people doing the wrong thing on the beach I kite at. That usually makes me the bad guy...but Phuck it, I also like to kite just minutes from home and want to keep it that way.
I don't know the answer to this problem but with ever increaseing numbers of kiters I hope we come up with a solution soon.
I think Brumby is WRONG to ban carrying oif knives - kiters NEED knives to cut the lines (and some personal bits) of those idiots who are obviously too stupid to protect the sport!!!!.
Altona council (Hobsons Bay council) is on the verge of banning us completely - this depite best efforts of a KBV submission to plea for "space" and of Parks Vic as co-supporter looking at reasonable kiting zones subject to the beach refurbishment.
What amazes me is that there are some rules (and no lack of where they are published) that seem to be constantly ignored... There are a set for beach (launch,land, etiquette) and for water (kite-high, clearance and the standard boating rules) BUT in both cases there is no policing.
It is always an idea to start with trying to chat to the offender but when all else fails we need to take this into our own hands and while it may be distasteful to dob in a fellow kiter it may be the only way. Key is identification (a good photo is a good one - need to see a face and a kite) and then contact the local council (for beach issues) or Parks Vic for water issues. IF it is done in the right way then a follow-up by the authority is required.
KBV has no authority - can only act as an advisory but as Saffer suggested would be able to compile some brochures (has been discussed at recent meetings).
KBV has good contacts to most local councils and also to Parks Vic (which works with local water police) and Maratime Safety so may be able to support pursuit of said idiots but would need definite id.
its definately a nation wide problem, i may kite in small circles but i don't think our problem is as bad over here. however, imo i don't think licencing would work at all. it'd be a revenue raising circus just like dog registration. think about it, can u seriously say that if we had said system all these problems 'douchbags' would go away? -course not, they'd just get licences an still be douchebags.
for my 2 cents kite safety all comes down to education, some, if not most people are unaware of the hazards involved. i recently lost my kiteboard, and thanks to a nice fella and the help of waksa and seabreeze lost and found i got it back, but what the nice old guy wanted in return for his good deed was for me to give his daughter a lesson in kitesurfing. now i'd consider myself a competent kitesurfer and probably could give joe average a vague lesson but the point is that people, (the public and potential noobs) are simply uneducated in the technicality of our sport. i can vouch for this remembering back to when i was a noob and thinking of some of the stupid things i did. needless to say my board resuer got a liquor store voucher for his efforts.
-as with a lot of topics in life, education in the matter goes a long way not rules, regulations and restrictions.
Yeah I know its hard but jet skiing caused enough problems and all that licensing and registrations were set in place. All I know is big institutions ignore safety until plenty of people get hurt. Reactive instead of proactive, pretty crap really. I will be in support of any one who takes charge in a campaign towards tidying up these problems.......Ban the euros for start. They only give money to the airline for there flight over, put in no money to the local economy by eating baked beans and staying in $2 a night 'wicked' banged up vans and camp out in our beachside car parks that the aussie tax payer funds. But that is another topic.......
I wonder what a license would really prove, or how it would improve the situation country wide? I have ridden in countries where every kiter must have ‘a license’, and it was a total muppet show on the water. 
IMO it’s just bureaucracy for the sake of bureaucracy, which is nobody’s friend and no overall benefit to the sport. I’m pretty sure a bunch of laws aint going to help either, as there will probably never be a law that says “you can’t self launch when there is someone 5M downwind of your kite’. (Although there probably should be! 
)
I believe the goal here is for kiters to ride, launch, and land using common sense (and if not then do it far away from the shore), in order to prevent complaints from the public, and therefore keeping our beaches open for kiting? As neither of the two options above are going to make that happen, IMO it comes down to the ‘locals’ to getting together, taking on more responsibility, and guiding those lost souls and noobs who need some direction? In effect, building a kite culture that will preserve our sport.
(I realize there are a lot of people out there already doing their best on this subject, but the more locals can get together an support each other on this subject, the more chance we’ve got.)
And of course, the golden rule for educating the misguided....... Be nice. 
Oh.... but if they just don’t listen after a couple of nice chats, feel free to ‘not be nice’ and cut their lines........ [}:)]
