Kitesurf Code of Conduct
Jan 19, 2010
Seafront Ban?
We are making some progress fighting a kitesurf ban on the Seafront. Read on for more details
Category: General
Posted by: cmsadmin
Preventing a Kitesurf ban on Exmouth Seafront in 2010
Most people reading this will be aware of the issues with kite-boarding on the recreation ground last year. The signs indicating the ban have been removed and there will in due course be new signs indicating that it is permissible to use kite propelled vehicles on some parts of the recreation ground. I understand that a change in the park bye-laws permitting kite sports has to be approved by EDDC before the signs are erected. So that's all good news.
What some of you may not be aware of is that in the background, there have been serious discussions about the future of Kite surfing on the sea-front. Very few if any of us were aware that restrictions on kite surfing were very nearly imposed last year without any discussion! Fortunately for our sport, lines of communication have now been opened and a sensible debate is in progress.
There are two parties who have problems with kite-surfing on the sea-front. The first is EDDC who own and managed the beach. There have been several incidents over the last few years in which kites have posed a very serious risk to other beach users. I imagine many of you have witnessed such incidents, or at least seen the photo of kite playing volleyball on the Edge forum!
The second party is Exeter Harbour Authority who managed the river Exe and it's mouth. Their responsibility extends roughly to a line between the West end of Dawlish Warren through to Straight Point (at the end of Sandy Bay), which included our entire kite surfing area. Their prime responsibility (as far as kite-surfing is concerned) is to ensure the channel is navigable. Their issues with kites is that a couple of crashed kites could (at least in principle) block the channel. We should also consider that on a busy summer afternoon with a nice SE breeze, there can be 50 or more kites squeezed into the channel, effectively blocking it.
An additional factor in the mix is that in the last year or so, the channel has shifted dramatically. It no longer runs parallel to the coast out past Orcombe Point but turns sharply to head out to sea in front of the lifeboat station.
The Harbour Authority looking at this from a navigation perspective saw an opportunity to move kite surfing away from the main channel into a "safer area". Their initial suggestion was that we launch near the Jet ski area, this would give us direct access to water with no traffic. In fairness to the Harbour Authority, if you look at a chart, this makes a great deal of sense. On the ground however with cliffs, rocks and groynes, it seems a very bad idea indeed. In parallel with this zone, EDDC would have given us a launch / land zone which would be clearly signed and other users kept away. I believe that Eric Bridge was shown this proposal some time last summer and fortunately for us all,raised some serious objections based on safety.
EDDC and the Harbour Authority took on-board these issues and re-designed their scheme. A new proposal was raised. In this second scheme, we would get a launch / land zone in the area we currently use. This was great news. The bad news was to come from the Harbour Authority: to keep traffic out of the channel, an area would be marked where we would be allowed to cross the main channel. That was to be the only place where we were permitted in the channel and then only to cross it. This was where we could see a problem.
The problem with this zone was that it would be about the width of the launching area (let's say 200M wide). It would be marked by two buoys, one to the SE and one to the NW of the launch area (hopefully you can picture this). The question then is how the average rider can possibly make there way through this gate and across the channel when the wind blows from the South through South West. OK, Steph could do it on her race board but what about us mere mortals? The effect of this zone would have been to make kite-surfing pretty much impossible in any wind other than SE or http://www.exe-kiteboarders.co.uk/code-of-conduct/NW. At a recent meeting, we raised this with the authorities (EDDC and Exeter Harbour Authority).
I'm glad to say that both authority's representatives were very reasonable and constructive about our objections. They are concerned about safety and would prefer not to have an outright ban on the sport (though they clearly reserve that as an option). After some discussion with a number of different ideas being proposed by both kiters and authorities, we came to what I hope is a workable compromise.
The proposal (and this is not by any means finalised yet) is that a zone be created on the beach (where we currently launch) which will be designated for kite-surfers only. New signs will be http://www.exe-kiteboarders.co.uk/code-of-conduct/erected to this effect and will include information about the preferred sailing zones. The only restrictions above and beyond our code of conduct (http://www.exe-kiteboarders.co.uk/code-of-conduct/) which will be introduced are:
1) Kites may only be launched / landed in the marked zone
2) Kite-surfers must be members of Exe Kite-boarders and conform to the code of conduct
3) Kite-surfers will have to display proof of membership (e.g. a harness tag)
If you are still reading, congratulations, this is the important bit.
It's the second bit which is going to effect us all. Joining Exe Kiteboarders is easy, it will cost you just a fiver on top of your BKSA membership. Anyone turning up at the beach will be able to go to one of the local kite shops and join (details to be worked out).
The real issues lies in conforming to the code of conduct. Most of this code is stuff you already know (or should). The code will probably be modified to emphasise requirements about keeping clear of vessels in the channel and most importantly, not overcrowding the channel adjacent to the launch area. The modifications to the code of conduct is being worked on at the moment, the aim being to produce a sensible set of guidelines which will keep the authorities happy by imposing sensible and workable restriction on ourselves.
So how will this be enforced, will some Exe Kiteboarder Storm Troopers patrol the beach? Well, actually, no! Exe Kiteboarders is you, the members (or soon to be members). It has no paid officials and those of us who have been involved in these discussions want to go out on the water, just like you!
So, this is where you come in! The Harbour Authority will be monitoring the behaviour of kite-surfers on the sea-front over the coming year (we will meet regularly with them). To prevent a ban, we as individuals need to carefully conform to the code. In addition, if someone is breaking the code we need to have a quiet word with them. Should a quiet word fail then we as a group (whoever is on the beach that day) will have to make it very clear to the individual just what effect their actions will have.
It's this last idea that we and the Harbour Authority hope will work. If we can somehow communicate to everyone just how important it is to keep the channel clear, hopefully, we can make the threat of a ban go away once more.
What some of you may not be aware of is that in the background, there have been serious discussions about the future of Kite surfing on the sea-front. Very few if any of us were aware that restrictions on kite surfing were very nearly imposed last year without any discussion! Fortunately for our sport, lines of communication have now been opened and a sensible debate is in progress.
There are two parties who have problems with kite-surfing on the sea-front. The first is EDDC who own and managed the beach. There have been several incidents over the last few years in which kites have posed a very serious risk to other beach users. I imagine many of you have witnessed such incidents, or at least seen the photo of kite playing volleyball on the Edge forum!
The second party is Exeter Harbour Authority who managed the river Exe and it's mouth. Their responsibility extends roughly to a line between the West end of Dawlish Warren through to Straight Point (at the end of Sandy Bay), which included our entire kite surfing area. Their prime responsibility (as far as kite-surfing is concerned) is to ensure the channel is navigable. Their issues with kites is that a couple of crashed kites could (at least in principle) block the channel. We should also consider that on a busy summer afternoon with a nice SE breeze, there can be 50 or more kites squeezed into the channel, effectively blocking it.
An additional factor in the mix is that in the last year or so, the channel has shifted dramatically. It no longer runs parallel to the coast out past Orcombe Point but turns sharply to head out to sea in front of the lifeboat station.
The Harbour Authority looking at this from a navigation perspective saw an opportunity to move kite surfing away from the main channel into a "safer area". Their initial suggestion was that we launch near the Jet ski area, this would give us direct access to water with no traffic. In fairness to the Harbour Authority, if you look at a chart, this makes a great deal of sense. On the ground however with cliffs, rocks and groynes, it seems a very bad idea indeed. In parallel with this zone, EDDC would have given us a launch / land zone which would be clearly signed and other users kept away. I believe that Eric Bridge was shown this proposal some time last summer and fortunately for us all,raised some serious objections based on safety.
EDDC and the Harbour Authority took on-board these issues and re-designed their scheme. A new proposal was raised. In this second scheme, we would get a launch / land zone in the area we currently use. This was great news. The bad news was to come from the Harbour Authority: to keep traffic out of the channel, an area would be marked where we would be allowed to cross the main channel. That was to be the only place where we were permitted in the channel and then only to cross it. This was where we could see a problem.
The problem with this zone was that it would be about the width of the launching area (let's say 200M wide). It would be marked by two buoys, one to the SE and one to the NW of the launch area (hopefully you can picture this). The question then is how the average rider can possibly make there way through this gate and across the channel when the wind blows from the South through South West. OK, Steph could do it on her race board but what about us mere mortals? The effect of this zone would have been to make kite-surfing pretty much impossible in any wind other than SE or http://www.exe-kiteboarders.co.uk/code-of-conduct/NW. At a recent meeting, we raised this with the authorities (EDDC and Exeter Harbour Authority).
I'm glad to say that both authority's representatives were very reasonable and constructive about our objections. They are concerned about safety and would prefer not to have an outright ban on the sport (though they clearly reserve that as an option). After some discussion with a number of different ideas being proposed by both kiters and authorities, we came to what I hope is a workable compromise.
The proposal (and this is not by any means finalised yet) is that a zone be created on the beach (where we currently launch) which will be designated for kite-surfers only. New signs will be http://www.exe-kiteboarders.co.uk/code-of-conduct/erected to this effect and will include information about the preferred sailing zones. The only restrictions above and beyond our code of conduct (http://www.exe-kiteboarders.co.uk/code-of-conduct/) which will be introduced are:
1) Kites may only be launched / landed in the marked zone
2) Kite-surfers must be members of Exe Kite-boarders and conform to the code of conduct
3) Kite-surfers will have to display proof of membership (e.g. a harness tag)
If you are still reading, congratulations, this is the important bit.
It's the second bit which is going to effect us all. Joining Exe Kiteboarders is easy, it will cost you just a fiver on top of your BKSA membership. Anyone turning up at the beach will be able to go to one of the local kite shops and join (details to be worked out).
The real issues lies in conforming to the code of conduct. Most of this code is stuff you already know (or should). The code will probably be modified to emphasise requirements about keeping clear of vessels in the channel and most importantly, not overcrowding the channel adjacent to the launch area. The modifications to the code of conduct is being worked on at the moment, the aim being to produce a sensible set of guidelines which will keep the authorities happy by imposing sensible and workable restriction on ourselves.
So how will this be enforced, will some Exe Kiteboarder Storm Troopers patrol the beach? Well, actually, no! Exe Kiteboarders is you, the members (or soon to be members). It has no paid officials and those of us who have been involved in these discussions want to go out on the water, just like you!
So, this is where you come in! The Harbour Authority will be monitoring the behaviour of kite-surfers on the sea-front over the coming year (we will meet regularly with them). To prevent a ban, we as individuals need to carefully conform to the code. In addition, if someone is breaking the code we need to have a quiet word with them. Should a quiet word fail then we as a group (whoever is on the beach that day) will have to make it very clear to the individual just what effect their actions will have.
It's this last idea that we and the Harbour Authority hope will work. If we can somehow communicate to everyone just how important it is to keep the channel clear, hopefully, we can make the threat of a ban go away once more.