Kiteboarding on Sailbay- Ok or Not?

[Jeffrey Hatfield]

For those of you who haven't met me I am a Kiteboarder who works for the City of San Diego as a Lifeguard. I am happy to report that there were very few, if any, kiteboarder involved incidents this summer season in the San Diego City limits. Which is a good thing because the sport is growing so fast that our water usage areas have become more and more crowded. Anytime there is an accident of any kind, or a complaint there is some type of an investigation as to how things could be changed to make our waters more safe. So, the less incidents we kiteboarders are involved in the better, because that means we are operating safely as a user group therefore avoiding more regulations, and/or being shut down all together.

Unfortunately there was one complaint that I know of from a sailor on Sail Bay stating... "that a kiter cut him off and they almost got in an accident"... " and isn't that sport to dangerous to be doing on a crowded sail bay day anyways?" Well, the sailor must of had some pull because it caused a knee jerk reaction of the on duty Harbor Supervisor to shut down kiteboarding activity on Sailbay at Riviera Shores. For the past few months on duty lifeguards patrolling Mission Bay were told by their supervisors that if they see kiteboarders on Sailbay to shut them down. That the sport is to dangerous because when the kiteboarders get lifted into the air, they have no control, and then when they fall all those lines in the water create a navigational hazard. Therefore it is illegal because it is reckless and negligent operation of a vessel, (which is the same law used if a jetski catches air and looses control because they are out of the water they have no steering.) If the kitboarders don't shut down when asked to do so then it is refussal to comply with a peace officer.

I thought at the time that this one incident with the sailor was a rare occasion. Maybe it was a really busy day and the kiteboarder had a bad attitude when approached or something like that, but that was not the case. I kept waiting week after week for things to cool down, because most of the time incidents like this one come up and it's back to business as normal later, with everyone using the water and no one fighting over usage. Much like Tourmo and the battle between surfers that comes up every once in a while. The problem was it wasn't going away easily and now this new rule that someone made up was becoming a reality. It appeared as though we were going to possibly loose one more kiting spot here in SD.

Finally after much conversation, I am stoked to hear today that upper management in the Lifeguard Service decided that kiteboarding is still ok on Sailbay, but not on days which are super impacted by sailors. So, that's where it stands now. It is legal but we need to be careful not to loose another spot.

The interesting thing to note about this story is that a few kiteboarders were told it was illegal on Sailbay. After that decisions were being made for our user group by individuals that don't even kiteboard! I feel the only way to protect spots like this here in SD is to reform the association we once had. When issues like this arise we, kiteboarders should be on the forefront of keeping spots safe and making changes that will benefit our user group. That is how surfers, sailors, kayakers, rowers...etc protect their interests here in the city. By not being organized as one unit, if any one of these water use associations wanted to shut us down, it wouldn't be to difficult because they already have an organized group of people to represent there better interests. I consider this case this summer at Sail Bay a warning of what could come. I am open to all suggestions, I just want to see preservation of our current sailing areas we enjoy.

Jeff

[Marko]

Hi,

I can't agree more the kiteboarding association needs to be active again.

good thing we are still ok to ride sailbay, it is great spot on certain days.

Thanks

marko

[Jeffrey Hatfield]

Hey another interesting thing I heard today, was that after Labor day weekend the lifeguards at the Silver Strand that work for the state are getting laid off. I know this to be fact because one of them is a friend of mine. He mentioned that because of the reduced staff in the area it has been discussed to shut the area down to all kiteboarding activity for now. I'm not sure how true this part is. I will do some research and see what I can find out. At the very least we should be contacting our representatives and letting them know it is a real bad idea to cut the lifeguards from the Silver Strand State Beach because as soon as they do someone will die down there. Let you know when I know more.
Jeff

[Marko]

sorry this makes 0 sense, thesilver strand kiteboarding area is used by nobody but us,
and all I see the lifeguards do is drive by every once in a while and check out that everything is going smooth which it is.

Cutting the lifeguards in a sad story.

Thanks

Marko

[Brian Schwarz]

Interesting... I didn't know there was that much shit going on at sail bay (besides Marko's incident). It's too bad that they can pass rules without asking the people that are being directly effected. I don't think it is necessary to start an association based on past experiences. When they were threatening to close down the Strand we called a meeting, posted it on Ikitesurf and had a bunch of people show up and speak with the lifeguards. Everything went fine and the Strand continues to be open. I think we could do the same thing again if anything like that happens again. I understand that this isn't the proactive approach, but I've also seen the proactive approach cause more harm than it helps. (however if everyone decides it's in the best interest to reform an association I wouldn't be apposed) From what I have been told it is very very hard to ban a sport from a public beach. It is a shame that they are firing all of the lifeguards, if there is anything we can do to help please let me know.

-Brian

Calikites

[Marko]

Hi,

the one thing a association can and will do is present a face and point of contact so if they consider rules they have somebody to talk to.

The thing that is concerning about the 'rules for sail bay' is that nobody even really knew about that there was something going on.

Most of the proactive work has been done by SDKA like 9 years ago and the fundamental rules still make sense and have been agreed apon, I don't think there is much need for proactive activity beside the Hey we are representing the kiters in the area, if there are issues please contact and inform us.

thanks

Marko

[Will]

Ryan Levinson and Jeff from this thread had a few conversations and here is the current stance (stolen from an email thread without permission. Hope you don't mind Ryan!)

"Bottom line- Sail Bay is ok but we have to use our head and respect the LGs. Strand is undergoing changes but we do not yet know what those changes are for certain yet nor can we know their impact on kiting."

If anyone would like further information, please contact Ryan, Jeff or me offline.

Have fun and be safe out there!!! There's a rumor of wind today...