lostinlondon said...
In Port Phillip bay the beaches and near shore waters are all controlled by Parks Victoria. Parks Victoria have designated watersports beaches ie. St Kilda, Brighton Kitebeach, Hampton. Its the same regs from council to council because Parks Vic overrides them all.
The main purpose of the watersports beaches is to give you an access corridor to the bay - so I tend to use the beach as a launch/land point and keep myself a ways out - I prefer to be out of the crowds anyway. But, you can stay in the watersports zone.
The beaches are there for our use so I don't feel bad suggesting to people swimming at St Kilda kitebeach that it would be a lot safer for them to move past the pier, for their own safety. (I have even had my Mum asked to move for her safety when she was trying to take some photos of me.) Vice versa when a kiter is somewhere they shouldn't be, I would expect that people should be able to inform them of this info.
If you go down to St Kilda there is a sign at the foot of the steps from Beaconsfield Parade to the beach - it is a Parks Vic sign. If you go to Brighton a similar sign exists.
That said, I do understand there has been a bit of grief between Port Melbourne SLSC and some kiters that have been riding up that way, so its not all perfect!
Ultimately implementation of a good system is a good start but it isn't the silver bullet - guys who know the rules have to communicate them to those who don't. There are a lots of kiters who have extensive backgrounds in watersports through sailing, windsurfing and power boating, and those who kitesurfing is only their first exposure to watersports. The guys with experience should be sharing it in a friendly fashion, but the inexperienced guys need to accept their advice without taking it personally either!
Unfortunately I don't think we can ask swimmers to move in St Kilda. Check the Victoria forum section and you'll see we had a complaint to the KBV from a swimmer who was asked to move.
