I agree with lostinlondon that the boat idea as an answer to St Kilda's problems is not a solution.
Considering that Botany bay is closer in size to Corio bay, (where using a boat is way more doable) the size and chop in Port Phillip bay, plus shipping, Yacht traffic etc. simply make teaching from boats based anywhere near St Kilda, not feasible.

same as many Coastal spots. eg: Lennox heads, anyone want to try a boat based lesson off shore in 18kts?. or even Torquay (pt Danger)? Just not doable.

It is up to the users of St Kilda to sort this out amongst themselves. They have the current local knowledge. Lets see if KBV can arbitrate a solution.

The planned forum will be face-to-face meeting with all concerned - most likely sometime when the majority can attend and when it doesnt impact on kiting time and on times when the schools need to be available to their students.

So far very few interested parties have notified their interest - if you wish to be invited please PM your real name and your email address so that we can keep ypou informed of the date, time and venue.

kbv said...

The planned forum will be face-to-face meeting with all concerned - most likely sometime when the majority can attend and when it doesnt impact on kiting time and on times when the schools need to be available to their students.

So far very few interested parties have notified their interest - if you wish to be invited please PM your real name and your email address so that we can keep ypou informed of the date, time and venue.

I think you'll find that you'll be lucky to get 20 kiters there and people will end up bitching about it afterwards when they don't get a say in it.

What happened to the mailing list discussion and why was that blown out the water? I thought that was a compromise with the schools not happy about the forum. You can keep it open for a week for people to look over the suggestions which leaves people a lot more flexibility than a meeting which may provide logistic issues for people who may or may not be able to attend.

It sux that its all getting pretty nasty! In my experience kiters have always gotten along pretty well whether they are a familiar face or first time users of a beach. I'm sure on the next good weekend of kiting when most regular riders are down at st kilda we could all get together and talk about a solution. How do you expect to get a result like this? Just think how much we would regret not fixing the problem now if in a couple of years time they start banning kiting on some of our favourite beaches...

This all sounds good. Can schools and others please encourage learners to avoid the area outlined in the attached photo. Is this area within consideration for the upcoming discussion?

If you classify yourself as anything other than advanced, then stay out of the kiddy pool... especially on a busy day. It's the same as Woodies offshore or Safety Bay's pond; fall into the pattern, do your tricks in the primo area then get back out.

If your not tricking and just mowing the lawn then it's best to just stay away.

So when a SUPER advanced rider like myself rocks up do guys like you koma have to stay out of my way ?

Learn to share ya selfish sods - it is a suburban beach and as such will always be crowded, if you want miles to yourself go for a drive !

The problems it seems is that the areas in the Bays and nearby coast which allow wind and swell (waves) but where chop is restricted are few and far between. St Kilda Pier offers one of those rare spots. I'm not sure Parks Vic, RMYS or others fully appreciate this. The view seems to be that there is plenty of water in the Bay so go there. The argument that the sailing cadets are being harassed by kiters doesn't hold much water as this area is generally utilised when the wind is in the 20-30kn range which is way beyond what the cadets are able to sail in. Crashing into moored yachts of course doesn't help our argument.

loverboy said...

So when a SUPER advanced rider like myself rocks up do guys like you koma have to stay out of my way ?

Learn to share ya selfish sods - it is a suburban beach and as such will always be crowded, if you want miles to yourself go for a drive !

Settle down loverboy.
My comments weren't indicative of my skill level. I'm happy to play around in the kiddy pool when conditions are right and there isn't much of a crowd, but on a busy day i'd much rather just head out into open water and have some room to breathe.

Confirmation of the meeting of St Kilda kiters and the Kiting Schools:
9am, Sunday morning (7th Feb) - West Beach Pavilion

If you wish to contribute in a constructive manner and hear the schools out as well please join us...
This is not restricted to KBV members - all welcome.

Thanks for everyone that attended this morning and gave feedback. KBV will be posting on www.kbv.org.au the minutes and the first step, that being the buoy in the water that lessons stay downwind of will be implemented this morning and we will take care of this daily in any S winds.

If anything spoken of in the meeting is coming up or not being followed please let the school managers know directly on the day so we can be aware of get on top of any issues you as kiters might be having.


As we as schools generally won't partake in seabreeze sessions please feel free to follow the advice on KBV website which includes direct emails to the schools.

Looking forward to some good winds this arvo and enjoying the great atmosphere St Kilda Beach offers!

On 7th February, Sunday morning, at 9am only the most dedicated are up and about except when it comes to Kiteboarding. Amongst the early breakfast groups at the St Kilda West Beach Pavilion were a group with a mission: discuss how to address the issue of Kiter congestion at West Beach.

Present at the meeting were all three St Kilda kiting schools, Kiteboard Victoria [KBV] and twelve other interested Kiters who wanted to contribute to the discussion.

The schools described the "circular mode" they all use. This involves a circulation of students downwind in the water and upwind along the beach (see diagram below). Kiters suggested how this could be retained while addressing some of the congestion concerns. The outcome was agreement by the schools to trial the following:

***The schools will continue to use the circulation mode but an access corridor upwind of the students (between the kiddies pool and student practice area will allow Kiters (i.e. non-students) to launch upwind of students. The corridor is roughly designated as the area upwind of a line from the West Beach pavilion decking to a bouy moored at the end of the corridor.

*** When prevailing winds cause the occasional encroachment of circulating students into the corridor, Kiters could join the circulation pattern but would be given launch priority over students.

*** Kiters will also be given clearance to land providing they signaled their intent to instructors who are easily identifiable by their coloured t-shirts. Kiters are requested to refrain from transitions within the student water practice and circulation areas (i.e. to avoid the student areas unless landing).

*** The student water practice area (kite launch/relaunch) would be moved to the downwind end of the circulation pattern thus relieving some of the congestion at the upwind end.

*** An area (roughly the quarter of the beach nearest the kiddies pool (also allowing for the two beach volleyball court areas, see diagram) will be used only for rigging and storing kites. Lines are to be wound in when the kites are not being rigged or launched.

*** The rest of the beach (downwind of the rigging area) will be used for student beach-practice so as to avoid students crashing kites onto kites being rigged or stored.

The schools agreed that they would continue to educate students on the general kiting rules (kite-high, clearance, right of way, etc) as well as general beach/water etiquette and awareness of other beach and water users.



A final request from the schools is that any Kiters who notice instructors not adhering to the agreed trial, or who experience any difficulty with the arrangement, should immediately contact the relevant school to discuss the matter. If this is not possible at the time then the schools welcome your email communication to any of the following addresses:

GoKiting: info@gokite.com.au

Kite Republic: info@kiterepublic.com.au

Melbourne Kiteboarding Academy: info@melbournekiteboarding.com

Kiters are also requested to forward this information or mention it to other Kiters who may be new to the beach or be unaware of the agreed arrangement. This information will be posted on the KBV site and Seabreeze. If possible we will also try to get this information posted at the beach.

We thank all who took the time to contribute.

I couldn't attend but it sounds positive. Well done to KBV for organising the meeting.

ericmb said...

To me looking at that picture it looks like the schools now "own" the beach and others have to carefully thread between them and only access via one small path. That is something I will have problems with. Thank god its still a free world.

In traffic when learning to drive a car a school car has no more right of road
than others. Something to think of?

Agreed, but before this they unofficially used all of it so this is at least better because we have a launch corridor without learners divebombing us while we are trying to get out.

In principle, as a kiteboarder, all you need is:

a) a corridor to get to the water
b) a place to rig your lines
c) access to the kiddies pond (if you kite there)

In this case, you get all of the above safely (you're are upwind of the beginners)

ericmb said...

To me looking at that picture it looks like the schools now "own" the beach and others have to carefully thread between them and only access via one small path. That is something I will have problems with. Thank god its still a free world.

In traffic when learning to drive a car a school car has no more right of road
than others. Something to think of?

I suggest the analogy is closer to a swimming pool than to the road - as a beginner you want the shallows - as an experienced swimmer you will be out in the deeper and less crowded water - same here... And what experienced kiter wants more beach space than he needs to rig and launch.

As for "owning" the beach - let 'em have it - the more of the beach they use the more they have to contend with other beach-goers, dogs and swimmers.

This way, as Saffer points out, at least we do have the corridor and right of way - and agreement that the most congestion-causing activity will be moved downwind - that is a huge step forward...