Hey All

I don't want to put a link to another site on here, but as the title says Belgium has passed a law that limits kiting to 27 knots. The post specifically says kiteboarding.
I'm sure you'll find it if you google it.

John

wow

wow ... speed limits on the water.

Even California is not that bad yet. You can only go 65mph on the hwy in your car but you can go 90mph in the small river that runs along side the hwy if your boat is up to it.

30+ mph can get hairy in the ocean but posting a limit..........................well thats what socialism for you......................wake up America!

WOW. That's ridiculous. I don't know much about kitesurfing, but 27 knots doesn't seem that fast? That's like my cruising speed on an ATB... I suppose there's much less resistance on land than there is on water, but still... at least if you ditch at that speed on water you won't kill yourself... Anyways, stupid law IMHO. Don't they have better, more important things to worry about than regulating kitesurfing?

Quote:

Originally posted by tridude 30+ mph can get hairy in the ocean but posting a limit..........................well thats what socialism for you......................wake up America!

1. Belgum is not the US...so why would we 'wake up'?
2. Belgum is a constitutional monarchy with democratic parliment. Not Socialist.
3. Understand the term "socialism" before throwing it about. It's not the same definition as FauxNews wants you to believe.

(For the record, I hate mixing politics with anything, and I certainly don't want it all over my kites.)

Ehhhh, you know what he's getting at EW. It's just a bogus rule, regardless of how politically correct anyone is.

We have no information as to if it's "bogus" or not. Perhaps there have been fatalities or other serious injuries there that we are not informed about? Hard to know the details of the other side of the planet, no matter how "connected" we are nowadays.

As it stands it's not a "speed limit" it's a "the wind is too dangerous" limit. The law states that you are not to go out when it's OVER 6 on the beaufort scale. That's 31-35MPH winds.

Now, I'm not trying to piss in anybodys cereal, but since I'm not Len10 I don't need to go out in those conditions.

high winds are what small kites are made for!!

Quote:

Originally posted by a user on another forum I understand the fatal accident that seems to have triggered this radical move in part by the government happened when winds suddenly went from 10-12 kts. to 20 to 25 kts.. A mother of four with limited experience was tragically lost in the outcome.

Ruling also seems to state that Beginners must wear a helmet at all times AND a red lycra top! Advanced riders must wear a yellow top. And I thought the Aurora CO regs were crazy....

There is a petition against this ruling to sign up, if you wish.
I have. Also as a sanction against it I will not drink anymore Belgian beer.
see what happens...

not that I owe you an explanation but I was addressing my gov/country only.............as for politics/kites this is the general chat thread..................If you have a problem with me personally then just ignore me, you wont be the first.....................for relaxation, lava lamps and fish are an option for you........................:duh:

When it's 27 kts, I'm kicking back and enjoying a nice Belgian Ale..

Fish are very relaxing and good for the soul.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVT2QrfWoRk

Help me out here. Is this a speed limit for a rider, or a wind speed limit to ride in? How is this measured or enforced?

Bob-

This is not a speed limit, but a limit on how much wind riders can go out in. I didnt exactly read the rules on the site, just all the comments that came with it. The general concern is that if one country does something like this, then the rest might follow. I hope not. Honestly, I dont ride much in winds that strong, but I have, and really enjoyed myself. I'd hate to see that limit placed when a lot of people posses both the skills and the kites to enjoy those conditions...

27 knots is appx. 31 mph. Although I think it could be boosted up to around 32 or 35 knots which would be 36 to 40 mph winds. I really don't think this is that bad of a regulation. Most people will not be flying in winds over 35 mph anyways....except those that either don't know what that type of wind can do - or those that are exceptionally experienced.

Also, without knowing the areas that people are kite surfing out of in Belgium it is difficult to say if it would be safe to do. I know that there are areas here that locals use that are not very user-friendly at all and are very dangerous for kitesurfers to get in and out of. Once out on the open water it isn't bad at all but coming in and heading out from the beach can be very tricky, especially if in high wind. Several people have been seriously injured in the high winds at this one spot and it is not recommended for beginners to use.

I do kind of like the ideas of the colored shirts or vests or whatever. It lets you know right away who is riding around you. If you notice that someone is a beginner or newbie, you will be able to decide how and where you want to ride at. To put this more simply, if you know your buddy is riding with you and you are very familiar with how he rides, you have no problem riding right along side of them either upwind or down wind or even following closer than you normally would. If you see another rider, you want to head over and give a thumbs up or just cruise around with them. Now with the different colored shirts, if you do see another rider and realize that his/her shirt is colored as a beginner, you will know not to cruise up that close and to give the person plenty of room....or even to help watch out for that person should they get into some trouble or need assistance. Heck...if I am in my zone I may put on that beginners colored shirt just so I can have a little more room for myself. Kind of a "stay away, I am jamming to my tunes in my own little world".

Restrictions are not always a bad thing. Just think what would happen if we eliminated all the restrictions from traffic lights or the rules of right of way on our roads??? ..... I would much rather see some form of control and restriction instead of an OUTRIGHT BAN!!!

Even a kite needs restriction of line to reach its highest level of flight.......

Just my two cents worth....well, maybe a penny.

This is the actual text (in Dutch), article six:

6. Er mag alleen zee gekozen worden bij een windkracht van minder dan 7 beaufort, of bij een windsnelheid tot maximum 13,9 meter per seconde.
De windsnelheid zal raadpleegbaar zijn op grond van een objectief gevalideerd windmeetnetsysteem.
Dit windmeetnetsysteem is momenteel in ontwikkeling.

It says:
You can only go out on the sea at a wind force of less then 7 beaufort, or a wind speed of maximum 13.9 meters per second
The wind speed can be found out from an objective, validated wind measuring system
This system is currently being developped


The first article of the text states that this text applies to kitesurfers, windsurfers, powerkiters and any related surfing activities.

Article 9 states that kiters need to wear a isothermic suit, that has a waterproof storage with 2 emergency flares... So much for kiting in shorts

Where's the site? I can use Google translate.

...and if a system works out to be effective, it may enable the re-opening of banned riding spots.

It was effective in the in-line skating community; when we could demonstrate that safety measures worked in other communities, municipalities would often back-off on outright bans.

No clue, i got the text mailed in a newsletter from Flyboarder.be. I can't find the text on their site either, but google came up with a dutch forum that posted it. Try here.

I doubt Google translate will give a good result though, this is legal text so it uses complicated sentences.

2 weeks ago was out in 35kts w/ gusts to 40.... We were taking turns on a 6m and a 4m... What a blast!!! The 4m is a bit twitchy.... I was out on my 8 when the wind picked up but luckily got to shore, my buddy grabbed my harness to hold me on the ground while landing the kite.....

Can't wait till the next big blow comes thru.................

Quote:

Originally posted by manitoulinkiter1 Hey All I don't want to put a link to another site on here, but as the title says Belgium has passed a law that limits kiting to 27 knots. The post specifically says kiteboarding. I'm sure you'll find it if you google it. John

?:puzzled: Remember when you buggied or kite-boarded without a care, when you wanted,where you wanted, how you wanted or just simply because you wanted to:P!
No politics,speed limits,restrictions, or for that matter even=
CLOTHING required!:moon:
NO:puzzled:Me neither No worries as we will run out of gas soon then buggying & wind power won't look so bad of course by then the only critters left will be the #@%$#!roaches
OK back to didgeridoo practice नमस्ते namaste yall! ☯☮

From a Belgium news site that is mentioned in the forum that Pulsar linked to:

The coastal towns are tightening the rules for kite surfers. This is a water sport where surfers can attach to a kite. In recent years, a couple killed when they were swept away by strong winds and crashed into smithereens

The original government release:
http://www.kiter.be/wp-content/uploads/Kitereglement-1.pdf

And the Google translation to English:
http://snipurl.com/1z8dn4

While the natural reaction might be to rush to the Petition Site and add your signature to the bottom, reading both the news snippet and the release it sounds like the coastal towns of Belgium have been having an ongoing problem that has been prevalent for quite a few years.

I expect that the coastal towns pretty much reached their limit with incidents probably way too similar to some of this:



To be fair I can understand the reasoning of the officials of the coastal towns. Belgium only has 66.5 km of coastline and only a part of that is probably suitable for kiteboarding. There must have been a considerable incidence of screw-ups to engender the cooperation of the mayors of the coastal towns to bring about something like this. It also sounds like there were cases in which the kiteboarders were not only a danger to themselves, but other beachgoers (read "tourist money").

A part of me hopes that the petition has no effect whatsoever.... partly because a lot of signees are not local to Belgium and it's more a sign of kite enthusiast "solidarity" and partly because it would only be a temporary fix. If the petition were to have any effect, it would probably just be reversed the next time there was an incident.

Instead I hope there is some way for the Belgium kiteboarders to organize themselves and open a dialog with the town officials where they are given the opportunity to "police" themselves. It seems obvious that until something like that happens the view in the government is that "if you can't police yourselfs, we well."

That's my 2 cents for whatever it's worth.

ATB,
Sam

i find it weird that this ruling goes more towards kitesurfer than beach kiting.

i've been to De Panne and I probably would never kitesurf there as my first choice.

Yves owns the Beachshop in Beligum and his shop is more dedicated to land kite sports.

at least kite buggying is safe, since their land sailing center probably helps keep the access open. the rules about wearing vest / colour is governed by all euro countries. we (NAPKA) should also consider working more with the Blokarts / Land-sailors.

At first this started to sound like a typical group attacking the sport. After reading a little about this, I can see their need for such a system. I'm on the fence with e limit because there are many who have the skill set to fly in those winds. The clothing....I don't really like. Helmets would be alright to regulate, the colors and wetsuit (assuming that's what an isometric suit is) not that great. If I wanna freeze in the water, that , should be my right. Again though, this would be way better than a total ban in the area.

Rubbish - let them get a toe in the door regulating helmets and clothing and pretty soon you got fees, taxes and bureaucratic sticky fingers in our pockets. When they start moaning about pulling the same #@%$#! on ski-fields (seriously, why do people take their retarded brats up to the double black diamond runs?!?!) then I might consider that they're doing it as something other than knee-jerk reacting to the tragic deaths they've had.

I will not be going to Belgium or any other place restricting/ banning kiting. It's a big world and the Belgian tourism department needs to keep that in mind! I'm really big on people using common sense and knowing their limits, and really against regulation. Self regulation being the lesser of 2 evils.

I live on the Atlantic ocean and look forward every year to our big wave and wind season. Some of the best sessions of my life were in big conditions (12ft. faces and +30kts.). Big wind creates those big wave sessions and banning kiting over 27kts. basically eliminates the best waveriding sessions. I live for those moments!!!

Beginners should be taught the dangers of changing weather systems (bringing change in wind strength/ direction/ etc.) and take lessons. This is one of the reasons I took the IKO instructors course- to learn. Strong wind is ...... not the biggest danger. Sounds like the local Belgian riders could have been a bit more organized to prevent 3rd party regulation. They're paying for it now! Its a shame because regulation is in total and complete contrast to the feeling of freedom inherent to kite flying.

@ flying G Zeus.
Very good points. I agree with you on all points. I only get out in 30+ once or twice a year hear in Ontario, but it is the most exiting kiting when care is taken.
I also agree education and common sense go a long way.

John

6 billion plus people in the world - I think these days, any company, country or business entity can pretty much afford to not give a toss about how a few individuals feel about their product or service ...