California seeks to regulate kite-boarding

[madworld]

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces ... 180SB1247

SB-1247 Vessels: machinery: mechanically propelled vessel.



“Personal watercraft” means a vessel 13 feet in length or less, propelled by machinery, that is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel, rather than in the conventional manner of sitting or standing inside the vessel. (l) (1) “Machinery” means any sail, rigging, rudder, oar, paddle, or similar device.
(2) Any vessel that uses machinery in its operation is a mechanically propelled vessel.

I interpret this to mean they want CF numbers, on Kayaks, SUP, Windsurf and kite boards. meaning A fee and they also just criminalized kite-boarders into the same regulations of motorized watercraft like jet skies and speedboats.


Everyone please contact your state senator. And also call Senator Ted Gaines District 1 who has sponsored this Legislation.1-916-651-4001

[Osprey1]

Yes this looks like a poorly written law that could have detrimental impacts if enacted and enforced. Let’s all call the state senator listed above

[jakemoore]

Mellow out or you will pay!

[madworld]

https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/N ... 2685e4e75d


By bringing non- motorized recreational water users into the same regulations as motorized vessels, will impact schools, shops, children, teenagers. etc.

[Don Monnot]

You left out some important info. How are "personal watercraft" to be regulated? What do the regulations that pertain to that definition require/restrict?

IMO there should be a major distinction between manual-powered watercraft (kayak, SUP, canoe), wind-powered watercraft (sailboat, windsurfer, kite), and mechanically-powered watercraft (battery-powered, jet- or propeller-driven, etc.) watercraft. Here's an example of why I feel that way:

From my understanding of the on-the-water right-of-way rules, manually powered watercraft (rowers, kayakers, canoeists, etc.) must give way to wind-powered watercraft (sailboats, windsurfers, kiters) essentially regardless of length of watercraft. So the guy rowing his dinghy out to his moored sailboat at 1/2 mph has to give way to the kiter travelling at 30+ mph. Silly rules, but a rowed vessel is a "mechanically powered vessel", and a kiter has a wind-powered vessel. That's why I feel there should be 3 different categories of "personal watercraft", and different rules should pertain to each.

Another silly example: A 25 ft sailboat going 8 mph on port tack is supposed to give way to a kiter travelling 35 mph on starboard tack. Really? So maybe we should split a few more hairs and make up 15 or 20 different categories of watercraft and separate rules for each? Probably not. I tend to favor the "Just play nice with each other" rule myself.

Don

[TomW]

Oh come on.

They are not criminalising kiteboarding!
They want you to have a license that takes 10 minutes to pass. How hard is that if you are already taking hours of lessons and / or spending 1000's of dollars on gear.

I do grant you that it's redundant for 90% of kiteboarders because they have had proper instructions. And it's highly unlikely an un- trained kiteboarder is causing injury to others.

I'm so happy I don't live in the USA anymore. Things are so much simpler over here. No lawyers suing people, no insurance companies charging a fortune for policy to cover for that, authorities assuming the individual is assuming the risk.

[madworld]

You left out some important info. How are "personal watercraft" to be regulated? What do the regulations that pertain to that definition require/restrict?

IMO there should be a major distinction between manual-powered watercraft (kayak, SUP, canoe), wind-powered watercraft (sailboat, windsurfer, kite), and mechanically-powered watercraft (battery-powered, jet- or propeller-driven, etc.) watercraft. Here's an example of why I feel that way:

From my understanding of the on-the-water right-of-way rules, manually powered watercraft (rowers, kayakers, canoeists, etc.) must give way to wind-powered watercraft (sailboats, windsurfers, kiters) essentially regardless of length of watercraft. So the guy rowing his dinghy out to his moored sailboat at 1/2 mph has to give way to the kiter travelling at 30+ mph. Silly rules, but a rowed vessel is a "mechanically powered vessel", and a kiter has a wind-powered vessel. That's why I feel there should be 3 different categories of "personal watercraft", and different rules should pertain to each.

Another silly example: A 25 ft sailboat going 8 mph on port tack is supposed to give way to a kiter travelling 35 mph on starboard tack. Really? So maybe we should split a few more hairs and make up 15 or 20 different categories of watercraft and separate rules for each? Probably not. I tend to favor the "Just play nice with each other" rule myself.

Don

All correct, this is poorly written legislation changing the definition of what a vessel is that would mess up all the other regulations not amended for those situation you mention and many others.

[madworld]

Oh come on.

They are not criminalising kiteboarding!
They want you to have a license that takes 10 minutes to pass. How hard is that if you are already taking hours of lessons and / or spending 1000's of dollars on gear.

I do grant you that it's redundant for 90% of kiteboarders because they have had proper instructions. And it's highly unlikely an un- trained kiteboarder is causing injury to others.

I'm so happy I don't live in the USA anymore. Things are so much simpler over here. No lawyers suing people, no insurance companies charging a fortune for policy to cover for that, authorities assuming the individual is assuming the risk.

Yes they are , your post is so irritating, kite-boarding will fall under all power boat regulation including criminal penalties just like a motorboat.

[TomW]

It will be a misdemeanor if you kite without a licence. Spend 10 minutes and get the licence ( if you are under 20 yrs of age).
That's not criminalising. It means they will require a license.
Your post should be titled " new law will require license to kiteboard"

[FLandOBX]

I agree with TomW. "To criminalize kiteboarding" means that kiteboarding would become a crime. That's not what's happening. What appears to be happening is that certain regulations will now pertain to kiteboarding. But, as Don Monnot said, we don't know (based on this thread) what the regulations say. The definitions are useful, but they don't tell us anything about the regulations. As far as the boater's license requirement, Florida has required boater's licenses for some people for years (depends on age). I have one, and it was simple to get online. Granted I don't need my boater's license to go kiteboarding in Florida, but it's not a difficult license to obtain, and it's good for life.