HANG TIME No.5, The newsletter of the Maui Kiteboarding Association.

HANG TIME

The Newsletter of the Maui Kiteboarding Association
"To promote safe and responsible kiteboarding and protect the access of kiteboarders to public beaches and waters."

IKO COURSE, MAY 2003 IKO Instructor Trainer Darren Marshall from Australia came to Maui to run a five day IKO instructor certification course. Darren is one of only eleven people worldwide qualified to run the course. Seven candidates undertook the intensive training. All were very impressed with the quality of the program and Darren's professional manner. Many of the candidates were already active instructors on Maui prior to the course but lacked the IKO certification. The IKO certification allows instructors to be recognized under the HKA's guidelines for teaching on Maui. We would like to thank the Maui County Life Guards for their assistance with the Rescue Boat operation part of the course. Three lifeguards were trained along with the candidates, in kiteboard rescue techniques using a jet ski. We would also like to thank The Kanaha canoe club for the use of the Hale. Darren said that he would be happy to come back to do another course when we have enough candidates. We have started taking names for the next course and will advise when it is to be scheduled.

ONLINE ELECTIONS 2003 The Online Elections for MKA officers was conducted via the website with members and non-members invited to nominate and elect officers in the MKA. Two other issues were also voted on, whether to incorporate the MKA and whether to persist with obtaining an FAA waiver. During the election, Jim and Rhonda Fosbinder declined their nominations. Kimo Harlacher although having campaigned hard for the position of president, decided to disassociate himself from the association for (legal?) reasons. The results were David Dorn, president. Dave Terry, Vice President. Secretary = Kathleen Forceville and Treasurer = Kevin Wolfe. Stay unincorporated = Yes. Push for FAA Waiver = Yes.

Meeting May 17, 2003 After several meetings and discussions with individuals since the may 7, meeting, MKA president met with several kiteboarding community members to discuss a plan to "unify" the two associations. There is a sense of urgency in combining the voice of the associations because of changes to county policy and FAA waiver issues. There were two major strategies tabled, firstly to Merge the two associations, and secondly to dissolve the MKA and transfer the name and website to the HKA. Several benefits of merging the two memberships were highlighted. The benefits of the HKA would be extended to all MKA members including coverage under the HKA waiver, Voting rights in the HKA. It was proposed that the HKA would remain the primary entity because it already had "Agreements" with the county and the FAA Waiver. The HKA reps said the HKA may assume the MKA name at a later time in order to differentiate itself from the Oahu HKA for reasons of liability. The signing of any agreements was postponed until input was sought from other MKA officers. .

Meeting May 7, 2003 Members were invited to attend a meeting of the MKA and HKA representatives, to discuss the current state of the MKA and creating unity amongst the MKA and HKA for a unified voice. The meeting was held at 8:30 am at the Hawaiian Ocean Sports store in Kahului. About fifteen people attended from the kiteboarding community. Attendance would have been higher if not for the short notice. Apologies from Alan & Pattie Cadiz and Lenny Cappe who could not make it. After a presentation of the history and current state of the MKA by Pres. David Dorn. He went on to answer questions about the assoc, he stated that the MKA was an unincorporated association at the present time and would probably have to incorporate to acquire its own FAA waiver. MKA vice pres Dave Terry commented that the two associations should spend their energies working together to accomplish common goals. Martin Kirk of the HKA said that although the MKA and HKA tried unsuccessfully to merge in the past, he felt we had a new opportunity to do so now. Pete Siracusa said that there was little use incorporating the MKA at this time because the HKA was already an incorporated entity. There were four different opinions and suggestions on what to do with the MKA association. Kimo said we should incorporate the MKA and make it the Maui chapter. Pete said that we should dissolve the MKA, and not incorporate. Martin said we should bring the HKA membership into the MKA and make the MKA the Maui Association separate from the HKA. David said that we currently have two associations agreeing to work together. We also discussed the benefits of cooperation, and the disadvantages of infighting. David Dorn said that he would be open to changes in the MKA that would benefit the community if it remained democratic. David said that he would like to have a voice in the HKA. We agreed to have another meeting in about a month to deicide the best way to proceed. David agreed to post the notice of the next meeting on the MKA website and other relevant posts to the newsletter.

Online Voting The online voting is open to all members and supporters of the MKA. The results will be tallied after May 31, 2003. a print out of every online vote will be kept on file for verification. We hope for a response of the majority of the membership. Votes containing new candidates names, will be considered a nomination and a vote. We have received several good suggestions from the members that have been included in the voting process, and your input is welcome.

Kiteboarding Instructor Course The MKA has invited the IKO instructor trainer's to run an Instructor training course in May. We already have Six confirmed candidates booked and we still have room for two more. If you want to participate, send us an email or letter ASAP. The course is May 26 to May 30, 2003. The course runs for five days, and costs $550. Candidates must have a high level riding ability and First aid training. Training equipment for the course is being supplied by Action Sports Maui, and powerboat rescue training craft is being supplied by the Maui Sailing Center.

"MKA Online Voting 2003" Please follow the link to the MKA Voting page and vote for MKA Association Officers. For a list of existing officers, go to the Members page. Also vote if you think the MKA should remain unincorporated or incorporate. and vote whether the MKA should push ahead to obtain its own FAA waiver. Please read the MKA webpages and Newsletters. Then vote responsibly. Please go to the Maui Kiteboarding Association Online Voting page.

"Signing the Petition" There is a petition going around, in support of the "Sand Dune restoration and Native plant regeneration" at Kanaha. This refers to volunteer work done in the beach, park and coastal areas that we kiteboarders use. FYI, the areas in question have been salvaged and maintained by the efforts of these volunteers and if not for them, the areas would be a tangle of spikey weeds, Kiawe thorns, trash and vermin. The work goes largely unrecognized in spite of the thousands of man-hours that are put into the area. I would like to say thanks to John "Mike" Perry in particular, who spends an average of two hundred hours a month working in the area. Mr. Perry received the County's "Volunteer of the Year" Award for 2002. Thankyou to the many other unsung heroes who do work in the area. Unfortunately, work has been stopped in the area, because of one complaint to the parks department. Somehow certain individuals have enough political influence to make this happen. Signing petitions, and writing to the Parks dept in support of the volunteer work at Kanaha could assist these volunteers to get back to work. Petitions are available at Hawaiian Island Surf & Sport, and Action Sports Maui, and HKA.

"Contributions to Newsletter" Means written contributions and photos on the subject of safety or access etc. These will be added to the newsletter. Contributions must be signed and preferably in a .txt format.

April 6, 2003- Notice of Meeting A meeting of the members of the MKA will be called in the next few weeks. Date to be advised. A vote to Incorporate and a vote for elections of officers may be held. Take the time to read up on the MKA history and familiarize yourselves with the Maui kiteboarding issues. Your vote and your input will make a difference. The MKA may fall into the wrong hands if members and supporters such as yourselves do not take affirmative action and vote responsibly. Questions and suggestions can be directed to MKA pres David Dorn (808) 205-0663.

Response to HKA email Here is the response to the HKA email.

----- Original Message -----
From: David Dorn

To: Hawaii Kiteboarding Association

Sent: April 06, 2003 2:18 PM

Subject: Re: Rick Lof/ban on northshore kiteboarding

Dear Martin Kirk/HKA,

In reference to your comments at yesterday's meeting and the attached email. I believe that the best solution for the problem of people going direct to the FAA is for you to keep us informed. Can we please have the details of meetings, discussions and progress you are making with the FAA. As you know it is very difficult to contact the FAA and can be very frustrating trying to get information from them. Equally frustrating is the fact that you have all these meetings with the FAA and we haven't been included or informed about them. You have told the school owners many times to "get their own waiver", and "not to take no for an answer", just as you did when getting your waiver. So it is understandable that several persons have "gone direct" to the FAA.

Now you are saying:(quote from your email)

"Some members and non members, who have very recently developed an interest in the FAA situation, believe they are helping out by contacting FAA to get changes made to the waiver and are actually hurting our cause and this needs to stop."

When talking to the FAA they usually refer enquiries back to you anyway. This is the duty you willingly undertook by being the "responsible person" on the waiver. Please understand that you are our point of contact with the FAA in this matter. I'm sure all commercial operators and association members are very interested in what's going on. Most of whom are willing to participate in the waiver process with you. This information affects us all. Please share with us what information you have, especially the FAA's present position on issuing waivers to individual schools. We support unity among kiteboarders, but we all definitely need this information to function normally.

Aloha

David Dorn

April 6, 2003- Email from HKA Here is the email sent by the HKA to its members today. It makes interesting reading.. and has some good points too.

----- Original Message -----
From: Hawaii Kiteboarding Association

To: martin kirk

Sent: April 06, 2003 7:22 AM

Subject: Spam Alert: Rick Lof/ban on northshore kiteboarding

Mahalo to all who attended the HKA cookout in memory of Rick Lof, who was murdered one year ago Saturday while visiting his family in Canada. We especially appreciate Rick's mom, Annette, and Rick's brother, Jim, and sisters, Nancy and Carla, attending. Rick's father couldn't make it but is planning to come out with Mrs. Lof when she returns in January. Rick's mom brought a photo album of Rick and was amazing to see the photo of the palm we planted at Kite Beach in memory of Rick one year ago and how much it has grown. Thanks to all who have watered it and thought of Rick. His family was very moved also to see the turn out for Rick and to see where Rick spent much of the last two years of his life playing and enjoying life.

The discussion of keeping Rick's memory alive at Kite Beach led to a discussion of the serious situation we currently find ourselves in with respect to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Maui County. Up until last week, Hawaii Kiteboarding Association, FAA, and Maui County were under a threat of a lawsuit. The threat has been removed but was costly to HKA, both financially and politically. HKA has been advised by both FAA and Maui County that we are on thin ice. FAA officials flew over to Maui this past Monday to discuss the waiver and how we intend to maintain it. We must continue to self-police and keep riders away from the end of the runway in Sprecks. If you don't know where the area of concern is please contact me and I'll show you. We must also show unity. Some members and non members, who have very recently developed an interest in the FAA situation, believe they are helping out by contacting FAA to get changes made to the waiver and are actually hurting our cause and this needs to stop. FAA has always been professional and straight with HKA and this is what makes working with this agency easy...we know what to expect. FAA has indicated that if certain stipulations are not followed or maintained, the waiver will become invalid. FAA officials also stated in no uncertain terms that if the waiver becomes invalid, they will enforce the regulations that pertain to our sport, resulting in a ban of the sport. For those of you who are new to Maui and to the sport and are unfamiliar with the history of kiteboarding on Maui's northshore, FAA enforced existing regulations in 1999 and this shut the sport down for one and half months. For the next two and a half years FAA "looked the other way" as did Maui County, while HKA pursued a waiver to these regulations and until FAA issued a waiver to regulations in March 2002 (the waiver is good only for two years). FAA indicated this will not be the case this time. If the waiver becomes invalid they "will not look the other way" and this policy will affect recreational and commercial kiteboarding on the entire northshore. Fines for kiteboarding without the waiver are $1100 per incident. Let's do whatever it takes to keep it. What do you say?!!

Would like to encourage those of you receiving this email to become more proactive in the HKA and encourage your friends and sponsors to also become proactive. Actions can be manifested in many ways....joining HKA Maui(individual membership is $25, business dues are $100), participating in beach cleanups (next one scheduled is May 3), self-policing the areas of FAA concern (check out HKA Maui brochure). If you would like to join, please send dues to HKA Maui, PO Box 685, Paia, HI 96779 and make check out to HKA Maui. If you are off island and would like to receive an HKA safety guidelines brochure please include an address with your dues.

Mahalo,

Martin Kirk

HKA Maui President

Robert's Stack Our buddy Robert Novosleci is making the most of the light easterly trades on April, 3 2003 at Kite Beach. Robert stacked his 12 and 14 meter Cabrinahs to give him a boost of power. Robert is an old hand at "Stacking" having taught and demonstrated power-kite flying on land for over ten years. Robert's previous land kiting stacks have included as many as 50 (that's right FIFTY) kites at once!!. The photo was taken by Motoyo Yamada.

Maui Kiteboarding Beaches We have added some pictures and descriptions of some popular kiteboarding beaches on Maui to the MKA Maps page. Check it out and send us some more pics and info and we will add it too.

MKA re-considers "Incorporation" The MKA is seeking advice on the pros and cons of incorporation at this time, primarily for the purposes of obtaining an FAA waiver of its own. The obvious disadvantages would be greater legal liability, and the expense. Another association was recently under threat of a lawsuit, so we are being very cautious about weighing the benefits with the risks..

Turning "Trash into Treasure" Do you know what or where "NASKA" is? NASKA stands for Naval Air Station Kahului. Used by the military in the 1940's later became the Kahului Airport. The locals now refer to the beach at the western end of Kanaha Beach as Naska. In recent years the area had become neglected and was an unofficial trash dump. When kiteboarders rediscovered this area in 1998 they began to use Naska as a launch area. Kiteboarders started clearing trash from the area. After several large clean up campaigns and thousands of man hours they eventually turned the eyesore into a fully restored beach site. Naska that is now one of the Jewels of the north shore. The site has become a tourist attraction and favorite launch area for many Maui kiteboarders. To read more about this Trash-transformation, go to the MKA History page.

What's in a Name? One of our "members" has had the foresight to register the MKA as a business Name. The member has not directly informed us of this fact or made his intentions clear, but we have heard from other sources that he is "wanting to help us", and will sign over the name when we are ready. So on behalf of all the other MKA members, we'd just like to say, thanks a lot!! you are a great help! (this kinda reminds me of the guy who registered the MKA.org domain) People are funny aren't they?

FAA Update The MKA & Martin are working with the FAA to obtain a better waiver for kiteboarding in the "airport zone". The MKA supports his considerable efforts on behalf of all kiteboarders on Maui. Good luck Martin.

Northsea Kiteboarding Championship Please find included the information about the first OPEN Northsea Kiteboarding Championship. This event will take place from 1 – 4th of May 2003 in Duinbergen, Belgium. For any further information www.northsea.kiteboarding.be/ Or contact Robby at, northsea@kiteboarding.be

April 5 The HKA is having a cookout and meeting at Kanaha on April 5, 2003. Association issues will be discussed and MKA president will be there too. We suggest any kiteboarders interested in the protection and promotion of our sport should attend this and other meetings to stay abreast of continuing developments that affect us all. Rick Lof’s family will be attending the cookout so please be sure to pay your respects while you're there.

The MKA would like to thank its financial members for their support. Click here for the "MKA Members List".

For more information on the sport of kitesurfing Click here, "Kiteboarding Info Page".

Written contributions to the News letter can be sent to, "Hang-time written Contributions"

Click here for more MKA info, "Hang Time No.6 (Current)" "Hang Time No.5 " "Hang Time No.4 (Archive)"
"Hang Time No.3 (Archive)" "Hang Time No.2 (Archive)" "Hang Time No.1 (Archive)"