[The rules described in this page may be common knowledge to
kitesurfers but may not be so to other water users. When in
doubt, a kitesurfer should try to avoid other water users at
all cost]
As on land or in the air, there is a need for some basic right-of-way rules that all
water-crafts must observe to avoid collision on the water. There is a need for some
standard kitesurfing rules applicable to all kitesurfers and other water users. Similar to
windsurfing, one can kitesurf on flat water or in wave. There should be 2 sets of rule for
kitesurfing, one set for traditional sailing on flat water and another set for
wave sailing
(they could be contradicting each other).
More and more kiters are sharing limited playing grounds
As a general rule-of- thumb, all traditional sailing and wave sailing rules should be
applicable for kitesurfing. Check http://www.sailing.org/newrules/rulesframes/default.html
for an excellent description of racing rules of sailing.
All right-of-way rules require a water-craft to keep clear of another. The distance to
keep clear is not quite exactly specified; however, the racing rules do specify some
restrictions for the two sailing boats when they are approaching within two hull lengths
of each other. Thus, as a rule of thumb, it's wise to keep a distance of twice the hull
length from the water-craft to be cleared. This is fairly straight forward for all
water-crafts except kitesurfing crafts. For a kitesurfing craft, the kite and the lines
make this much more complicated. We will discuss this "keep clear" requirement
in details after reviewing the common sense, traditional sailing and wave sailing rules.
General Common Sense Rules on the Water
Following are the general common sense rules on the water:
- Avoid collision at all cost, even when you have the right of way.
- Keep clear of less manoeuvrable water-crafts:
- All recreational water-crafts shall keep clear of commercial ships.
- More manoeuvrable motorized water-crafts shall keep clear of all sailing water-crafts.
- [When it seems that a boater is having problem controlling the boat
properly, all other boaters should keep clear (a boat in distress or
directed by an incapable captain should be considered as a less manoeuvrable water-craft)]
Traditional Sailing Rules
There are three main rules to be observed when two sailing water-crafts approaching
each other on the water:
|
Sailing Rules |
- Opposite tack rule: A boat on port tack (left leg going
forward for kitesurfer) shall keep clear
of a boat on starboard tack (right leg going forward for kitesurfer).
- Same tack rule: A boat to windward (upwind) shall keep clear of a boat to leeward
(downwind).
- Overtaking rule: An overtaking boat shall keep clear of the boat being overtaken.
(when you pass someone, you have to keep clear).
|
Wave Sailing Rules
These are the main rules when wave sailors approaching each other in the wave:
|
Wave Sailing Rules |
- Opposite tack rule: A wave sailor coming in (surfing the wave in) shall keep clear of a
wave sailor heading out (jumping the wave).
- Same tack rule (on the wave): All wave sailors shall keep clear of a wave sailor in
front of or nearest to the peak of the wave (the breaking part of the wave).
- All kitesurfers shall keep clear of all surfers (surfers are less
manoeuvrable than kitesurfers).
|
Kitesurfing Enhancement to the Sailing Rules
All the rules above are applicable to kitesurfing. The only enhancement we need to
define is how a water-craft shall keep clear of the other if one or both of the
water-crafts is a kitesurfing craft.
When kitesurfing, a kitesurfer can fly the kite anywhere in the forward half portion of
the wind window. This means that the kitesurfer and the kite normally occupy a space equal
a quarter-of-the-sphere that has the kitesurfer at the center and the radius is the line
length. If we consider that to be the space to be kept clear or the "hull" of a
kitesurfing craft then it could be up to 25 m in length and 25 m in width
(25 m is the average modern line length). If we apply the
rule-of-thumb keeping clear distance of two hull lengths, this means that we have to keep
clear a distance of up to 50 m. This would drastically reduce the number of kitesurfers
sailing at a certain place.
Fortunately, the angle where a kitesurfer normally fly the kite is between 30 and 60
degrees vertically. At these angles, the kite is normally high enough in the air that the
clearing distance is more or less dependent on the highest point of the other water-craft.
If the clearing distance is set at a distance equals 3 times the height of the highest
point of the other water-craft, that will allow the upwind kitesurfer to sail with the
kite as low as 20 degrees vertically (regardless of the line length).
As two kitesurfers approach each other, the highest points of the kitesurfers could be
equal to the line length or 25m. Even if both kitesurfers keep the kites
stationary in a moving forward position at 45 degrees vertical, the lines
should never collide. However, the upwind kitesurfer should fly the kite
high and the downwind kitesurfer should fly the kite low. This way,
the two kites will never collide and both kitesurfers have a large margin of
error. In such case, the highest point would only be 2.5 m and the
minimum clearing distance is only 7.5 m.
The following table summarizes the minimum clearing distance for most water-crafts
(either the kitesurfer has to keep clear or the other water-craft has to keep clear) when
they approach a kitesurfer:
| Water-craft |
Highest Points |
Minimum Clearing Distance |
Other Requirements |
| Surfers |
2.5 m |
7.5 m |
Kitesurfers have to keep clear of surfers all the times |
| Personal Water-crafts |
2 - 3 m |
9 m |
PWCs have to keep clear of the kitesurfer all the times |
| Small to Medium Motorized Boats |
5 m |
15 m |
Motorized boats have to keep clear of the kitesurfer all the times |
| Windsurfers and Small Sailboats |
5 m |
15 m |
Traditional and wave sailing rules should be applied |
| Kitesurfers |
2.5 m (upwind kite is high and downwind kite is low) |
7.5 m |
Traditional and wave sailing rule should be applied. Furthermore,
the upwind kitesurfer should fly the kite higher than 45 degrees vertically
and the downwind kitesurfer should fly the kite lower than 45 degree
vertically |
| Large Motorized Boats |
10 - 15 m |
30 - 45 m |
Motorized boats have to keep clear of the kitesurfer all the time. If the large
motorized boat is in narrow, restricted water for its size, the kitesurfer has to keep
clear. |
| Medium Sailboats |
10 - 15 m |
30 - 45 m |
Traditional sailing rules should be applied |
| Large Sailboats |
Very high |
Line length |
Traditional sailing rules should be applied. If the large sailboat is in narrow,
restricted water for its size, the kitesurfer has to keep clear. |
| Commercial Ships |
Very high |
Line length |
Kitesurfer has to keep clear of commercial ships all the times |
Without the presence of large boats, the minimum clearing distance is
normally at 15 m.
The minimum clearing distance as described in the above table is only applicable if the
kitesurfer is upwind of the other water-craft. If the kitesurfer is downwind of the other
water-craft, the rule-of-thumb clearing distance of two hull lengths should be applied
(unless the other water-craft is a also a kitesurfer).
Additional Kitesurfing Rules
- All water-crafts shall keep clear of a water re-launching kitesurfer. The area to be
kept clear shall be a semi-circle downwind from the kitesurfer (at the center of the
circle) with the radius equals 1.5 times the line length or 40 m (to allow for a downwind drifting
margin).
- When a kitesurfer jumps, he/she can travel down wind up to 25m or 1 line length.
A kitesurfer must not jump if there is an obstacle within a semi-circle downwind from the
kitesurfer (at the center of the circle) with the radius equals 1.5 times the line length
(40m, to allow for a downwind drift margin).
| Summary |
- All common sense, traditional flat water and wave sailing rules should be applied to
kitesurfers.
- If the kitesurfer is upwind, the distance to be kept clear is dependent on the highest
point of the downwind water-craft (as described in the table above).
- If a kitesurfer is not upwind, the distance to be kept clear is the rule-of-thumb
two-hull-length distance.
- When two kitesurfers approaching each other, the upwind kitesurfer
should fly the kite high, the downwind kitesurfer should fly the kite
low and a minimum
clearing distance of 7.5 m. Click
http://www.kitefilm.com/video/passing_other_riders.wmv (7 MB) to view a
video regarding this rule.
- Without the presence of large boats, the minimum clearing distance is about 15 m. This
is about 2.5 times the rule-of-thumb clearing distance of 6 m for windsurfers. This would
allow up to 40 kitesurfers in the same space that normally accommodates 100 windsurfers.
- A kitesurfer should only jump there is no obstacle within the 1.5
line length (40 m) radius semi-circle down wind.
|
Special Considerations
There is a special consideration regarding ice boating as per the
following email:
| Many kitesurfers also go out in the winter. Most
rule should be the same except for the fact that we may be sharing the frozen lake with
the ice boats, that have been hard water sailing for over 100 years. Their sailing rules
are slightly different and not being aware of the differences can have serious
consequences. When ice boats sail off the wind the leeward boat does NOT have luffing
rights. The ice boats are going several times the wind speed often up on two runners.
Should another ice boat or unwary kite skier get in the way and assume they have luffing
rights the windward ice boat would tip over to give right of way. luffing up an ice boat
that is sailing off the wind is very dangerous and against the New England Ice Yacht
Association rules. We as ice surfers sail the same ice with the ice boats. We sail by
their rules when we share the same ice . Sailing safely on ice is more important than
following the same rules that would apply on water. I have raced on ice in many
countries in including world championships and been part of the organizing committees of
some events. Although ice surfer and kitesurfer do not tip over when being luffed up we
have adopted the ice boaters rules for most racing that we have done over the last 20
years. There have been some exception to these rules in some of our races. The Ontario
Sailing Association has helped to organize and officiate some of our races which has been
greatly appreciated be all, but to get their sponsorship and help we had to sail by all the
rules that apply to sailing on the water. Sailing by different rules for different races
is generally not a good idea, but there were no ice boats allowed on our race course
through prior agreement with them, and any help in promoting a new sport is always
appreciated and we accepted their decision on rules for that reason. The ice boaters rules
should be debated for our new sport of winter kitesurfing now and choose a direction while
the sport is in its development stages. Search for NEIYA on the net for the complete
rules for ice boat racing Safe Kitesurfing
Bert Rufenach (ICEHAWK) |
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