If a kite or wind surfer is between 400 metres and two nautical miles from shore they now require a lifejacket and can chose to carry either red and orange flares or an Emergency Positioning Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) or Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). Between two and five nautical miles operators must carry a lifejacket and EPIRB or PLB and further offshore they must also carry parachute flares.
Laurence Adams Coordinator Safety Education | Operations Division | Department of Transport , Tel: (08) 94357580 Fax: (08) 93398699 Mob: 0417943324 Email: Laurence.Adams@transport.wa.gov.au | Web: www.transport.wa.gov.au
We could all apply this law too but it's not going to happen 
www6.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/vic/consol_act/soa1966189/s4.html
Any person who—
(a) burns rubbish shavings or other materials in a public place;
(b) leaves inflammable materials or matter in or on a public shed or place or in an open space near a building without first obtaining the permission of the local authority;
(c) opens a drain or sewer in or removes the surface of a footpath or road without first obtaining the permission of the local authority;
(d) in a public place—
(i) flies a kite; or
(ii) plays at a game—
to the annoyance of any person;
shall be guilty of an offence.
Just wondering how you know where 400m is, is there a line?
I would expect the dept to paint a marker on the ocean so that we can all be aware of when we are in the safety zone and when we are not.
Select to expand quoteRoly said..
If a kite or wind surfer is between 400 metres and two nautical miles from shore they now require a lifejacket and can chose to carry either red and orange flares or an Emergency Positioning Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) or Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). Between two and five nautical miles operators must carry a lifejacket and EPIRB or PLB and further offshore they must also carry parachute flares.
Laurence Adams Coordinator Safety Education | Operations Division | Department of Transport , Tel: (08) 94357580 Fax: (08) 93398699 Mob: 0417943324 Email: Laurence.Adams@transport.wa.gov.au | Web: www.transport.wa.gov.au
I guess we all need to start emailing laurence with our opinion on the use of this equipement especially in the surf. The email is above folks start typing away.
“Endorsed by the WA Kite Surfing Association and Windsurfing Western Australia following
extensive consultation, the new requirements will be the subject of an education campaign and
phased in over the next 18 months.”
www.transport.wa.gov.au/mediaFiles/MAC_P_Kite_surfing_safety_equip.pdf
Can some one from WWA confirm that extensive consultation has been sort after?
"Mr Adams said recognition of kite and wind surfing as an aquatic activity also gave DoT
authority to create on water areas for the activities in consultation with local Government
allowing for improved safety and coordination of land based areas for rigging, take- off and
landing."
Seems to me they have found a way to segregate us from other water users and have lumped us in with the Kiters who take up much more area. 
FYI....measured using Google Earth
Main break at Lancelin = 800m offshore
Main break at Geraldton (Pt Moore) = 640m offshore
Sunset = 230m offshore
Main break at Marg's = 215m offshore
Oakagee = 200m offshore (approx)
Maybe we need to arrange for a barge-load of rock to be dumped on the shallow reefs near the breaks at Pt Moore and Lancelin. Just enough to ensure that there is always a small piece of earth always above the high water mark. That moves the 'offshore' reference mark out quite a distance and we'll be OK.
This (small rock above high-water mark, - though natural rather than man-made) counted for a lot when considering whether or not some large oil and gas resources were in WA state waters, or federal waters. See www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-16/reax-to-committee-on-floating-lng/5456330
With out starting or fuelling a windsurfer v kitesurfer thread. I am intrigued that DPI has grouped the two disciplines under the same umbrella. I would be interested to know how many rescues were required by both disciplines. Windsurfing to the best of my knowledge ( I am happy to be corrected constructively.) has required very few rescues offshore or had any serious injuries or deaths, where a pfd of some kind as well as a flare and epirb would have changed the outcome.
Has any one for DPI ever donned a PFD and tried to swim through a couple of waves or swim after their windsurf kit in one in any kind of a breeze, Dont think so.
Rant Done.
If the government ever tried to enforce this stupid law, one way to make it extremely difficult to enforce would be for everyone to buy similar coloured sails. At >400m offshore, the officer on the beach trying to hand out fines is going to have a hard time identifying BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT who was outside the 400m mark. Even more so if there are some of those colored sails inside the 400m mark.
....and the next trick will be to licence our "watercraft" 
because they must be boats if you have to have a pfd and epirb ?????
Select to expand quoteDip916 said..
If the government ever tried to enforce this stupid law, one way to make it extremely difficult to enforce would be for everyone to buy similar coloured sails. At >400m offshore, the officer on the beach trying to hand out fines is going to have a hard time identifying BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT who was outside the 400m mark. Even more so if there are some of those colored sails inside the 400m mark.
Doesn't everyone in WA have red sails already?
Will flares and epirbs still work after a season on the water constantly getting wet, sandy and salty, I know my flares on my boat stay nice and dry in the glovebox and the EPIRB only gets a tiny bit of spray and the occasional hose. Is there a chance the flare could go off in a belting and blow thru the back of your head, where do u put an epirb and flare when wavesailing. ?
For many people these regulations are surprising and in some cases shocking.
www.transport.wa.gov.au/imarine/kite-and-windsurfing.asp
The position of the committee has been to support the revision of the regulations and to engage the DOT in consultation with a view to improving the regulations that were already in place for windsurfers.
It is important to note that Windsurfing has ALWAYS been regulated by DOT and been under a similar raft of regulations. Type 2 PFDs have ALWAYS been required when sailing 400m offshore. The main change in this latest revision of the regulations is that Kite Surfing is now covered by the same regulations.
The link below takes you to the WWA tumblr blog where full details of the key points raised with the DOT during the consultation have been posted.
windsurfingwa.tumblr.com/post/93772378743/new-safety-equipment-regulations
Sounds like the usual set of regulations designed to protect the government if something goes wrong. In this case they can publicly blame the windsurfer and absolve themselves of responsibility. I wonder what they would have said to the Polynesians and other island folk who travelled around the Pacific in outrigger canoes?
Select to expand quoteDip916 said..
If the government ever tried to enforce this stupid law, one way to make it extremely difficult to enforce would be for everyone to buy similar coloured sails. At >400m offshore, the officer on the beach trying to hand out fines is going to have a hard time identifying BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT who was outside the 400m mark. Even more so if there are some of those colored sails inside the 400m mark.
or even get everyone to put the same sail number on their sails... "Oh, you want the other AUS747 he's out there"
Seems like there is discussion at a number of levels around the use of life jackets for water based recreational sports at the moment. This popped up in my Twitter feed today:
Seems like the 2014 National Drowning summit has just concluded: www.watersafety.com.au/Events/2014Summit.aspx
I wonder if there is a role for the AWA to get in touch and see if this is going to impact & guide legislation in other states? From memory i remember a thread last season about a guy fining people in SA, and now we're seeing WA being impacted. Perhaps a national voice is needed??
Select to expand quoteMarkSSC said..
Sounds like the usual set of regulations designed to protect the government if something goes wrong. In this case they can publicly blame the windsurfer and absolve themselves of responsibility. I wonder what they would have said to the Polynesians and other island folk who travelled around the Pacific in outrigger canoes?
Whose fault should it be if something goes wrong?
Personally I'll ignore the regulations, but it's my problem if things go pear.
Officer on the beach, ROFL,
Maybe they can stop the car break ins , illegal camping, littering etc. while they're at it.
For those who beleive its not possible to comply:
- Windsurfers and Kiters who engage in any form of organised racing already wear manditory flotation devices. So it is possible.
- It is also possible that EPIRBs be stored in the back of floatation devices.
For the practically minded:
- It is reasonable to assume that windsurfers can self rescue as long as they still have their board, they are not injured and are not too far from shore - say less than 1km.
- The same could not be said for Kiters
- I think the 400m threashold is set to ensure that the windsurfer or kiter can swim to shore if required
In the end we make our own calls re compliance and live or die by the consequences
Select to expand quoteJohn340 said..
For those who beleive its not possible to comply:
- Windsurfers and Kiters who engage in any form of organised racing already wear manditory flotation devices. So it is possible.
- It is also possible that EPIRBs be stored in the back of floatation devices.
In the end we make our own calls re compliance and live or die by the consequences
The concern is in a large part coming from wavesailers... not those racing or participating in flatwater activities, where the risk of being thrashed by a wave while wearing a life jacket is minimal.
PLB or epirbs are also not cheap, and would cop and absolute thrashing whilst wavesailing for a season, quite likely to the point that they wouldnt work when required.
wouldnt surprise me if the next new law to be implemented would be lifejackets to be required while surfing.
Curious as to how the islands and lancelin work, with the "offshore" distances. Regardless of this being law or not, its pretty much impossible to police, much like a bunch of other new laws (this is not the forum to discuss other wastes of tax payer money)
Maybe, the government will be able to use its new fandangled data retention laws to find all those posting on forums about how the didnt wear lifejackets to issue us with the fines :P
like the old motorbike law doctor's certificate not to wear a helmet there will be many loop & bye laws to skip this sailboarding law.lol
Can someone please do a picture of a wavesail in WA Police colours heading out through the lineup at Lanno with a flashing blue light atop the mast to do random checks
I wonder who could do that job 
Select to expand quoteJohn340 said..
For those who beleive its not possible to comply:
- Windsurfers and Kiters who engage in any form of organised racing already wear manditory flotation devices. So it is possible.
- It is also possible that EPIRBs be stored in the back of floatation devices.
For the practically minded:
- It is reasonable to assume that windsurfers can self rescue as long as they still have their board, they are not injured and are not too far from shore - say less than 1km.
- The same could not be said for Kiters
- I think the 400m threashold is set to ensure that the windsurfer or kiter can swim to shore if required
In the end we make our own calls re compliance and live or die by the consequences
For a start racers don't wear type 1 PFD's with the big pillow behind the head, that's what they are talking about. You simply couldn't.
The 400m threshold was not set for us, it has alwasy been the case that any vessel more than 400m offshore needs type 1 PFD and so on. Just that now it looks like they wish to no longer ignore us ignoring the rule. Which is just plain retarded.
Mark,
I agree, common sense would dictate that the 400m threshold rule should not apply to windsurfers, given that their board is effectively a floatation device.
Out of interest, what are the requirements for flotation devices, flares and EPIRBs for the Ledge to Lancelin?
Let's say i'm 400m out at gnaraloo, mast, board separate I set off the EPIRB. I don't think anyone is coming for quite a while, in most cases rather than set off an EPIRB or flare I would just dump the rig and paddle in if my life depended on it, rather than sit in sharky waters waiting for a rescue. Even corro's would be a couple of hr wait till someone showed up from Gero.
So what about surfer's and stand up paddle boarders they will also go out more than 400m to catch waves.
Are they going to make them wear the same gear?
