You're wrong. The kite powers the operator.
The board comes along for the ride. The
board is not a sailboat. What if a kiter
decides to strap on a slalom ski and go
for a ride. Is a slalom skier a vessel -
no he is not. Kite boards are not much
bigger than a slalom ski.

It is doubtful the board is even a vessel.
The COLREGS define a vessel as:

a) The word 'vessel' includes every description of water craft, including
nondisplacement craft and seaplanes, used or capable of being used as a
means of transportation on the water.

Means of transportation are the key words. Look up
transportation in the dictionary and it will say something
about going from one place to another. A bus transports
people from a bus stop to another bus stop for example.

A kite board just goes back and forth. It is used for play
and not for transport. A kite board is NOT covered under
the COLREGS because it is not a vessel according to the
definition.

S.Simon



"The_navigator©" wrote in message ...
I say you are both wrong. In fact the kite surfer is a sailboat under
existing Colregs. This is beacuse 1) the colregs describe all vessels
(3a) and (2) the "kite" is used as a means of propulsion and is
therefore a sail -by legal definition.

Cheers MC

Donal wrote:

"Simple Simon" wrote in message
...


Kite surfers are not, by the definition sailboats
because they have no sails. The kite is attached
to the operator and not to the board. A board
is neither a sailboat nor is it a motor boat to
be sure. At present it is a gray area under the
Rules that needs to be cleared up.


Top marks!




Regards


Donal
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