A new kitesports club has been set up in the West Wales area, aimed specifically at introducing new people to kite-powered sports and doing so in a fun and safe manner. It also hopes to highlight the need for a sensible approach to the sports in order to minimise impact on the environment and other members of the public.

Hopefully the club will promote kite-sports in a positive light in the West Wales area and provide a voice to be heard in any negotiations concerning future bans or restrictions.

Club members will also of course have the chance to participate in club events and socials.

Check http://www.westwaleskites.co.uk for details on how to join.

Al.

the club will be a great opertunity to put kitesports in wales on the map the more members to a club the more say the sport has in the puplic sector, so more time and places will be made available to this fastest gorwing sport in the uk.

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the West Wales and Dovey kitesports Club have asked me to set up a forum for them within these forums...

It can be found within the 'Locals Only' forum, but the club wanted it password protected so you need to be a member of the West Wales and Dovey Kitesports Club in order to access it.

Al.

Hi Guys,

a kitesurf club could be good, especially as a voice to bring everyone together and represent all us budding kitesurfers out there. It could be a real problem in the future if the sport gets banned from beaches etc.

£10 does seem quite a lot of money to pay for a forum though. What other real benefits would we see from the club? What would the £10 be used for? Or is a crafty get rich quick scheme for someone?

Bit difficult to tell from the website as most of it appears to be password protected so I can't see any of it. I can't even check out the forum.....have to say doesn't look that active at the moment and I will probably get a better response here.

What do you guys think?

I told the West Wales and Dyfi Kitesports Club (WWDKC) all of those points when I built the site for them.

The main advantages of being a member are that you get discount in The-Beach-House shop, Aberdovey and as far as I know the club will organise events, socials, trips etc. once it gets up and going which members will be able to join in with.

The WWDKC wanted various parts of the site to be password protected so that details of upcoming events etc. were only available to members of the club. I did try to convince them that the site should be used to promote the club and show what was going on to outsiders and therefore encourage them to join, but he wanted it to be more of a private resource for club members.

As you say, the club does have an important role to play in allowing us to continue kiting freely in the area, so hopefully it will thrive. We'll have to see what they say about the responses here, maybe they'll allow everyone access???.

Al.

Amelia...

They've finally seen sense and asked me to remove the password protection from most parts of the site.

Al.

I'll take a look then and see if I think it's worth the money! Any clues as to what they intend to spend it on?

Sorry justal, I know it's nothing to do with you really but at leat you reply to some of the questions

I'll take another look at the site.

Amelia

Al,

I think you should set up a kite club, you are the main source of information in the area and surely with all the different people who visit your site you've got a few contacts.

That sounds like a good idea. This is a top quality website with loads of good information on with a friendly community, just what we need. Do you make any money from the site Al? Could be a good reason to charge people as well. i'd certainly pay for teh services you provide justal.

Cool... I'm not quite sure what 'Services' you are offering to pay for Amelia, but I'm game!!! ... Just don't tell Anna!

I don't make any money from the site, in actual fact it costs me quite a bit to keep it hosted, and takes up far too much of my time, but I do get quite a bit of satisfaction from it, and knowing that people like it and use it makes me feel as though I've finally done somthing useful in my life!!!... My mum should be proud!

As far as the kite-club goes, I've heard that they are trying to become affiliated with the Aberdovey Yatch Club so that members will be able to use the showers etc over there, and they were also talking about getting permission to use some land for kite-buggying etc. Again, on the Aberdovey side of the estuary.

As far as setting up a club myself, I haven't got the time, I don't think it would go down too well with the people setting up the WWD Kite Club and in its own little way Forces-of-Nature is already its own 'club' for all people who like any sport driven by wind, waves or gravity. And you're already a member of that anyway!

Al.

What about some T-Shirts?