OK folks,
in the interest of not giving the authorities any further ammo for kite bans,
anyone interested in spreading the word and coming up with a "standard" for labelling your gear ?
I write my name and phone number inside the leading edge near the inflate valve, and on the top of my boards.
I guess this goes for poley's as well, as I recently saw a post form a guy who lost his whole rig at Margies main break just recently ?
Maybe AKSA members, and kite shops, instructors, can spread the word (if you don't already) and if we can agree on a "standard" we can advise the sea rescue etc. of where to look if they find any loose gear ???
Bloody Media!!!
There is one "sticky" for 5th march regarding kitesurfing. The rest are flares and an EPIRB set off by thieves and vandals, but oh no, lets wack up a headline and photo about kite gear washing ashore sparking alarm.
Never let a balanced persective get in the way of some good media sensationalism!
Tools.
But yeah, label your gear, it can only do good.
Being that 'Kitersurfers' is the headline buzzword; can we assume that the reporter is implicating kitesurfers in the stealing & setting off of EPIRBS & flares 
You've got to admit that a photo of a kiter throwing buckets looks better than a photo of a lowlife bogan with some hot goods 
I found a shredded wetty washed up a few years ago...didn't make me call the cops, but I checked the news regularly for a while to check for missing persons - none.
It is a bit rough that they made a song and dance about kiters, but the reporter has just said what the examples were that the Police gave - recent examples. I'm sure if it was windsurfing gear in the last month they'd have mentioned that
Quality reporting when they call it a sail. Geez how hard is it? KITEsurfers use a ........... hmmm, let me think ...... sail?
I think overall it is a good thing as not many people would think to call Water Police if they lost their gear and now we all would!
I lost a kite several years ago. The first thing I did after giving up the chase down the coast was to call the water police to tell them I was safe. They didn't seem all that interested.
I guess, like everybody, they don't like to waste their time. But I know for a fact the guys just love to get out and do a rescue. All that training and gear just sitting there waiting for a chance to go for it.
Yup label your gear, near the inflate valve on the LE as suggested sounds like a sensible spot, and make it big enough that someone that has never seen a kite had half a chance of finding and reading it.
There is no hard and fast rule as to when a marine search is kicked off and I can say from first hand experience they are not started on a whim because a bunch of blokes are bored and want to put training into practice. The guys at water police, air wing, VMR's and the RAC helicopter get plenty of searches and false alarms without kicking off any extras. Making the decision to start a marine search sucks and I'd be happy to never have to do it again.
Water police occassionally get calls from people sitting in cafes and on the beach after they see a kite go down out to sea and not relaunch. Water Police know we self-rescue, boards are easily lost and we almost always only go out in onshore winds, all these work in our favour so they won't necessarily start a search immediately. A limp kite washed up on the beach without someone attached to it (or chasing it up the beach) is unusual and would be taken more seriously and I suspect that is what happened at City Beach a while back.
If in doubt call Water Police, 9442 8600 (WA) - 24 hours. A search will ALWAYS be started if necessary but it is nice to call them off before it gets to that point.
Interesting - the Water Police said it was a pain in the arse in the article but I get red thumbs for re-iterating.
Weird people on the interweb 
Why didn't the headline read "Bogan Boaties let off Flares resulting in pointless sea searches" its strange that the windsport grabs the headline
Gotta luv the headline catchers - you bloody kities should get your act together your all just naughty
