PHOTO COURTESY OF OCEAN PROMOTION / 2000
Surfers who use personal watercraft to surf big waves will be required to be certified on their knowledge of safety. Here, Brazilian Eraldo Gueiros surfs huge waves at Jaws on Maui.
Surfers who use personal watercraft to access oversize waves have until September 2004 to be certified on their knowledge of safety in big surf, the Board of Land & Natural Resources decided yesterday. Land Board decides
new rules for tow-in surfing
By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.comBig-wave surfer Ken Bradshaw, who has been seeking state rules for the growing sport for more than five years, said he "breathed a sigh of relief" that there are now guidelines to increase safety.
"It's fantastic," he said after the board acted. The rules will take effect if approved by the governor and attorney general.
Other rules will require that tow-in surfers:
>> Give right of way to paddle-in, or traditional, surfers and keep 1,000 feet from any other surfer or person in the water.Dropped from the final rule were proposals to require liability insurance of the surfers.>> Register their watercraft with the state.
>> Only practice tow-in surfing when the
National Weather Service has issued a high-surf warning."We'd rather have them spending the money on taking the certification course," Bradshaw said.
As a pioneer of the sport and a proponent of others doing it safely, Bradshaw said he will probably be an instructor for the classes, which likely will begin to be offered at Windward and Leeward community colleges in the summer or fall.
"I'm so proud of this, I've been sending it to South Africa, Australia, California," Bradshaw told the Land Board. "They're looking to us for how we're going to handle it."
