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"We refer all of our kiteboarding lessons to the Kiteboarding School of Maui (KSM). They offer professional, individual instruction at great rates."

Kevin Ozee
President-Neil Pryde Maui

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What does FAA have to do with kiteboarding on Maui?

In September 1999, complaints to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about kiteboarding from an individual resulted in federal banning of the sport on the north shore due to perceived violations of specific Federal Aviation Regulations. That ban came not too long after KSM started up in business prompting the owner of KSM to collaborate with other Maui kiteboarders to negotiate with FAA officials to reinstate the sport. Ultimately in March 2002, FAA granted a waiver to its regulations to Martin Kirk, owner of KSM and president of Hawaii Kiteboarding Association, allowing kiteboarding to officially continue (in the interim from 1999 to 2002, FAA officials agreed to "look the other way" and allow kiteboarding to continue while a waiver application was under review). At the present time, that certificate of authorization or FAA waiver is in the name of an attorney who happens to be the dad of two prominent pro kiteboarder phenoms.

All kiteboarding activities in the Kite Beach area are regulated by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Regulations due to the proximity to Kahului Airport. Although a waiver to those FAA regulations allows north shore kiteboarding, riders need to be aware of the one-mile wide by two-mile long FAA corridor at the end of the airport runway extending to seaward that is expressly off-limits to kiteboarders.

 

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