There have been known fatal accidents while kitesurfing so for all disciplines of kiting, safety has to be taken seriously (especially for the summer when there are many hard objects and people nearby), please make sure you have read and understood safety page before getting into kiting.
Read the Rules section on the Kitesurfing School web site for general kitesurfing navigation/safety rules.
The safety rules and regulations at the Kitesurfing School web site should provide you enough generic information for safe kiting. However, there are a few safety rules and regulations you should follow for Ottawa and Aylmer.
Summer Safety & Rules
Ottawa Summer kiting spots are small and normally has a launch area just large enough for launching and landing a single kite. In addition, there are a many other users (windsurfers, beach-goers, sun-bathers, swimmers, etc.) sharing the same area. Fortunately we are gifted with lots of shallow water and can benefit from them for launching and landing our kites. The following are guidelines that have been written by local kitesurfers and are specific to two launch areas in the region. They both contain lots of good information that can be applied to other launch sites within the region as well. There are no specific rules written for Andrew Haydon Park, Ottawa's most popular summer spot and the best spot for learning, but normal safety precautions should be taken there of course.
1) Britannia Beach, Nepean
The following guidelines were put together by the Ottawa kiting yahoo discussion group:
When on the water at Britannia, there are some other hazards that you need to be aware of namely:
-
Rapids just north of the Britannia Yacht Club (watch out for S wind at Britannia as such wind will blow you straight to the rapids)
-
Gull-wires over the swimming area at Britannia
-
Rock shoal (and some other rocks) on the SW side of the Britannia bay in very low water season.
2) Parc des Cèdres, Aylmer
The following rules were written by the Association Kitesurf Windsurf Aylmer:
Winter Safety & Rules
Please familiarize yourself with the information on the Ice Safety page before heading out on the ice.
There are normally lots of spaces to kite in the Winter so it is generally safer to kite in the winter than in the summer; however, in early and late season (December and second half of March), please make sure that the ice is at least 10 cm thick before kiting (dig a hole in the ice and measure it thickness before going out). Ice thickness varies in different parts of the river. Stick to areas you know or get advice from other local riders. Some riders may only ride over areas that they know are shallow when ice is marginal, so if you see riders on the ice don't just assume it is safe. Also, the ice is harder than water so you should wear a helmet and may want to wear padding while kiting in the winter.
