PKA Newsletter May 2003
Message from Your Chairman
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you all since the EGM, as you may
appreciate there was quite a lot to sort out and familiarise my self with.
First of all, I would like to thank Chris Sands and Alistair Bell for all
their hard work during the last few years. I know from previous experience,
that it is not easy trying to keep everybody happy.
Now I am in the Chair, I want everybody to stop all the in-house bickering.
It is all history. If any members wish to put excess energy into something
then use it in a constructive way. Don‚t fight the club, help the club. We
have had a number of members come forward offering their services and asking
what they can do to help the club. That‚s great, Thanks !
Members have been asking about the New National Series for 2003, Are we
having one ? Are we not? Every member knows of the accident that incurred
in Lytham and since then it has been extremely difficult to negotiate with
Councils in respect of access to his or her beaches. They all appear to be
awaiting the outcome of the enquiry. So please be patient with us.
Hopefully we will soon return to a normal series as we have done in the
past.
Meanwhile, we have been checking out our insurance cover and compiling risk
assessments for the Club. The PKSF have agreed to write a simple clear
insurance document that all members will be able to understand. This will
cover when, where and what you are covered for. We hope this will be
available soon and it will be sent to all members.
As we now have our insurance and risk assessments in place, and access to
our normal locations still remain a problem, if any member thinks they have
a suitable site either costal or inland that could be used by the PKA,
please contact me with the relevant details. We can then approach the
relevant authorities or landowners with a view to using the site for future
racing.
Finally, if anyone has got any problem, feel free to contact me at any time
my door is always open.
Chris Croft K42
PKA Chairman

License and open day cancelled!
Recently the PKA attempted to embark on a joint venture with the X-Zone
whereby PKA members as well as others would have the opportunity to have
join an open session of training and licensing. National trainers would
have been on hand to offer licenses to those able to prove a level of
competence.
Luckily for us we were declined this opportunity. That may sound strange,
however, it has since been discovered that unlicensed pilots will be allowed
to race with licensed pilots during a competitive event organised in jointly
between the X-Zone and WSYC (Wirral Sand Yacht Club)
The PKA must make it absolutely clear to all it‚s members that we cannot
endorse this potentially disastrous recipe and that the organisers please
consider the risks.
Hell for leather full on national and international pilots racing against
amateurs, we don‚t think so. A message of safety to all our members: please
be aware of the dangers in this kind of event, we do not endorse
participation. We also have concern that this kind of event may jeopardise
future events (UK wide) and disrupt progress at Cefn Sidan, we ask the
organisers to reconsider allowing non-licensed pilots to race amongst experts.

Future event ideas
Have you got time to spare helping to organise events or have you got lots
of ideas about the kinds of events that you would like to see taking place.
A number of ideas have been put forwards, these include:
Enduro type racing over long distances or time
Cross country events over varied terrain
Relay in teams of 4 pilots throughout a whole day
If you have any ideas, why not try it out with a few friends and then decide
if you‚d like to organise an event of your own. Please ensure that any
competitive element is kept to a minimum in these types of event in order to
reduce the risk of accidents.
There is always a buzz to be had from successfully organising an event of
your own, if you have any help or advice to offer fellows why not try the
yahoo PKA Members Forum. This is an online resource available 24/7 that is
dedicated to PKA members.
It takes a great deal of time ad effort to organise days out, even when it‚s
just you and a few friends. Please remember that safety is important at all
times, and not just your safety, look out for others too.
News on Cefn Sidan (Pembrey)
We have all suffered as a result of losing the UK favourite location.
Sadly, no buggying on Cefn Sidan, however, there is light on the horizon.
Mick Parsons, secretary of CSLYC (Cefn Sidan Land Yacht Club) and founder
PKA member, has been hard at work with the Country Parc and the local
Council in securing a deal for access to the beach.
The PKA has been keeping in very close contact with Mick and offered all
practical support possible. As the CFLYC embarks upon it‚s rebirth there
will undoubtedly be a mad rush of buggiers wanting to join, and I‚ll be the
first!
The way to get on to Pembrey will be via club membership only at the outset,
we view this as a positive controlling measure necessary under the
circumstances.
Further to this news, Mick has pledged his commitment to safe practice in
competition and has expressed an interest in offering Pembrey as a national
site. Should this marvellous opportunity come to fruition then Pembrey will
once again take position as the jewel in the crown of UK Parakarting.
National series
The national series will be going ahead this year and first off we would all
like to thank the members for being so patient and understanding and also
thank Stuart Maxwell, (our national trainer) for having secured these dates
with the MOD and Carmarthenshire County Council.
28-29 June 2003
30-31 August 2003
13-14 September 2003
Disappointing though it may seem, the entire series will run at Pendine,
Carmarthenshire, South Wales. Under the current circumstances with bans
reaching out across the UK, it‚s a godsend that we have achieved these
dates.
We have also been in touch with Mablethorpe and have had very positive
feedback with respect to running a National Event later in the year, watch
this space for an update as it becomes available.
So there you have it, there will be a national series after all!
We tried very hard to arrange a collaborative event with Wirral Sand Yacht
Club but our efforts failed. WSYC were unable to meet our terms for hosting
the event and although we are very sorry about this we still look forwards
to next year when hopefully some compromise can be found and the terms
ironed out satisfactorily.
Race administration update
From now on, we will be adhering to a strict timetable for entry and
registration. Registration will be closed one hour before race time.
Adequate time will be provided for registration, so there will be no
exceptions.
Once on the beach, if we were short of marshals, we would expect volunteers
to come forward and help out. Therefore, if you are racing in Club class
you would Marshall for the national race and visa versa. Adequate time will
be allotted for you to prepare for your own race. Please volunteer if
asked.
Shortly after each PKA event we will be publishing a summary of income and
expenditure on the website.
Licenses
Trevor Miles, membership secretary is investigating whether BFSLYC can offer
a more cost effective and efficient emchanism for issuing licenses.
Ultimately, the PKA should be in a position to issue Parakarting licenses in
3 stages:
Club class, intended to be taken at your local club
National class, to be taken at a prearranged venue
International, for those high flyers amongst us
As with all other projects, this one will take time and effort and we are
again grateful for you patience whilst we clear a backlog of queries
relating to licenses and membership.
Trevor hasn‚t finalised his plan as yet but it will undoubtedly make the
administration of licenses less time consuming and may help to expense the
previously freely provided service that the PKA has traditionally offered to
all of it‚s members
It was proposed that member details be made available online, however, there
are data protection issues here, so we intend to retain our member details
in strictest confidence.
Trevor has requested that all members wishing to race rejoin to ensure
insurance is valid.
Note from the secretary
Much of this is new to me in a sense as I‚m not a big race name, I buggy for
fun and as a pass-time. I would like to extend a warm welcome to the PKA
members.
Finally, if you are interested in advertising your company in the next
newsletter then please email me, this newsletter will be released in print
and made available on the internet at the PKA Website:
http://www.pka-online.org.uk/index.html
The philosophy is to be nothing less than positive and to offer your peers
nothing less than you would expect of them yourself.