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2 weeks and 2 rescues - stop following me around! lol

at sea 2 kiters got lines caught around each others bars. Hell deathloop started 25 knots (was over 30knots about 10 mins previously!), dragged fast out of sea then 150m up beach, one kite collapsed and ended up getting dragged while the two riders were pinned together chicken loop to chicken loop hard out with no way out, getting hauled in deathloop. The kite that collapsed ended up acting as an anchor and possibly saving their asses slowing them down and filling with sand but still it could not fight the deathloop, on it went...

got video of last half of it all from someone else filming at time, if you wanna see it i see if i can get it and upload it maybe...

Post that, it might serve as a cautionary tale and inspire a healthy respect in those who are new to the sport.

Yes, please post it, maybe upload to Youtube and then post a link.

So many new kiters at our local spot riding close together that have yet to see what a pin-wheeling kite(s) in a deathloop looks like.

FKN scary, I witnessed 2 tangled kites one in deathloop another dragging on water (riders had bailed out) and could not believe how long they just kept going. 5-10 minutes? Way more than it would take to drown someone.

we lucky to be riding at such a huge beach -sand and 50km long with hardly anyone around. if u on facebook---- try this - not sure it will work but give it a go. dunno about the heroic bit tho lol, i didnt make video..

this is link to vid hosted by facebook, don't know the privacy settings - let me know if you can see it if on facebook...

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151510632662656

these dudes chicken loops were stuck together with lines etc - the quick releases would not work - - completely stuck - if no one around - or if the other kite did not collapse and anchor them a bit they would have been going twice as fast and simply no way to stop. they ok, good bit of entertainment and a few lessons.

i seen a lot of stuff like this as i kite so much, and know this kind of thing has drowned kiters, so this good for some education... some of the worst sitautions have been kooks trying to help someone else- all meaning to be helpful but then it turns to absolute shit in 1 second! Anyway it has been sooooo windy for last 2 months so stoked!

Glad nobody was hurt!

How do you get CL stuck together -- did they collide or something?

longwhitecloud wrote:some of the worst sitautions have been "kooks" trying to help someone else- all meaning to be helpful but then it turns to absolute shit in 1 second!

Yup. Launching and landing -- here, the pilot thinks the helper is keeping an eye out for problems and the helper assumes the pilot has it all sorted. Up goes the kite and -- there's someone else's bar dangling from the kite; or a rear line isn't connected; or a bridle is looped around itself; or struts aren't inflated; or the pilot isn't hooked in... you gotta wonder at the mentality of some people.

I also get cranky at people who grab the bridle lines and not the LE when assisting launch/landings. I'm sure it's fine on LEIs but I'd rather they didn't... And I get positively feral when the LEI kooks try and "help" me land my Flysurfers -- by grabbing random parts of the kite or bridle -- even when I'm yelling at them "NO thanks I don't need any help!"

Sharing the experience - launch helpers should not just look at the kite but also really watch what the lines are doing. They could be dragging on the sand, tangling on beach garbage, running over another kite, not set up correctly, you name it...

And rider has the responsibility to thumb up for launch or not!

Lines are the most dangerous part of the system imho.

That's pretty scary. I don't think the video does it justice for how potentially dangerous this is.

What I find scary about it is that you could be a relative newbie doing everything right, and then some clown does a jump in the wrong spot, lands on your lines, and now you're in for a serious ride.

What to do....Safety #1 is let go of the bar, safety #2 is quick release, safety #3 is kite leash release. But the final safety is a line cutter hook knife ... seems this is the situation you need to use it! (reminder to self....practice quick draw kite knife with eyes closed and face down, face up, underwater, etc....need to be able to get it when you need it, could save your life!)

A friend told me about getting kites tangled while racing. The other guy was panicking, said he was going to punch out of his kite ... but that would leave two kites on one guy, super dangerous, he'd have to punch out too, and they'd both be swimming. They were able to somehow sail them in to shore and sort it out. But if they'd relaunched in this swirling dual loop .... better to have punched out and have a swim I reckon.

Ha, Charlie I'm telling your wife and you're gonna be banned from kiting now!!
Glad to see you're OK mate.