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Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

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SupaEZ
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Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Postby SupaEZ » Mon May 13, 2013 2:21 pm

alexeyga wrote:Well, go to begin with it happened on one of the major Montreal's kite spots, so the kiter wasn't alone.
OK then after reading again it is said that he arrived at that spot apparently alone..
.... someone helped him to launch...and was riding nearby

He got further away from his spot and trouble started

One person explains that it is a very dangerous location to kite from in such wind direction...
....and should have been avoided

It is very difficult to go and rescue someone quickly in case of emergency

Major kite spot yes...but on that type strong wind and direction....very very risky..if things go wrong

Once again i am just translating what other people are saying

You all be safe now

Map of Oka Quebec showing all the open water away from launching site on West wind

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=ok ... =0CLwBELYD

SupaEZ
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Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Postby SupaEZ » Mon May 13, 2013 2:51 pm

alexeyga wrote: it happened on one of the major Montreal's kite spots
Oka National Park had side side off strong winds making it turbulent and gusty

Accidents do happen....i am truly so sorry once again to hear such tragic outcome

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The Captain
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Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Postby The Captain » Mon May 13, 2013 2:54 pm

I am slowly teaching my kids to kite. Every once and a while, when they are not expecting it, I grab their lines and start to run, dragging them, yelling "do something!", just to remind them that unexpected crap happens, and you need to deal with it promptly.
(No assumptions on what happened in this case)

I hope I never read news like this again.

Condolences.

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Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Postby alexeyga » Mon May 13, 2013 2:57 pm

No worries, can nothing but agree. We were riding on another spot that day, which is even more dangerous because of the rocky shore and just about zero-margin-for-errors launching/landing zone and we turned around a few beginners that day as it was just too sketchy even for more experienced riders.

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Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Postby SupaEZ » Mon May 13, 2013 5:42 pm

alexeyga wrote:No worries, can nothing but agree. We were riding on another spot that day
Can you tell us where you rode that day
If you can put up a map i would like to see if the wind direction was cleaner.....
...side.. to side side on.... to side on direction

Location...location..location

Thanks

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Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Postby flipper231 » Mon May 13, 2013 7:53 pm

I suspect that Alex (for knowing him) was on the other side of the Montréal Island where S and SW winds come in clean. The issue is that the lakes are very high and the ususal spot at the OKA national park which is facing SW is not accessible as the water goes all the way up to the wood. So the people go to that other spot which is good for E, SE, S and SSW (even there, part of the beach is partly sheltered). The beach being bordered by tall Pines is impossible to ride safely in anything else than Side ON or onshore winds. SW must have been SIDESHORE (my friend Mo who atempted CPR) said he was moving parellel to the shore so he would have never land on any type of Bozo beach or private property for about 10km. SW winds at that lead to very unstable air close to shore. Since he was noticed only once kitelooping, no one can tell if the turbulent air close to shore is responsible. A few things are sure:

1- the water is around 10C air temp 15C
2-Water level is high so escape routes are limited and far between
3-It was not the optimal spot for that Wind direction
4-Wind was strong and gusty but we are used to gusts that are often greater than 50% of the average Wind (15 gusting to 25 with lulls at 10 is our reality)
5-The vicitm was not wearing a PFD as required by law (confirmed by the folks who picked him up)
6-the released (F-ONE bandit velcro release) had not been activated and seemed to have been twisted towards the Inside of the CL(again, info from the people who were in the boat and picked him up)

Yesterday, at a another spot, there were 2 events of deathloops, one resulting in a tangle but no injuries because the Wind was just off from Oneshore and the water depth at 300m is waistdeep, so you can be out and be dragged towards the shore to a safe depth within a few loops. Those happen because you have to drift launch . We help each other a lot but in 10C water, not just anyone can jump in the water to launch you..

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Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Postby Starsky » Mon May 13, 2013 8:33 pm

Very sad news,

Spring is proving to be a pretty dangerous time on the great lakes. We had an incident sending someone to the hospital here in Kingston yesterday. Bad backstall on launch, got yanked and bounced off the concrete before into the water. Had to be dragged to shore and was pretty shaken but apparently no big hemorage or fractures. He wont be feeling to great today tho.

Combining novice level stoke with cold water gusty conditions and our usual launch hazards is not a great mix.

My sympathies to the family left behind.

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Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Postby polarstorm » Mon May 13, 2013 10:01 pm

Starsky wrote:Very sad news,
...
My sympathies to the family left behind.
My condolences go out to the family for hearing these very sad news.

I suggest each spot ought have a suggested riding conditions spec onsite or online (and reason why - too gusty, offshore, rocks/obstacles, sometimes underwater), its not the first time that I go out to a new spot to find stuff that I didn't expect.

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Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Postby UKSurf » Mon May 13, 2013 10:09 pm

Condolences to his friends and family. Unfortunately when the wind gets much over 25 knots the margin for error in this sport is very low.

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Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Postby tautologies » Mon May 13, 2013 11:02 pm

My condolences. This is so sad to hear.


I am not sure if this is the thread for it, but I hope we can get details of incidences, including what happened. For instance, if the kite was in a death loop, why wasn't it released. Was the rider unconscious or was the CL stuck?
I know most of our gear is well made, but there are still laggards when it comes to quality. Being able to release in any circumstance is critical.
Last edited by tautologies on Tue May 14, 2013 12:32 am, edited 1 time in total.


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