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Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 11:27 pm
by bigwave
Very sad to hear about that. My thoughts go out to family and friends.

Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 11:44 pm
by blu
so sad and unfortunate, condolences to his friends and family
we all need to learn from that, all the details about safety release
would be greatly appreciated

Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 12:01 am
by DenisLaMenace
here is some info for that spot: http://goo.gl/maps/IQLqm

- usually for SW winds, the spot is at the CRETE (little bay) at A, so kiting there is mostly on-shore

- however all the times I have been there, when the forecast is SW, it usually turns out to be W and even NW sometimes. yesterday I believe it could have been pretty W

- because the water level is still very high, the access to this bay is closed, so people go kiting to the large public beach at B (closed during summer but accessible during spring).

- the problem with this beach is that SW will be side-shore, and W or NW will become off-shore. There is no service there for rescue boat or whatever.

therefore riding there in yesterday conditions (gusty 20 to 30 knots) was dangerous.

Will post info if we get to know what happened for the reason the CL was not released.

Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 2:40 am
by frankm1960
My condolences. His family must be devastated.

When the details finally emerge we should start another thread on the subject of location, conditions, QR and spiraling kites with respect to what happened here.

Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 7:05 am
by longwhitecloud
It is an issue and I think it is good to discuss whatever. I know of someone else who drowned during a lesson from being stuck in a deathloop.

They can happen at the bar or at the kite.

Companies using pathetic floppy / or no /minimal leader lines that do little to stop lines half hitching on the bar take note.

Companies that use those adjustable bars that leave a place for line to get caught on the end of the bar when at the narrower bar setting take note. They can get caught on suicide leash too..!

Companies that have not tested what happens when their bridles get wrapped around the wing tips.. it is not good enough to say it cant happen because often under inflated kites bend to allow it to happen, or just bend during hard crash... Design bridles so it cannot mechanically/physically happen...!

Companies that have not tested what happens when their pullies get jammed/snap take note

Quick release harnesses have come and gone over the years, problem being activation by accident but I am sure a well designed quick release of entire harness/hok could be a start - not simple tho..

Be aware that kites that have completed x deathloops will not depower - twisted lines stuck, you will not be able to try and use bar to attempt to steer kite to crash either - you cannot steer after 5-6 I reckon -locks up

Something else - think about attaching your leash /suicide to front of harness not back - if being towed violently backwards by leash for example - how do you get to it?! Companies that make harnesses dont seem clued up about this...for literally years


Just brainstorming some ideas really to make things better any other ideas welcome.

Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 12:36 pm
by SupaEZ
He was only 32 years old and had several years of experience

Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 1:01 pm
by alexeyga
The easiest thing to do is to blame the gear, what is harder - is to admit that out of every 10 kiters out there, at best, there's only one who's cool and mature enough to do the right things when $hit hits the fan.

There's no and there never will be a magical red button to eject your-self out of every possible thing that can go wrong while kiting.

Let's face it - even in the ideal world where every rider starts with appropriate lessons - how many kite-schools practice with their students primary/secondary security systems activation while the student is getting dragged under water and is getting his/her lungs filled with water? Yet alone reaching for a knife and cutting lines under these same conditions?

For what it's worth, the guy's name is Julien Blanchard, 32-years-old with several years of experience (we're lucky to pull 60 sessions/year around here).

Can't help but question the fact that apparently when the death-looping kite got noticed it was already going on for like 10mins... Well, if it was going on for 10mins already, somebody must have spotted it and started timing from the minute 1???? no????

Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 1:31 pm
by marlboroughman
longwhitecloud wrote:
Just brainstorming some ideas really to make things better any other ideas welcome.
We now about the bridles we now about the pullies and what? we still buying this crap. And what we did to the safest five line system???? we ridiculed it to the point it almost disappeared from the market.

On that day I could have gone to Lake Erie to the much safer location sandy beach etc. but I stayed home. It was cold, crazy gusty wind I don't need this shit.

I have my own policy in regards to safety leash for which I get criticized. In case I get caught in crazy conditions (almost never) I disconnect safety leash and I am prepared to kiss $1500 goodbye in one simple step and I start heading home.

Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 1:47 pm
by flipper231
Hey bro, i doubt the 10 minutes thing... 10 min is very very long in those cases. But from what I read, he was riding away from the crowd so it is easy to get out of sight. Mo and his friend saw him by luck, and went right away. I guess non kiters bystanders may have reported having seen him but what do they know about it, really. And with that type of wind, there is a wind line so you never come back close to shore to avoid that unstable wind section. But your points are all very pertinent. The gear cannot do everything for you. And now we get kites that are easy to relaunch, easy to fly, take gusts like mad, I saw friends out in 35-40 knots on 8m when the call was for a 5 m a few years back (I was on a 7 that day). Joe schmoe like me would have stayed on the shore a few years back... Now guys who have practiced the sport for 2 years are out in 35 knots on 8's (not an urban legend). So the margin of error is very very slim, this is why,spot selection for me is the no1 criteria. If you get dragged towards a shallow section, people can jump in the water and help you. If worse comes to worst, your kite ends up in a tree and you get lapidated on the local forum. Anyhow, yesterday I went riding and you could feel some tension when looking towards the lake and getting ready for your drift launch. As for blaming the gear, I still think that F-One should drop the velcro...it is very hard to pull, Ozone should drop de pull in, if you pull it and keep you hand on it in panic, it won't go... North Iron heart should be the norm, an all the companies together should make it evolve.

Re: Kite fatality in Montreal, Canada

Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 5:42 pm
by RickI
I wish his family and friends what comfort they can find at this terrible time.

Severe accidents can culminate from a long list of small choices. Many have been mentioned in this thread already. Even experienced riders can get into trouble, for many years in the earlier days of the sport the more experienced guys were the ones primarily getting killed. So, it comes down to the decisions we make, no news there.

Some related posts;

- Wind shadow, it really is important and has factored in way too many accidents both severe and minor ones. Wind shadow or mechanical turbulence is caused by land features disturbing the air flow resulting in significant gusts and lulls, at times to a lethal degree. This is a main reason why offshore winds or winds which have passed over nearby land, particularly high points on land can relate to poor and even non-kiteable conditions. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2354972

- Inland kiting, a now ten year old post but the information is still worth thinking about.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2297514&p=90620#p90620

I did a study for a private concern some years ago now. One of the conclusions was the incidence of severe accidents involving a solo kiter were significantly higher. Even if you are kiting in a crowd, as some victims have in the past, if you don't have a buddy, someone keeping an eye on you and vis versa, you are kiting alone in practical terms. Some solo victims riding in a crowd didn't rapidly come to the attention of responding kiters at times in the past or at least not rapidly enough. This doesn't equate to avoiding problems or instant salvation but could make a difference in the critical moments of an accident.