Fatality in Long Island, NY

[KWK]

Sad news. Not much detail yet on what happened.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-2 ... -dead.html

[Toby]

http://nypost.com/2014/07/21/goldman-sa ... -accident/

[Toby]

that is sad news. My condolences.

I hope they can find the cause of the death.

RIP !

[SpaceRacer]

I grew up and still kite from time to time in the NJ area. Flew in last night, the date of the incident, and noticed very little wind in the area. Wind meters looked like single digits most of the day. Loose lines and kiting solo can be a recipe for disaster; especially when you are starting out. This hits close to home for me and I am saddened by this. My condolences to his family and friends. Terrible.

[davesails7]

Very sad news.

I've never kited Napeague. Tried to once, but the wind never filled in. I thought it seemed like a safe place for a beginner. Fairly large wide open area with shallow water. I think there were powerlines nearby though?

Also looks like wind sensors in the area haven't gone above 10 knots in the last few days.

[William Munney]

Very sad news.

I've never kited Napeague. Tried to once, but the wind never filled in. I thought it seemed like a safe place for a beginner. Fairly large wide open area with shallow water. I think there were powerlines nearby though?

Also looks like wind sensors in the area haven't gone above 10 knots in the last few days.

There were some peaks of about 20 mph before noon. Napeague is mostly shallow with a sandy bottom, the middle is too deep to touch the bottom. Although the wind at Napeague is usually more gusty than on the bay or the sound, overall it's one of the safest places to kite in the area. There are some big antennas on the east end but I don't recall any power line hazards. I haven't been out in a couple of years due to the insane traffic.

RIP Nicholas.

[robertovillate]

My sincere condolences to his friends and family.
R.I.P bro


perhaps not so important but it still never ceases to amaze me how the media always seem to fubar their "facts" and understanding about the sport...e.g. "For steering, a crossbar is connected to the kites with lines. Using waves as ramps, riders can vault 10 feet to 40 feet out of the water and often spin before landing. They can stop by pushing the crossbar to deflate the kite, or by ditching in the surf." (from the Bloomberg article)

I know that some people are against trying to dig up the facts when someone dies doing this sport, but I have always thought it's good to figure it out and perhaps bring light to it rather than trying to conceal/avoid any of the facts. The facts might help someone else to stay safe...you never know.

Just sayin' ...and no disrespect intended toward anyone. (and for the record - if I "go to the future" while kiteboarding I hope someone can tell the true story of what happened to me)

[CaptainArgh]

My sincere condolences to his friends and family.
R.I.P bro
...I know that some people are against trying to dig up the facts when someone dies doing this sport, but I have always thought it's good to figure it out and perhaps bring light to it rather than trying to conceal/avoid any of the facts. The facts might help someone else to stay safe...you never know.
...

Agreed. There have been some unfortunate accidents discussed here over the years, thankfully a lot less than there used to be. The post-accident discussions have definitely saved other folks from injuring themselves.

Condolences to his family and I'm truly sorry to hear about this. Was probably a busy guy just trying to score a quick session while he had some time. And than this happened. Damn.

[echo]

i've kited nappeague and it's a super nice spot, excellent for learning as it's shallow and enclosed, gets clean wind in all directions. we (locals) are discussing it in our facebook groups. even with a sweet spot like that, it can lull you into a false sense of security. one false move or gust, things can get hairy quickly.

but this weekend there was little to no wind. there were maybe 3 people out for a very limited time on big kites at nappeague bay. it appears he went alone and didn't ask anyone to watch out for him as he's a newb. kiters - we generally watch out for each other - so all in all, it's very sad and unnecessary. he picked a great spot but it looks like he underestimated the risks.

thinking about the conditions, my guess is that his kite fell into the water and he didn't self rescue, perhaps got tangled in the lines. i wonder if he had a knife to cut the lines or if he used his quick release on the kite leash or if he knew self rescue. :/ or he could have made a false move. no one knows.

[SpaceRacer]

Not speculating on what happened here but it reminds me of a situation where I had one of my scariest kite mares (in fact most of my scariest kite mares were in light wind) when I was an intermediate on a 14m. Kite came down and would not relaunch so I just kept on pulling in lines trying to get the thing relaunched and wrapped lines around my spreader bar hook, chicken loop, donkey dick and QR and when the kite started pulling me I could not QR because of the wrap. TERRIFYING! Somehow I just brushed the whole lot off of my spreader bar hook and away everything went. Most of my kite mares have been light wind as a newb.