How dangerous is this?

[plummet]

That said. I would not subject my kites to 25-30 knots and 3m swell. The risk is to great in my opinion.

Kids you mean, right?
Unless you mean the chrono

oops... fixed

[tautologies]

I think it is bananas. I also have a fairly strong dislike for parents subject their kids to shit like that (usual excuse is to say but the kid wanted to as if the kid is able to make those judgments).
SO I know there is a lot I do not know here. Were the kid in a vest, how are the conditions...how far for shore, how good of a swimmer is the kid...but damn 6 years old? Its nuts.


Reminds me of the advice given by one of the KF regulars advice upon a persons question about who could give their kids lessons he replied other kids are the best at teaching kiteboarding to other kids. WTF.

[Sandras]

As a father, I would love my kids to follow my hobby,
I just receive so much pleasure from it that I hope they will one day do too.
(Plus my pleasure will be even more kiting with them)
That’s why I make sure they are exposed to it
But at the end it has to be their call and that must be respected…

They may become like their mother that likes it ok, kites easy once in a while and can understand (and tolerate) my craziness but does not share it…

Exposing them to kiting does not have to be as dangerous as described above...
I’m looking forward to the day of our tandem ride but that will be in a flat lagoon with sweet spot wind and not too crowded space…

[The Captain]

One always has to ask themselves how this is going to look IF something were to go wrong.
In this case, evidenced just by the fact that we are having this conversation, I think the answer is obvious. Not good.
Yeah, yeah, we are all free to make our own decisions...BUT, we also have a social responsibility to not be twits and put others at risk. Not just the kid who doesn't know any better, but the responders who would have to go out looking for the body. Same with Mountaineering, back-country skiing, etc.
Stop and think how it would play out on the evening news. And no, the excuse "well they (the newscasters) just don't know what they are talking about" and that you know better just doesn't cut it.
Similar to those out kiting during hurricane evacuations. Yes, the actual conditions on the beach might not be that extreme, but it looks bad. The vast majority are going to see you on the news and think you are stupid, and first responders are going to strangle you themselves if they have to go out and rescue you for some, and possibly even unrelated to the weather, reason.

[edt]

What's the rule?? What's the rule??

Never kite further than you can swim back. Don't be stupid and be like this guy:

viewtopic.php?t=2396600

How dangerous is it? Lucky there was no fatality. I mean of course it depends on the child. If the child swims in the ocean every day and can swim back from however far out it is, then it's not a big deal but if they can't . . . .

[tautologies]

How dangerous is it? Lucky there was no fatality. I mean of course it depends on the child. If the child swims in the ocean every day and can swim back from however far out it is, then it's not a big deal but if they can't . . . .

This is exactly the point. A 6 y/o kid cannot judge that. And a parent has no idea until something happens. I highly doubt that this kid has been out in those kinds of waves before. Or gradually graduated from smaller waves. At age 6 it means from age 4 the kid have been out swimming in 5ft surf. No way.
Not a hell of a lot of kids deal with 10ft surf. Those are reasonably big waves, and 6yr old should not be out in them. To top it off it is way off shore.

[Hugh2]

edt and tautologies, no vest on the kid, just a wetsuit. The big swells in sets were breaking pretty far out, as it was just after low tide. The conditions were such that the inside was all white foam from the sets coming in. I would have hated to have wiped out in one of the big waves, it would have smashed me around big time. We were all jumping over them, and some jumping off them. I judge the conditions to have been pretty serious, and like I said in the original post, I cannot imagine the kid could have survived if they had crashed into one of those waves, especially if it was the first of a set. The conditions were not as severe as they can get at Kitebeach (I've kited there with waves somewhat bigger and winds a lot stronger, down to 4m rented kite and I am 90kg), but definitely severe enough that I could not even imagine doing what he was doing. I'm really glad it all ended well, but I presume he's done this before and will again. No idea if he was a local, but the kid spoke English with what seemed a local accent, however I did not recognize him and certainly have not seen them tandem riding before (but I obviously don't know all the local kiters either). I was shop-crawling today (no wind) and should have asked if anyone knew the story of them. Oh well, I hope they manage to stay safe.

[bjw]

Wrap the kids in cotton wool. Stick em in a warm cosy environment with a tv and iPad.

If the kid died then I admit I am wrong.

https://flashbak.com/8-reasons-children ... -dead-323/

[Slappysan]

I wouldn't take a kid out past chest deep water unless they were wearing a vest. Kid falls, bonks head on board ...

Taking a kid out in 3m waves is just nuts.

[plummet]

Yep. It's pretty fucken stupid.