Please read this

[RickI]

Hello Murdoc,

Thanks for the checklist. I came across that sometime ago and when searching for it unsuccessfully a couple of weeks ago. It presents an interesting approach to deciding to ride or no. I need to study it further, thanks again!

The use of the word "extreme" has raised concerns in other forums before. I use it with some reluctance but for one reason, as a caution. Until the standard of care commonly exercised by the majority of kiteboarders is improved, I believe that we will still have a fair quantity of avoidable accidents. I do not use it for any "trendy" or hype connotation.

Thanks to everyone for your ideas on this important subject. Please do us all a favor. Talk with your friends, shop and school owners in your area. Try to emphasize the hazards posed by storms or squalls and flying near to and upwind of hard objects.

There is more about this subject located at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kitesurf/ ... EFERENCES/

If you can go over the rest of the "Ten Points" even better. Strong unstable weather seems to be prevalent in Europe these days. Your efforts to elevate hazard awareness may save some riders a lot of pain and perhaps preserve your access.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: RickI on 2002-11-27 21:03 ]</font>

[Sylt Rider]

Under 8 we have:

"The earliest that you should consider hooking into a fixed harness line is near the water with your kite low an over the water in order to pickup your board."

That sentence sugests that you may start your Kite long before reaching the water. This is not necessary and not safe. It would be better to say:
"launch your kite as close as possible to the water and leave the beach imedately".
I personaly prefer to launch the kite when I' m already in the water: distance is not only my friend but also for people on the beach so let get away form there.

Sylt Rider

[RickI]

Thanks for the input. I asked around quite a bit before deciding on that approach. Riders can launch with their kite near the water or away from the water. Launching it near the water should allow for dragging into the water if a strong gust comes along.

Launching with the kite away from the water may result in you being dragged towards the water if you have misattached lines or a line tangle. The kite tends to rocket across the wind window to the other side under these circumstances. The approach also requires that you bring the kite overhead risking lofting.

Careful preflighting should avoid the later event. In the case of sudden gusts in otherwise acceptable conditions can't be controlled. So I elected to go with the first approach. This is the primary launch setup that I have used for a couple of years.

If you have shallow, relatively calm water near shore, an even safer approach is to have an assisted launch with you both in the water.

So that is the reasoning behind the recommended approach. It is also supported by the analysis of quite a few accidents including a couple of my own.