Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2002 5:59 pm
I have prepared a new resource that will be derived from the existing Kitesurfing Accident and Incident Database. I have tried to incorporate suggestions that were given in recent threads on this subject. I plan to post this as an Adobe pdf file so that people reading it will need to have Acrobat Reader (a free download). I am also thinking about placing it on a new moderated yahoogroups site with preapproved membership, which will be a major pain and possibly infeasible, to attempt to limit access to kiteboarders or those who falsely state that they are kiteboarders and violate the terms of use. This part of the concept may be invalid and doomed from the start so qualified legal opinions would be appreciated.
The primary idea here is to get the information out as widely as possible. I have attempted to be sensitive to those with legal concerns and incorporate some ideas in that regard. I would also like to include accounts from all types of kiteboarding including on skies, snowboards and mountainboards. I am looking for input on this so please let me know what you think. This document also appears at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kitesurf/files/
under: Kitesurfing Safety Information
(Sorry about the tons of hyperlinked text. I am about to pull my hair out over this Word quirk)
Rick Iossi
p.s. I want to sincerely thank Marina with Kiteexcite for all her efforts in giving me information and the means of contacting the example account participant. Also thanks to Eric of CabareteAirforce for creating the web content that is linked below. Finally I want to thank two individuals that were at Cabarete during and shortly after this incident that also contributed information.
KITEBOARDING SAFETY INFORMATION (KSI)
The following is a collection of stories of reported, but generally unconfirmed kiteboarding incidents and accidents. The purpose of this resource is to impart lessons learned from the reported experiences of others or likely scenarios derived from these reported accounts. It is not intended to sensationalize or otherwise distort this sport but to aid riders in evaluating and adopting safer kiteboarding practices.
From current estimates, several million hours are spent by riders kiteboarding around the world per year. The vast majority of these hours are entirely free of serious incidents or injury. So these stories represent incidents that have happened to a small minority of all riders and should not be taken as the norm by any means. The point is that they could potentially happen to any rider if the same conditions are present as described. We are all still learning about this sport and hazards that may be out there. Accident statistics for activities like bicycle riding, high school football or driving automobiles will show much greater rates of serious accidents and hazards to participants than remotely experienced by kiteboarders.
Often the difference between a safe kiteboarding session or one accompanied by an incident or injury is prior knowledge, appropriate safety gear, practice of procedures to avoid problems and careful informed judgment. It is the intent of this list to aid in the continued expansion of safe kiteboarding practices. This resource is intended for the reading and use of kiteboarders only. Reproduction of content from this resource is permitted only if this entire introductory section is also included along with proper attribution.
Kiteboarding when undertaken in a responsible, informed fashion with proper professional training and preparation may be safer than other popular sports such as hang gliding, off-pieste skiing, mixed gas scuba diving and many other pursuits. A goal in the preparation of this collection of stories is to improve the state of common knowledge and awareness of threats to safety and questionable riding practices. The examples provided in these stories will hopefully illustrate the potential costs of poor practices and judgment.
Constructive comments, alternative views, credible eyewitness and particularly participant account information are always welcome and should be emailed to flkitesurfer@hotmail.com
The accounts are broken into four sections including:
General Information
This section provides an account number, date of the account, reported date of the incident and location information. When possible other reports of the account were sought and/or received from others. The number of these other accounts is listed in this section. If information was received directly from the participant that is noted in this section as well. Finally if the information is in part described by a published internet account the URL will be provided if it is known.
Summary
This section provides details related to the writer without embellishment or comment. Despite all these attempts to verify the accounts, they should not be assumed to be verified but in fact may represent realistic but potentially hypothetical object lessons for kiteboarders. Remembered and second party accounts may have errors and as such should not be assumed to be verified or necessarily to depict actual occurrences.
Lessons Learned
This section provides the opinion of the writer regarding potential improved safety practices for kiteboarding derived from the experience related in the account. These “Lessonsâ€
The primary idea here is to get the information out as widely as possible. I have attempted to be sensitive to those with legal concerns and incorporate some ideas in that regard. I would also like to include accounts from all types of kiteboarding including on skies, snowboards and mountainboards. I am looking for input on this so please let me know what you think. This document also appears at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kitesurf/files/
under: Kitesurfing Safety Information
(Sorry about the tons of hyperlinked text. I am about to pull my hair out over this Word quirk)
Rick Iossi
p.s. I want to sincerely thank Marina with Kiteexcite for all her efforts in giving me information and the means of contacting the example account participant. Also thanks to Eric of CabareteAirforce for creating the web content that is linked below. Finally I want to thank two individuals that were at Cabarete during and shortly after this incident that also contributed information.
KITEBOARDING SAFETY INFORMATION (KSI)
The following is a collection of stories of reported, but generally unconfirmed kiteboarding incidents and accidents. The purpose of this resource is to impart lessons learned from the reported experiences of others or likely scenarios derived from these reported accounts. It is not intended to sensationalize or otherwise distort this sport but to aid riders in evaluating and adopting safer kiteboarding practices.
From current estimates, several million hours are spent by riders kiteboarding around the world per year. The vast majority of these hours are entirely free of serious incidents or injury. So these stories represent incidents that have happened to a small minority of all riders and should not be taken as the norm by any means. The point is that they could potentially happen to any rider if the same conditions are present as described. We are all still learning about this sport and hazards that may be out there. Accident statistics for activities like bicycle riding, high school football or driving automobiles will show much greater rates of serious accidents and hazards to participants than remotely experienced by kiteboarders.
Often the difference between a safe kiteboarding session or one accompanied by an incident or injury is prior knowledge, appropriate safety gear, practice of procedures to avoid problems and careful informed judgment. It is the intent of this list to aid in the continued expansion of safe kiteboarding practices. This resource is intended for the reading and use of kiteboarders only. Reproduction of content from this resource is permitted only if this entire introductory section is also included along with proper attribution.
Kiteboarding when undertaken in a responsible, informed fashion with proper professional training and preparation may be safer than other popular sports such as hang gliding, off-pieste skiing, mixed gas scuba diving and many other pursuits. A goal in the preparation of this collection of stories is to improve the state of common knowledge and awareness of threats to safety and questionable riding practices. The examples provided in these stories will hopefully illustrate the potential costs of poor practices and judgment.
Constructive comments, alternative views, credible eyewitness and particularly participant account information are always welcome and should be emailed to flkitesurfer@hotmail.com
The accounts are broken into four sections including:
General Information
This section provides an account number, date of the account, reported date of the incident and location information. When possible other reports of the account were sought and/or received from others. The number of these other accounts is listed in this section. If information was received directly from the participant that is noted in this section as well. Finally if the information is in part described by a published internet account the URL will be provided if it is known.
Summary
This section provides details related to the writer without embellishment or comment. Despite all these attempts to verify the accounts, they should not be assumed to be verified but in fact may represent realistic but potentially hypothetical object lessons for kiteboarders. Remembered and second party accounts may have errors and as such should not be assumed to be verified or necessarily to depict actual occurrences.
Lessons Learned
This section provides the opinion of the writer regarding potential improved safety practices for kiteboarding derived from the experience related in the account. These “Lessonsâ€