Wakestyle new school = less fatalities?

[BLOWN AWAY]

With a big trend to riding unhooked and using smaller kites than normal that has occured over the past couple of years this has got to be safer for our sport.. especially in regards to loftings and weather raleted fatalities. Ok we may be getting more dislocated shoulders etc from pulling all these freakin kiteloops and handlepasses and stuff but have the trips into the side of houses, trees, fences, buildings etc slowly started to become a thing of the big high AR/ superlit boardoff deadman flash era of the early 2000s (01,02 etc)?

And let's not forget about the kites themselves. first a trend to med aspect style of kites... and now we are taking it one step further and using birdles again and out pops a bow kite... faster turning, easy to KL, Waveride, wakestyle, gust depower etc.

Gone are the days of monster high AR jumpin machines???

Gone are the days of being permantely hooked into our CLs????

Might this see the end of loftings?

I'm sure Ricki has something to say about this.

[viktor]

or that people have learnt the lesson of not going out in strange weather and the genreal level have gotten higher.

I don't know if one size smaller kite would help if you hit a gust and loose control over the kite, you would probably still get dragged.

[KRIS]

A

[Kite Scarecrow]

Might this see the end of loftings?

Me's thinks 2006 will be the most fatal year yet! You just watch...

iAN

[brunolgx]

Don't know...
Bow kites=underestimate bad weather=riding overpowered as a rule=possibility of accidents increasing (in spite of all the safety measures available) mmmmm... bad cocktail. Let's see.
CRIS

It's like cars: 30 years ago you had a car with 4 wheels, an engine, a steering wheel, an accelerator and brakes. Now you additionally have safety belts, ABS, shock absorbers and many other safety features.

At same speed you are undoubtedly safer in the modern cars but as you feel safer, you have a tendency to ride faster, so you can loose this advantage.
Should we reject all the safety features for such a reason and come back to the old cars ? Stupid, isn't it!
Here EDUCATION makes the difference. Brands, schools, medias and educated riders should all explain the same thing: bow kites are safer ONLY if you stay reasonnable.

I just read on this forum: 16m kite - range 10 to 30knts! Is it reasonable ?
Maybe we should find another way to define the wind range. For example dividing it in categories:
- beginners 10 to 18
- intermediate up to 23
- experts up to 28
or:
- safety range: 10 to 22kts
- emergency range: 23 to 30kts
(these numbers are just examples)
Then making it shorter :
Range: 10 to Safe 22 Emerg 30

If a consensus can be reached on this forum, then it is possible to spread the idea everywhere.
What do you think ?

Bruno

[bob10]

in a car, if you had a metal spike rite infront of your face the wenever you step in the car, everyone would be safe drivers.!!!!

[fokiten]

Regards to you Bruno,

(Thanks for the 8.4 Airblast, it's still my favorite kite, you got any just laying around in your storage shed you'd like to get rid of? They're getting harder for me to come by...)


BACK ON TOPIC:

Yes count me in, we now have a concensus of two.

Make the wind range of bow kites realistic, and note the danger of operating the kite in the EMERGENCY buffer zone.

(for example)

12mtr. opperating range 11 to 22knts., with an emergency depowerable limit of no more than 28knts.

The operation of any power kite can be hazardous, however operation of this kite in its emergency depower range greatly increases the risk of injury or death.

Yup,, great idea, count me in.

and...

Thanks again for the 8.4

fokiten

Here EDUCATION makes the difference. Brands, schools, medias and educated riders should all explain the same thing: bow kites are safer ONLY if you stay reasonnable.

I just read on this forum: 16m kite - range 10 to 30knts! Is it reasonable ?
Maybe we should find another way to define the wind range. For example dividing it in categories:
- beginners 10 to 18
- intermediate up to 23
- experts up to 28
or:
- safety range: 10 to 22kts
- emergency range: 23 to 30kts
(these numbers are just examples)
Then making it shorter :
Range: 10 to Safe 22 Emerg 30

If a consensus can be reached on this forum, then it is possible to spread the idea everywhere.
What do you think ?

Bruno

[BLOWN AWAY]

We will see allright. Who here reckons they'll be dead from a kitesurfing accident by the end of next year?? Of all the fatalities so far how many have been caused by being lofted on land hooked into a chickenloop.... 60, 70, 80, 90%.

I'm not really meaning kite technology here but more the trend towards wakeboarding moves that has happened over the last year or so. This means much more unhooked riding and the use of smaller kites. Both of these drastically reduce the chance of being lofted in a squall. I'm not saying that we should kite in squalls.... lightning and hail tend to mess my hair up but at least we have gotten rid of deathtraps like snap shackles etc... unless of course you are stuck in the stone ages and have a fettish for trees, parked cars etc.

[fokiten]

Don't wish to rain on your parade,,,but

I think a meter or so less kite would not have changed the out come for most of the squall vics,,,

And unhooked? come on, giving up is just not a wakestyle thing to do.

Add in your kooked out slider moves,,throw in a bit of camel toe vibe,,fiix it hard with some rad bad ass bindings and what-cha got?

A totally rad, bad clusterfuck of testosterone dripping dip-shits, busting sic, wacked out moves for the glory in it, and of course the ladies "close to shore as possible"..,,

Sorry,,seems worse to me...

Long time no see, B/A

regards
fo

[davo]

It doesn't matter what kite or style a rider uses, fatalities occur because of
1. risk taking
2. the uneducated going out in marginal/ordinary conditions
3. riders not affording the correct size for the conditions
4. misjudging wind speed

Most serious accidents occur before the riders hit the water or after they have been out a while & conditions change & 1. they don't notice or 2. they notice & they're idiots(ie storms & approaching sqalls).
Remember most new school riders need suicide leashes(bow kites excluded), & most old school tricks will have the majority hooked in. Little safety difference, but most high end new school tricks are out of control when learning with the kite fully powered. Old school is usually in control most times but using the next size up.