Country: United States Minor Outlying Islands
City / Region: Oahu, Hawaii
Date: 02-Dec-01
Summary:

A kitesurfing competitor had just launched his kite, with TV film crews present, and was suddenly lofted to 150' to 200' off the ground for a period of over a minute.
The kitesurfer kept his head and control of the kite and eventually landed, suffering only bruises.

Anyone seen the footage?

Yes. This was recently shown on television in Hawaii as part of a special on Hawaiian watersports. I'd heard about this incident before but seeing the video footage was a mind blower!

There is a little information about this incident in the KSI, 2001 volume under:

8. Incident 6 01 1

and some more under:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kiteboard/message/34927 for more info on thermals

the only thing you can do in this situation:
stay calm and fly the baby - move it slowly around the zenith and it will bring you down again. Never ever let go in that altitude!