witnessed real bad crash today

[BudhaNl]

I just lost a post about eagerness of the new kiter, unawareness of circumstances, inability to interprete the situation correctly, buying through craigslist, but that's been covered in Posts already by now.

Just want to add this: our local kitesurfing forum will add the following message to Ads for old kites: 'Not for beginners'. The national association is trying to get our version of craigslist to do the same.

Still, accidents keep happening...

[longwhitecloud]

Good news. Got an email to say he is just out of hospital but still feels like has been hit by a truck. They sewed his head up and xrays unbelievably showed no fractures/breaks, he got sooo battered all over though, he is very lucky. Was probably 35 cm from hitting the concreted in fence post. Some lessons right there. Awesome outcome for pretty much being kitelooped into the ground.

[TheJoe]

Good to hear that he is doing well.

Sorry but this is not just isolated to new kiters or old kite. How many times have you heard someone say "it's got a lot of depower"? IMHO this is where people start messing up. Experienced riders over sheeting kites they should not be out on in the first place. We all have done it either by changes in the wind speed, misjudging speed, or simply going against better our better judgement. In high winds things happen so damn fast you might not ever get a chance to hit your release.

[longwhitecloud]

i often hear people say "why didn't they hit their quick release"

It is because once you have momentum of the lofting/ slamming, it really is too late. The quick release to for using when things start to look dodgy (as long as it does not have consequences for other), not when you are flying through the air midair - although in very rare circumstances people has got out of a second lofting/slamming doing this.

It actually wasn't that windy probably 17 - 22 knots but they were in a fairly turbulent area of beach which may have not helped too.

[Kamikuza]

Good to hear he's "ok" :thumbup: people have died from much less...

QR instinct - too many people try to fly their $2,000 toy out of the hazard rather than just dump it. They don't think through where things could go in the next few moments, in my opinion... and only react after the fact.

From what I've seen and experienced, loftings, lobbings, drags, and dumps rarely come in singles. Better to have a hand hovering near the QR and risk the kite, not your neck.

[wetdog]

Good to hear he's ok! Did he wear a helmet?

[lenker]

Why blame second hand kites? Was there some defect with the kite? Or was the guy untrained, because then it could have just as well happened with a brand new kite?!

What about this safety warning "not for beginners" particular for used kites? It just doesn't make sense to me. If it was something like "don't fly this before getting professional instruction" I'd get it. Used kites are especially useful for beginners (after training) since a beginner can't even profit much from the advantage of a brand new, crisp kite.

[jack bush]

I started kiting using a North Rhino2 12m awhile back. Didn't even have a QR on it just a snap shackle.
Didn't get injured or anything, so i guess that if you take lessons and watch out for bad weather you'll be alright.
There is a chance though that a new model will help getting out of trouble that an older model will just whip your ass around.

[bikesandboards]

Well there are more issues here. Saturday was up and down squally rubbish and why I didn't go out. No good for a) having any fun at all and b) for the inexperienced.

He should not have been out in it.

Sunday was the day.

[juandesooka]

YIKES. This kind of story is what gives this relatively newbie kiter a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. At worst, this sport seems like horse riding ... you may have control 99% of the time, but if the beast somehow takes over, it's a lot stronger than you and not much you can do about it.

Seems to me these types of kite-mares were more common 6 or 7 years ago and are becoming less common now. To me, the risk vs reward ratio was too high back in the c-kite era, so I didn't pursue the sport. More recently, the safety improvements have made it seem more reasonably do-able.

Whether this accident was on new gear or old, I think the point about old gear is still valid ... when you hear that newbie say "wow, I found this kite for only $100, awesome!" .... make sure they understand that a big 2004 c-kite is NOT up to modern safety standards. It's not like making do with an old dinged surfboard because you can't afford a new shiny one. Its more like buying a car with no brakes and a super twitchy accelerator.....super dangerous and it can maim and kill you.

Very glad to hear this guy was ok in the end. I wonder if he'll continue with kiting or if this is the kitemare that ends it?