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Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "industry"

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tautologies
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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby tautologies » Wed Nov 14, 2012 7:51 pm

Thor SFBay wrote: Are there really kids in Hawaii trying to copy the more dangerous kiteboarding stunts?
yup. there was a period where had a lot of people come and try to impress by jumping stuff...
Dunno what their business plan was...Impress->get hired->get rich? Didn't work tho. So less people coming to this island now. :thumb:

I've seen guys crash head first into piers lucky to "walk" ie get carried away from it. One guy was so annoying he'd probably been beaten by some of the not so friendlies if he hadn't gone head to rock.

Anyways, yes. I am saying this knowing that we all do this to a certain extent, but some take it too far. What is too far is a little hard to say. One spot I ride is just shallow, so it is hard to jump and do tricks with very low risk.

To me this is knowing about know a little more about what the risks are. I think many are just taking chances...not really knowing what the risks are. That is when we are in trouble. Most of the pro's have so much control, that it is unreal. I think fewer people nowadays will try to emulate that behavior. Gear is safer, and people learn in a safer manner.

I think it wrong to call kiting an extreme sport. It isn't. (Ok I can agree with some definitions of extreme sport, but not in the sense that it is used here). Obviously you can be stupid about it still, but kiting can be as safe as any other sport.

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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby TheJoe » Wed Nov 14, 2012 11:04 pm

Lets see we tie our selves to "giant f*** off kites" in winds that make most people run inside for. Most kiters don't have a clue how to trim a kite and fly a kite too big for the wind because have no idea how to properly fly or trim a kite. Most have no idea what to do if they become unhooked and end up panicking or dropping their kite on people (happens mostly on land at my local spot). Not too mention how many people that would not release the kite in a bad situation if they even know how to work their release.

Your right it's the pro's with all their kite control and skill that accounts for all the deaths and sever injuries out there. I don't mean to be a dick and I know there are freak accidents, but seriously safety has nothing to do with it getting kicked. As a matter of fact it is not even the Olympic counsel's decision. It is all the sailors since kiting was piggy backing on them just to get in.

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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby Toby » Wed Nov 14, 2012 11:43 pm

as long as there are stupid/non-cautious people, there will be accidents.

It is so easy to avoid them...but, 3rd time in 1 month now that I saw this...people walk thru the barracas, gets stuck with the line, the kite starts to loop...all 3 got very lucky and didn't hurt anything badly.

Just today, a girls (aren't they even smarter?) walks thru, I just keep looking since I pretty much know what's gonna happen next...yes, one line gets stuck, she tries to get it off, the kite steers...she tries to steer against, sure, kite gets power...it loops...off she goes.

What can I do? I only try to tell people to go around and be an idol by doing so as well.
They don't listen...off they go!

Distance is your friend!
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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby windrupted » Thu Nov 15, 2012 4:38 am

coleman wrote:wow fred. you need to calm down man. this is a dangerous sport no doubt and proper safety precautions are vital but i think you went a little too far. safety isnt the reason it got ousted. more likely neil pryde is the primary culprit. as for high speed in the shallows....you couldnt pay me enough money to give that up!

now, i dont go for big jumps and crazy stunts in shallow water but i realize that i am taking a risk. but as an adult i am always measuring the risks that i take with any activity.

but the crap you said about racing and the daggers on the boards and the starting line being congested? have you seen any sailboat racing? that's just how it goes fred. it is always incredibly tight in the start of a race. sometimes there are collisions, but that doesnt stop people from doing it.

in closing, i guess i am just really thankful that you aren't at any of the kite spots that i go to. you would most assuredly annoy the hell out of me.

Fred is probably just "Fred Up" with the recent injuries in shallow water, he is a very good guy to have around because he is genuinely concerned about everyone's welfare. It really is frustrating to see people being severely injured due to moronic lemming behavior. It really does add up in public perception of our sport. And it is true that in kiting, just a little bit of reckless peer influence can lead to something really bad happening, our sport has a random, potentially lethal potential for carnage. Don't misread his strong wording. He may have a slight language barrier (he knows a few) and will overstate his feelings. Try to imagine a horrible tragedy you read about in the news, that you knew was avoidable, it makes you angry.


you seem like kiteboarding's version of "fire marshall bill"

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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby longwhitecloud » Thu Nov 15, 2012 5:19 am

20ft hawaiian ?! :o

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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby john a » Fri Nov 16, 2012 6:02 pm

Thor SFBay wrote:
FredBGG wrote: I agree, but I'm not talking about pushing the limits and truly advanced skills. I'm talking about those lame show off shots charging around kicking up a rooster tail in inches of water or pointlessly buzzing a beach or jumping a few feet in the air over rocks.

Kite company videos are full of this rubbish and kids tent to emulate what the companies put out.

On top of that this type of rubbish is also what often leads to beach closures. The sport isn't going anywhere when it gets banned at more and more beaches.
By your logic we would ban most mountain biking videos and events like the Red Bull Rampage, all big wave surf competitions, most kiteboarding videos, Warren Miller ski films, that 60 Minutes episode featuring Alex Honnold free solo climbing, etc, etc. After all, the kids might try to emulate what they see on the internet or elsewhere.

Are there really kids in Hawaii trying to copy the more dangerous kiteboarding stunts? What about other parts of the world? I never even see kids kiting here in the Bay Area of California. Heck, very few people around here even try to do any freestyle moves. The only problem we have around here are kooks, not kids. So we do our best to stop the kooks from screwing up so they don't hurt themselves or innocent bystanders. It has NOTHING to do with kite videos or competitions.
:thumb: :thumb:
With the kiteprices these days it´s not a kids sport... ;) I hardly never see stupid stunt real life, and if I see, it always someone experienced knowing every point of risk. The beginners not knowing the basics are way more of a danger to themselves and bystanders...
Experienced riders are never going to get a spot banned. And sure not a video. The beginners not learning their stuff on courses are. We had a guy over here some years ago that, went down in the "no-kite-zone" and over a road, and in to the airport area. He went out on a 14 when I was on a 7. So beginners not knowing the wind and their gear and the basics are much worse. (Btw the airport management have seen kites on this spot since the beginning, so they didn´t want to ban it, just joked about getting a higher fence...)

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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby fernmanus » Sat Nov 17, 2012 11:28 am

Seems to me that riding in shallow water and jumping near shore are just a subset of the dangerous things you can do with a kite. How about wave riding? Anyone that rides in waves larger than overhead knows what it feels like to get seriously tumbled. There is the risk of getting tumbled in your lines, getting knocked in the head by your board, getting pounded into sand or reef, etc. Sure you can mitigate some risks, but not all. That is what makes big wave riding so much fun, you are dancing on the edge. The power of a big wave crashing is incredible and one wrong move can put you in serious trouble. Yet some riders absolutely love it.

Those same riders have told me that I am a nice person for gliding with a kite. Of course, most of them have never snowkited, let alone tried gliding. They do not understand that there is a calculated risk with gliding that is similar to the calculated risk that they take in riding big waves.

My point is that before you start finger-waving, do you look at your own behavior. Do you take big risks?

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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby rembo » Sat Nov 17, 2012 12:10 pm

Toby wrote:as long as there are stupid/non-cautious people, there will be accidents.

It is so easy to avoid them...but, 3rd time in 1 month now that I saw this...people walk thru the barracas, gets stuck with the line, the kite starts to loop...all 3 got very lucky and didn't hurt anything badly.

Just today, a girls (aren't they even smarter?) walks thru, I just keep looking since I pretty much know what's gonna happen next...yes, one line gets stuck, she tries to get it off, the kite steers...she tries to steer against, sure, kite gets power...it loops...off she goes.

What can I do? I only try to tell people to go around and be an idol by doing so as well.
They don't listen...off they go!

Distance is your friend!
Ye, Hate those idiots. But aren't we all sometimes? :duh:
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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby TommyDuotone » Sat Nov 17, 2012 5:22 pm

For those of you who are old enough to remember......., before pay per view and ESPN there was the "Wide World of Sports" on ABC. And if you remember the show, then you remember the famous intro..."The Thrill of Victory, and the Agony of Defeat," where they showed a horrible wipeout of the downhill racer. Some of the Winter Olympic events were and still are pretty extreme and more dangerous than kiting IMO(helmet or not).
Could it be more about sponsership? Maybe the "X" games is a better fit for kiting for now, where they have sponsers like Monster and Mountain Dew, not Ford and Apple.

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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby janaeo » Sat Nov 17, 2012 5:45 pm

there is a lot of crap and opinons on here about safety and stupid people doing stupid things is stupid situations.

as for the olympics side of things if anyone read any of the articles about the reasoning for the reversion
"In May, the ISAF described the new sport as a "fantastic addition" to the Olympic schedule, but has since faced pressure from windsurfing federations that vowed to have sailing chiefs reinstate the discipline"

that is just one paragraph from one article, simply put, how long has windsurfing been in the olympics......a long time, a lot of people have a lot invested in windsurfing being in the olympics, and it seams to me that its a simple case of pressure from the right people, that hold, if you like the purse strings, i mean if windsurfing is dropped how much is that industry going to suffer as a result and the kitesurfing industry would grow (simply money)
everyone has their own opinons of course but kitesurfing is still relatively young and theres crap loads more olympics to come, we just have to keep trying to persuade the right people.

as for the safety aspect of this sport, no one is going to be totally safe and we all do stupid things at some point, but then again its perspective there.
but personally im of the opinon that the kitesurfing lessons dont focus enough on kite control, its safety, what to do if something happens, and thats it.
i spent years learning how to fly kites gradually getting larger and larger, a hell of a lot more needs to be taught about control before peole should be allowed out on their own,

that being said it does depend on the person and you cant stop people from just getting gear and going out.
have the utmost respect for the instructors and know they u do their best to teach the sport and great bring more people the more the better get the sports gred up but its all going to take time.


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