Impaled on a foil

[pikovsg]

My back stap (foot hook) broke in midair today while, sending my board down and plummeting me 20 feet down onto the foil wings. Looking down, horrified, I realized I was falling straight onto the carbon foil wings, which haven't had time to submerge and were sticking straight up like spikes. Somehow I managed to loop the kite and landed about an inch from the wing. After resurfacing, I touched my back, still trembling. It was ok. The foil wings were right next to my body, only now submerging...

This was a lesson in humility.

Now, I want to ask you all, did you ever fall onto your wings while boosting or riding waves? I've had a similar thing happen twice before, just not so crazy close. With these kind of odds, it makes you think.

[Tone]

I have fallen on them and it's not a massive deal as they sink most of the time.

[Pedro Marcos]

My back stap (foot hook) broke in midair today while, sending my board down and plummeting me 20 feet down onto the foil wings. Looking down, horrified, I realized I was falling straight onto the carbon foil wings, which haven't had time to submerge and were sticking straight up like spikes. Somehow I managed to loop the kite and landed about an inch from the wing. After resurfacing, I touched my back, still trembling. It was ok. The foil wings were right next to my body, only now submerging...

This was a lesson in humility.

Now, I want to ask you all, did you ever fall onto your wings while boosting or riding waves? I've had a similar thing happen twice before, just not so crazy close. With these kind of odds, it makes you think.

Ive fallen on them while working on transitions quite a few times now, luckily always touched them in ways that they dont cut me.

[irwe]

When I was first learning I tried to get up behind a small boat. When I rose up on the foil it bucked me off sideways. My face was falling directly towards the front carbon wing as it was coming to the surface. I put both elbows in front of my face and they took the impact. Despite having a wetsuit and helmet I thought I had broken both elbows.

[Mossy 757]

I absolutely impaled myself falling on a gybe, I was going really fast and the board tipped over upwind exposing the foil right in my downwind path as the kite skipped me across the water. I put out my right hand to brace myself and removed a strip of bacon from the pad/wrist area. Kept kiting and didn't realize how deep it was until a few minutes later when another guy noticed I was streaming a trail of blood behind me

Another time I boggled a tack in SUPER light winds with a foil kite that would make a better submarine than race machine. As I was in the water attempting to kick backwards to tension my lines I kicked the super-sharp trailing edge of my strut with the top of my foot and put a nice 3" horizontal gash in my right foot. Frustrated and tired, I kept working to get the kite in the air and unfortunately had to self-rescue. As the crash boat was hauling my kite in the water I kicked my TE again, this time with my left foot and did the same damn thing! I now have matching top of foot scars...

At the time it sucked but nothing really came of either injury and I'm fine now, so ultimately it was just a painful lesson about maneuvering around the foil in the water.

[irwe]

Cracked my ankle bone falling on the wing during a gybe that I went into too slow. I had a wetsuit and short cut booties on. My ankles were the only thing exposed

[BOEMIX]

I also thought that issue before trying to boost with the foil, and finally this season I started foil boosting, and this has never been an issue, maybe cause I ride with very loose straps and I usually left the board behind me when boost and I still fly 5-6 m away from the board.

Foil boosting is so so much fun, but I still can't manage the force that rips me out from the water at x3 speed compared to twintip boosting.

[jeromeL]

Foil boosting is so so much fun, but I still can't manage the force that rips me out from the water at x3 speed compared to twintip boosting.

I have been wondering about that lately. My first year kiting I used to have that ripping out feeling pretty regularly, I don't remember last time it happened. Perhaps my pop timing is better and I pop as the power from kite surge diminishing that feeling? Perhaps you need to pop that foil a bit before the kite takes over?

[BOEMIX]

Oh thanks for the tips.

I'm just adjusting myself to foil boosting, coming from boosting a lot with the twiny. I can jump and land well if i jump half powered (landing ok, just a lot more downwind than used to, due to the zero drift the foil has once touch the water). But fully powered jumps I just can't keep my feet in the straps and I fly away without board.

And if things go wrong I just drop the board to avoid the impelment discussed here, but usally is more like I still can't resist the enhanced pull from the kite.