It was one of the first sessions this season for me (still very cold), and the first one with reasonable wind.

Conditions:

onshore (as usual)
13 to 18 knots, very gusty
73 kg
14m2 kite
chest deep water

After half an hour wind was increasing to gusts up to 24 knots (according to our online wind report which I checked right now). After I lost my board I recognised that I was dragged downwind about 1 meter per second. I was about 600m from shore. I decided to go in as I knew there is no possibility to get back to my board and the wind was to strong for me already. I thought, as the waterlevel will decrease with distance to shore it will stop dragging me downwind. As I still got dragged in pretty fast about 200 meters from shore on these slippy stones and I knew there is even more slippy gras waiting for me on the land, I decided to release my quick release.

I pulled my quick release, but after I pulled my pin nothing happend watched my kite up in the air, looked back at the pin in my right hand, looked back at the kite what a big fuck-up!!!
Still got dragged pretty fast downwind. I already saw myself in rickI next post. So my last chance was to unhook very fast. I removed the pin which prevents your chicken loop from detaching from your harness, and tried to unhook by pulling the chicken loop. No way, I was not strong enough! Grabed the bar and managed to unhook with first attempt. Dropped the bar and the kite depowered. Wooow! My brain nearly exploded from all these impressions. It was so scary and I was prepared for the worst.

I will definitely not go out again until I got a new and better working quick release. It was last years pin release from takoon which looks identical to all pin releases which have been used from nearly all brands last year and are still used by some brands (as far as I know)

The quick release was mounted correct. Last year a release was no problem. At the end of the season while testing I noticed, that the release needs much more power than it used to need. This is because of the lines in the quick release which got pretty stiff and bent. During winter I opend the release to get the lines back in the original shape. (straight)

But as I know now, it didn´t help anything. Now I have to make a close look to the next release I am going to buy.

Hi agio!
Sorry to hear about your incident...
The page below might be interesting for you, have a look

[url]http://community.kiteboard.ch/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=20&bid=25&btitle=Les%20dossiers%20sécu&meid=20[/url]

WHAT KITE SETUP ARE YOU USING AND HAVE YOU BEEN TESTING THE SAFETY RELEASE ALL THE TIME OR JUST THAT ONCE WHEN YOU NEEDED IT

I'm glad nothing worse happened. This proves it again, distance is your friend! Imagine you didn't have the distance. Do you have a pic how the QR got stuck?

did u have enough room to dive the kite down the side of the window into the ground or water before releasing or unhooking?? this lowers the line tension long enough to unhook or release

the release is often less violent too

but yeah if you have a release then you'd better be sure it releases

just a tip for trying to unhook the chicken loop - instead of pulling with your arms (which i think you were trying to do), push your waist forward, it's far more effective

also if you try to release with the kite close to the ground/water, if your leash tangles and puts the kite into death-loops then it will crash earlier and if your leash breaks it won't fly as far downwind

@flashboarder
If I understand these pics right, (my french is not very good) the additional rope only helps to to pull out the pin more easy, which was not the problem.

@doofus
I would have had the time to dive the kite down, but I didn´t. The kite was about 11 o´clock in the air. I just wanted to get the kite out of the harness.


Yes i tested my release about every 7th session I went out, but not very professional. And i fooled myself!!! I only pulled out my pin and then pulled on both sides of the chicken loop. I already noticed, that the lines are to stiff to release, but I thought with the tension of the kite, it would work.

I used the standard takoon setup 2003. Which i mentioned before, was the same release that was used by most brands.

This is how it looks like attached .


It got stuck like this.



It should have released like this.


It was just the the line on the bottom of the last pic which could not go out of the two loops above because it was so stiff and bent.

Thanks for the excellent close up photos Agio. I am glad that your incident worked out and without injury or kite damage. The setup shown is very similar to the Wipika pin quick release of a couple of years ago. I understand from tests in Germany (Wolfgang's tests?), that it can require EXCESSIVE force to release when the chicken loop is in higher tension (like in an emergency). The newer quick releases from some companies have more loops or other provisions to decrease the sensitivity to tension and to improve the ease of release.

On the other hand, yours is the first case that I have heard about in which the pin was actually released but the QR didn't open properly. This is concerning. Have others experienced anything like this? I am not sure what the solution is aside from replacement. Thanks for passing on your experience to us.

@rickI

What do you think about the new quick release system used by naish, north and takoon now? (the push system) Any downsides!?