I am slowly getting into Kiteboarding. Have been getting impatient to wait for any decent wind to take lessons. After seeing this episode I am going to take my time and wait for decent winds. These storms are way to unpredictable. It was a 50knot gust that took him. Bad news for him! Hope he is ok. Not sure if that link will work, you can google channel 4 news in fort lauderdale/Miami. Be safe everyone!!!




http://cbs4.com/video/?id=60528@wfor.dayport.com

That looked really really bad...I heard he survived the impact....I really hope he makes it. Unfortunately, I read he had no helmet, impact vest, etc....

Conditions looked extreme...winds > 40-50???

Just not worth it...live to kite another day.

Let's all say some prayers for this guy...

It happens that quick, hope he survives............aj

One of the guys I started riding with back in the 90's got lofted down in the Miami area and was in a coma for a week.

Stay safe and just kite in mellow winds. it's not worth it to go out in huge winds.

Scott

That is awfull.

Besides the crazy winds what jumps out at me is that he never let go of the bar :puzzled:

That is a good example of how a person is possibly not going to get to their safety before it all hits the fan.

Being a wuss in a brave man's body I enjoy the fact I can get out in winds that are too low to get out on the water. Many of my best days have been low wind days powered perfect on my biggest kites !

Was he harnessed into a tube kite or was he really just holding onto a trainer bar?? Why not let go after he got lofted and then slammed the first time unless he was hooked in??

Best wishes for a full recovery!

Gah@!@#

How is your Sister Baluk ? I thought about her when I saw this.

I like her ? Something about her stealing away your kites and running off to College, I think ?

Ha, well. She's doin' fine. Oddly enough, she was right over my shoulder when i opened ze thread.

ahah. did you jsut edit your post? yeh she does that a lot!

it's coming up the coast, should be cooked out a little before it gets here.
that was a nasty snatch hope the guy is ok,

the cars, concrete, the crap he crashed on. big ouch

we haven't had much wind here so all the flyers are gonna be itching to hit it. surf is gonna be raging with 20-25mph. smooth or not the feast will be on. the blow might be heavy, but the sparks are what can shut down the fun.

Looked like he was already done with his session, too. Poor guy :/

Quote:

Originally posted by kiteNH Was he harnessed into a tube kite or was he really just holding onto a trainer bar?? Why not let go after he got lofted and then slammed the first time unless he was hooked in?? Best wishes for a full recovery!

Reporter said he was hooked in, but everything happened so fast he couldn't pull his safety.

Hey burritobandit,

What would you suggest would have happened if he was on an arc and had let go of the bar. I would expect 1 lofting as the kite found zenith ???
I'm not sure I'm right about that but have always felt that an arc would be safer in those conditions ???

I think the ARC's are probably one of the safest kites on the market today, but no kite is safe to fly in those conditions!

Oh, yeah-I almost forgot the time one of my buddies had to go kitesurfing in gusty conditions. When he was crossing the parking lot to land his kite he got lofted into the front quarter panel of my van then drug up and over the front of my van then dropped onto the concrete a couple parking spots away. My van was really damaged by his impact. The front quarter panel was flattened. He gave me a couple hundred but it would have cost about $800-900 to repair. I was pissed!!!!!!

Scott

Not to be insensitive, but what the heck was this guy doing out in the first place? When somebody does something that is so obviously bone-headed that it gets national attention, you got to wonder what in the world this guy was thinking. It's not like this bad weather came out of no-where, they've been forecasting this storm for days. Look at the video, the sky is almost as dark as night and it's pouring rain. Duh! Sometimes idiots like this need to take responsibility for their own actions.

Nobody deserves to die or be permanently injured because of their stupidity, I wouldn't wish that on anyone and I wish this guy good health, a full recovery and hope he learned from his gross mistake. But we the kiting community (you and me) will end up paying for this guy's stupidity. Any time kiters' access to a beach comes up at a community meeting, you can be sure this video will appear.

Quote:

Originally posted by Bladerunner Hey burritobandit, What would you suggest would have happened if he was on an arc and had let go of the bar. I would expect 1 lofting as the kite found zenith ??? I'm not sure I'm right about that but have always felt that an arc would be safer in those conditions ???

I think if he was hooked in and let go of the bar he probably still would have been lofted because the kite wasn't able to depower 100%. If on an Arc, his only chance would have been if he 'lucked out' with the kite getting bowtied or losing its shape somehow with that crazy wind.

If he would have been UNHOOKED and let go the bar, the kite would have most definitely flagged. And, arcs flag much better (they lay flat out) compared to Cs and Bows since there's no real structure holding them in the arc shape when tension on the lines is completely released.

If he would have been unhooked on that c-kite he was using and let go of the bar, he woulda flagged to 5th or a front or backline. The kite probably would have spun a bit before landing, but he wouldn't have been lofted/yarded nearly as severely.

I thought the whole thing with the BAR kites was they were so safe. Just let go of the BAR? Maybe I missed something but it looks as if he was pulling on the bar the whole time. Sure hope the dude pulls through OK.
We sure don't need the bad press. A lot of buggiers have been working on quick release systems and I think it is going to be the way of the future and a safer one for us.

The problem was that he was still hooked in and couldn't/didn't pull his quick release.

This type of incident is exactly why instructors recommend launching and landing C-Kites unhooked with the depower strap pulled all the way in (which minimizes lift). If all hell breaks loose, you just let go of the bar and the kite is released to your leash. If you're still getting pulled, you release the QR on your leash and disconnect from the kite completely.

http://www.kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=131&t=2350692

Here is a full report on the incident that was posted on another forum.

the problem is he is a dumbass! And everybody else on that beach flying a kite bigger than 1m is a dumbass! I never want to kite in FLA, if there are that many dumbasses there!

Wow. He's got a long recovery ahead of him, hopefully it will go well and he'll be back in the harness soon. I'm glad he's still alive.

That said, what was that dude thinking? And you know, he wasn't the only kiter out there either! I wonder if the others retreated after seeing that mess. Kiting is like kayaking. It's easy to underestimate the power of water until you're pinned against a tree on a high river... the forces involved are just overwhelming. Even expert paddlers are killed by "minor" water conditions. At flood stages, often the best way to stay alive is to stay home. Similarly, unpredictable winds can literally smash your body to pulp when you're hooked to a kite. Even if you've got a lot of experience, all it takes is a split second and one insignificant "puff" from Mother Nature, and your next 10 years might be spent in recovery. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but if there any newcomers around, take a lesson from this poor fellow's misfortune.

Now, on a more lighthearted note, happy August 20th!

CNN Reports that he is upgraded from critical to serious. His mom says he cannot recall a thing about the incident and he has not seen the video yet.