A kite surfer was killed in a freak accident on Saturday after being lifted by a gust of wind and slammed into rocks in front of a Milnerton hotel.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=vn20090614061705382C13...

Sam

so sorry for his family

I don't know much about the safty's on the water kites, but do they not have multiply safty's like the de-power foils?

the article said most people don't want to pull their safety because they will loose their kite.

Hearing about things like this is always sad.

The article said he didn't want to cut lose the kite.

I'm not into kite surfing (yet).
But I can understand why you don't want to release or lose a nice kite.

I even have little ID stickers on my more co$tly fighter kites.

Is it naive to ask if most kite surfers have ID and "Reward for Return" labels on their gear?

Maybe some would consider some kind of GPS on your gear for recovery or even rescue?

This is terrible news for the kiting community and for the kiters family and friends. I wish them comfort in their tragic loss.

If rigged properly, all surf kites have multiple safety systems and it is very unfortunate that some kiters will put the value of their kite over the value of their own safety. The safety systems are there for a reason and should be deployed at the instant trouble becomes apparent. Even then it can be difficult to activate your safety systems either out of fear or unability to reach/pull them. Sometimes there just isn't time. This is also the main reason that you should always be aware of your surroundings and kite far enough off shore that if something goes wrong, you give yourself enough time to safely handle the situation.

Whenever I teach or give instructions, the very first thing I teach is how to activate the safety and I force the student to activate it several times during the lesson just so they get use to pulling the safety at a seconds notice. I always tell people that a kite is a lot less expensive than a trip to the emergency room...and in most instances, the kite will suffer only minor damage (if any) and can be repaired. Obviously the cost of ones life far outweighs the value of one's life.

This is purely a tragedy and saddens me.

Quote:

Originally posted by DAKITEZ I don't know much about the safty's on the water kites, but do they not have multiply safty's like the de-power foils? the article said most people don't want to pull their safety because they will loose their kite.

If he was on an inflatable he could have pulled the chicken loop quick-release, which releases the kite to the kite-leash (assuming he was using a kite-leash). This usually releases the kite to one line, or both front lines attached to the leading edge (most newer kites do this) which dumps the vast majority of power out of the kite. Then if the kite is still going haywire, he could have pulled the quick-release on the leash, which releases the kite entirely.

Awindofchange of change brings up another good point and possibility: downwind obstacles.

He might not have wanted to release his kite because of what was downwind of him. From another first hand account, his kite landed over a hotel pathway where there may or may not have been bystanders (the witness did not specify whether there were bystanders).

"Unfortunately he hurriedly tried to dump his kite without assistance. He misjudged the distance and landed his kite over the pathway onto the Hotel grass facing the sea. Obviously realizing he was to close to the hotel he tried to bring his kite back up again. It caught the gust and lifted him off the beach and slammed him into the only rock along the pathway, causing fatal internal injuries to his chest and head. He was wearing a helmet at the time. His kite was later found on top of the hotel roof caught up in TV Arial."

It's terribly sad to value your safety (and other's) as less important than a kite. Strange thing is, if the kite didn't have a captive safety (ie- not dumping the kite) then I'd suspect it was an older model....in which case it really couldn't have been that big of an investment to lose? The Guerilla I bought off here shipped with an antique 4 line bar with no safeties whatsoever. I changed that out before passing it along to the new owner.

Safety or not - I'd never hang on in effort to save a penny....and we have comprehensive "free" healthcare here!

I pray that I don't find myself having to make decisions like these - ever!

how sad--my heart goes out to his family......if it ever comes down to me or my kite, it'll be bye bye kite--the winds were 50 knots--thats like 60 mph!!!!

Very sad to hear
We should always know what the weather is and whats its going to be before you go out.
Practice using your safetys ALOT.
They do on ocasion fail to release, or dump power. Know you backup to get ride of the kite.
You can ALWAYS buy another kite.

My heart goes out to his family, He was just doing what he loved. I know i never knew the guy but atleast we all can learn from his mistake i guess.

Sad news best wishes to families and friends.

5th line safeties - excellent! My old C-kite that I'm learning on :P has 5th line ... haven't had to use it in anger yet, but practices are easy and it totally depowers the kite. Then, there's the safety on the leash to totally release the kite from my person. I've got a hook knife on the harness to cut away lines too ...