kiteboarding accidents / safety tips

[nanmoo]

Two weekends ago at Nitinat:


Busy summer day, two kites cross lines, let's not worry about who's fault it was as what happened next had nothing to do with that.

It was a simple line cross resulting on both kites coming down on the water gently with good tension still in both and kites sitting on wingtips at the edge of the wind window. All that was required was a simple swim over the lines by the downwind kiter with the lines on top. This was maybe 2-3 line lengths off the beach. 10-15 seconds passes and everyone on the beach expected the incident to be over. Instead the downwind kiter with lines on top must have panicked and done something completely different. Reports from the water indicate the downwind kiter was yelling "what do I do, I don't know what to do?" Upwind kite is still just hanging out with tension in the lines, meanwhile the kiter who we expected to pass over now has his kite looping moderately hard. Seeing this, the upwind kiter ejects completely and kite goes limp on the water. During the next 30 or so seconds the downwind kiter with the still looping kite cuts the lines of the upwind kiter whoose fully ejected kite was still just calmy chilling on the water. The downwind kiters, now double clear of the upwind kite via full eject and lines cut, continues to not eject and the kite continues to loop all the way past the windsurf area with the rider still holding on to the bar. Finally they eject below the windsurfers area in the bay. The whole time they appeared to be in relative control, facing the bar and going downwind headfirst.

Understandably the person who lost a $150 line set was not pleased and never managed to find out who the line cutter was.

I chalk this one up to inexperience and in particular peoples fear of ejecting completely. Please, please, GO do it one day! When its not busy and you have a friend on shore. Instead of landing regularly make sure its clear put your kite on the water and just eject everything. Convince yourself it's ok and the kite won't fly away like a helicopter, IT WON'T!The consensus on the beach was the line cutting was completely unnecessary. If the downwind kiter was uncomfortable swimming past the other lines all they had to do was completely eject the kite. There was no shortage of people that were on the beach ready to grab it before it hit shore. What was so bizarre is that it was their kite that was looping - as if they completely forgot or did not know what to do at all.

Please practice your safety releases, watch youtube videos of what to do when your lines inventively cross with someone else's and save the line cutting for when you're riding barrels at Teahupoo, a kite crashes on you, starts looping and the person upwind doesn't speak english and isn't ejecting.

[AC]

It's inevitable that something will go wrong one day.
It's a must. You have to practice
This procedure must be practiced
And mastered on light wind days.
Winds can rise fast .
And if you ever have to bail.
The best thing you can do is have this mastered
So you can get off the water safely with no help from others.

[more force 4]

Thought I should post a reminder about launching at Cook when its windy. I forgot a cardinal rule for launching there in strong, gusty wind and nearly payed the price.

KEEP YOUR KITE VERY LOW AND GET TO THE WATER FAST AND DRAG OUT WITH THE BOARD FOR 20-30 m TO CLEAN WIND!!!!!

I had an assisted launch on my 7 that was fine. BUt, I was tired from working up north and driving 4,000 km + over the previous week. And it was getting on to 7 and I hadn't eaten anything since lunch. So forgetting about launching was either those things, or simply early-onset Alzh, or simply I hadn't had to launch here in those conditions for a very long time. It has seemed strong, but not particularly gusty, no rotors, as I rigged. In any case, I made sure the kite was behaving and started to bring it up to zenith to get my board. WRONG!!!! Two hard punches as the kite was just over the water showed that it was gusty and I should have reacted by lowering the kite and getting towards the shore fast. Instead, I put it to zenith, started to pick up my board, and the next I knew, the bar went completely light. I looked up to see the kite floating downwind, turning over, and the lines with 10 ft of slack and growing fast. My launcher yelled 'punch out' about the time I realized that was the only hope not to get yarded as the gust returned. It worked out OK but scared me and I decided to bail on the session seeing as there were too many things not lining up.

[nanmoo]

While sitting around in the main launch area at Nitinat last weekend we noticed a fellow launching without a kite leash. Fair, we all forget things so it was pointed out. Shockingly the dude says, "Oh I don't like using those. Pretty shocked we just shook our heads in disbelief.

As fate would have it I am fairly certain the kite I rescued later on that day drifting down the lake was the same one this idiot was using.

Don't be a moron. You might not like leashes for some asinine reason but the person you take out with your kite or accidentally drown when you accidentally eject does. In hindsight we probably should have prevented him from launching in the name of safety for the greater group.

[more force 4]

Moo, I betcha he was mixing up board leashes and kite leashes. He'd probably heard or read on a forum somewhere 'using a leash is super dangerous' and not realized the difference. Never underestimate ignorance (possibly quite innocent) as a factor! Hopefully he reads this or gets refused a launch next time.

[juandesooka]

kiting in bigger surf, I understand some kiters prefer no leash ... immediately disconnect from kite with 1 release, leave it to wash in, ride surfboard in to get it. But only in places with sandy beaches and no swimmers or other surfers.

Short of that, can't think of any reason someone would prefer to lose this safety mechanism....bizarre.

[tempy]

This past weekend a young kiter grom (good kiter) had a kitemare launching.

I had my back to him and the kite came crashing down just over my head. I turned to see him sprawled on the rocks, still attached. Disconnected him and saw him bleeding from the head and mouth.

Apparently he was trying to get into closed boots and something went wrong (obviously).

He seemed ok as I saw him out the next day.

He wasn't wearing a helmet or impact vest.

The next day he still wasn't wearing either.

Yes, he has lovely long hair that flows in the wind, but he looked to be about 14.

Being a hot shot doesn't mean you can't have a bad accident.

While I am on this page, I want to say out loud what I think when I see the hotdoggers who come right up to shore and do their impressive turny, flippy tricks in front of the stage:

If you have a wipe out that close to shore and your kite / or you goes careening onto the beach and hurts someone -it is NOT an accident. It will totally be your fault. And there may be consequences.

I am amazed and impressed by the skill level, but also amazed at the lack of insight into how big a swathe of danger you create with 20 m long lines.

I am not sure of the solution -except that riders try have some awareness.

And I absolutely hope that there is never any type of crash that hurts anybody. I just worry about it. It is my job.

[abetanzo]

Tempy.. yes it was a bad accident that totally could have been avoided but was simply a series of unfortunate events

what I understand from the Windfest 1st Aid (who happened to be on site) what happened was a few bad decisions.. one person was helping a grom get into a pair of oversized boots and the persons knee gave out causing a pull on the bar sending the grom... he was ok but shocked and suffered injuries..

poor decisions on everyone's part.. totally avoidable..

I too am absolutely pissed at people doing tricks close to a rocky shoreline.. ya cool and all but ffs get away from the launch and land area.. it's not acceptable

to those who perform their tricks save it for an controlled environment without so many hazards and liabilities.. use your head!! does it really matter if you are a kite line in a half or 3-4 kiteline lengths away from shore.. don't short tack either chump!!!

[nanmoo]

Sadly a lady snapped her femur in the impact zone at Kanaha today. She got pounded by a lip then just came down weird on a strapped surfboard and leverage did the job. Took awhile to figure out what had happened, I bet she didn't even know at first. I rescued her stuff back to the beach and another guy went to grab the lifeguard ski which by luck was still in the water finishing up another rescue. She was not in a good spot at all and the whole beach could hear her screaming once they had her on land. Anyways, lesson learned today is that it's obvious straps can cause accidents when you are boosting but you may want to be careful with them even when you are not intending to get airborne. She was an experienced kiter, conditions where jumbled head to logo high and gusting just over 30 knots.

[nanmoo]

Small follow up to this. Victim had surgery and should be fine but she is crediting her lifevest in part for not drowning after the crash. I hadn't really thought of that but it makes sense, very hard to tread water down a leg. Something else to consider as I think most people think life vests are primarily for head injuries or other things that may cause a loss of consciousness.

[Noobz7]

Had a potentially very bad situation last night at clover point. After being out in 12-15 knots on my 17m for a couple hours, I came in to a successful landing from a helper. I got out of my wetsuit and decided to go back and hook in for some land handling. I have been trying to the jump boosting thing on land to get a feel for airtime. Small 1-2ft lifts, slow and controlled and very fun. After 30 mins I decided to call it quits. Instead of asking for an assisted land I decided to do a self land. ( mind you the wind had now picked up to 18 knots approx. I think) now way overpowered on my 17 . I have done many successful self lands by bringing the kite over to the side of the window, touching the wing down, then quickly pulling the front lines causing the kite to move forward into the window and fold itself down onto the leading edge. Occasionally, grabbing the upper steering line at the last moment to pull the wing down. Usually works every time.

After two failed attempts the kite kept flying . The third time was the doozy. This time when I grabbed the upper steering line, the slack I created looped itself around the bar causing a deathloop situation and the kite quickly shot back up and over. I caught it just in time to reach and unloop the line but the kite had already taken off. I panicked,I didn’t want to pull in and power up and the eject has eluded my mind so Instead of being dragged across the grass, I took two huge steps in hopes that I could get the kite to 12 and stop my momentum. Unfortunately the only thing that stopped me was the side of a van as my kite crashed onto the launching grass on the other side, missing a gentlemen setting up by 10 ft. Smashed my toes/ ankle and wrist up pretty minor considering but it could have been way worse!

Learned two things,

Always get help landing your kite from someone who knows what they are doing. Self lands in a busy spot are expensive.

Don’t be afraid to eject if it gets dicey.

Hope this paints a picture on what not to do. Try not to criticize me too harshly. Thanks

[nanmoo]

Kudos for owning up and having the courage to post this. Everyone makes mistakes.

[JL]

Noobz7 I had that wrap around the bar at Is. view a few years ago I was trying to save time by self landing my kite in gusty conditions. I was lucky not to get hurt but I did tear a knee off my suit. " Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:05 pm :
A little cool this a.m. ... Waited for 5'c & the ebb tide ... Sweet session with buttery swells on the inside & gusty wind ... Broke the line holding my leg strap on the back of my old harness (My repair not O.R. & I didn't use the brand new harness in my van !!!) Came in for a self landing: 1. walked to my usual spot near the gazebo & dove the kite into a leading edge down position @ the edge of the window towards the beach 2. reached for a fwd. line to pull the kite into the wind 3. kite relaunched 4. Noted the rope to the front lines had taken a turn OVER the left side of the bar 5. Let go of the bar 6. Ungracefully dragged about 70 ft. along the field as my 7m dove towards the rd. 7. Reached fwd. & grabbed my 'Oh Shit' handle after kite & myself stopped with the kite on the field next to the parking area (you know the one on a front line @ the outer pulley ) better late than never 8. with kite properly on the ground & leading edge into the wind I assessed the damage 9. Bruised ego & torn knee on wet suit ... I got off easy ... Lesson learned: 1. self landing in gusty conditions don't get fancy, just find some open space down wind & toss the bar 2. consider putting the safety line @ the 'oh shit' handle on gusty days ... I could have used my release @ the chicken loop & kite would have flagged out from a front line ... Feel free to add your comments if they are constructive ... Thank you. p.s.: I'm so glad I was wearing a helmet !!!"

[Teabag]

Launch at cook st on the beach instead, way safer
As for testing some jump/air:
With your 17m when wind is S, SSE and there is a lot of updraft go near shore slowly and bring bar in. As long as you are not going fast and load like a regular jump, you should go up, like a ladder, and go down upwind (in the water) safely. The advantage of having a 17m inflatable is that you might be able to actually "kite soaring" (check video on kitesoaring) along the cliff for 1 or 2 minutes or more, since inflatable kites turn faster than the foil kites. (You ll be able turn kite left and right faster, which is what would allow you to kitesoar). If you weight ~150lbs-175lbs.

[redbaron]

I witnessed a near miss today. A kiteboarder riding a twin-tip in the surf near Tofino boosted an air right over top of a surfer in the water. I sailed over to the surfer to see if he was fine. We was, but a little spooked.

Boosting air over top of people in the surf is a big No-No. I would hate to see kiting get banned from surf beaches. A lot of places require kiters to stay a kite line distance away from other people in the water. Use common sense!