Kiteboarding Forums

I make this post reluctantly given recent events here in Cape Town,  an event which many of us would probaply prefer not to comment about directly.

However there is a recent post on Kiteforum.com that talks about 'Five squall related accidents this month !' Also, I was watching some guys kiting on my local Noordhoek beach yesterday, in front of one of the biggest weather systems to hit us this year! It was impossible to physically walk on the beach at times in some of the gusts and sporadic sheeting rain.This has prompted my post - it is not difficult to identify these high risk situations, but people seem to be more and more trying to catch a quick ride in front of these weather systems, regardless of the inherent dangers?

Is it the massive advances in equipment design that have contributed to our seemingly unrealistic confidence, when it comes to taming unpredictable weather? I would suggest that we are losing our respect for the weather, perhaps due to a lack of personal accident experiences that teach us some respect for uncontrollable conditions.

Do so at your own risk but please be honest with yourself that you are asking for trouble in these narrow margin situations. This is a trend I think we should denounce as seemingly responsible ocean users.

Good post Jon, and thanks for taking on a topic which many of us are reluctant to take on, especially in light of recent events in Cape Town where a kiteboarder was fatally injured in an onshore kiteboarding accident.

I had a discussion on the same topic with a few friends just a few days ago, albeit with a slightly different take on it.

This post is not to point fingers or to say that any of us could have done better in the same situation. Rather, with respect to recent events, it is to point out the dangers of strong onshore conditions so that others can avoid this situation and hopefully prevent such accidents from occuring again.

As most of us become better at kiteboarding and our skill levels increase, so do our disregard for the dangers of being strapped to a kite on land. Kiteboarding is not a dangerous sport, and strong winds are not dangerous. As long as you stay in the water, kiteboarding is a relatively safe sport.

It's when you leave the water with your kite attached to you, that the risk for a fatal accident increases - especially if it is onshore conditions - and even more so if it is strong onshore conditions. The risk then increases the closer you move towards obstacles - cars - buildings - walls - roads and power lines.

I see a general (almost fashionable) trend in kiteboarders landing their kites dangerously close to obstacles. This can be observed on a daily basis at Big Bay (kamers parking lot) where kiteboarders walk over the wooden walkway with their kites attached in strong winds so that they can land their kites on the little grass patch. This little patch is an arms length away from various walls - and all it takes is one gust and a split second for kiteboarder to meet wall or car.

Kiteboarders regularly put themselves at risk to land their kites as close as possible to their cars or to where other people are available to catch their kites. This should be avoided at all costs - especially in strong onshore conditions. As a rule of thumb, there should always be at least 2 - 3 kite line lengths between your kite and the nearest obsticle, and as the wind speed increases, so should this distance.

Kiteboarding is a safe sport, as long as you stay in the water. Kiteboarding doesn't kill. Obstacles do.

Let's all take something away from this recent terrible tragedy, and make sure that these types of accidents are avoided in the future.

I urge you all to take the time to read this article I wrote in 2003, analysing a near fatal accident which occured when Douglas Jenman was involved in a kiteboarding accident wherin he was slammed into a house in onshore conditions.

Why onshore winds cause kiteboarding fatalities
http://www.ikiteboarding.com/kiteboarding/articles/why-gusty-conditions-cause-kiteboarding-fatalities.aspx

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iKiteboarding.com

This ,I fear, is a trend brought about by the introduction of the bow kite. Any of those kiters reading this post will attest to the difficulty of riding in a storm with a C kite. You will not find me out there in those conditions with my C kite beacuse I know I will get my butt kicked. I do however take a mates bow out when those conditions prevail. And so the C versus Bow kite debate continues.

Wrong Shaun!! It’s not a C vs. BOW debate, but nice try though...

Mail me and I'll give you a long list why not.

It’s actually a Guts vs. Stupidity debate. In this case I am one of the stupid ones and as an "advanced" kiter I constantly push the boundaries. Going out in squalls and +35knt winds may seem to some kiters as a suicide session, I see as an opportunity for an adrenalin kick. Yes yes, kiting up wind of any structure is the main cause of injuries and fatalities, so they are avoided where possible.

As a principal I remove my leash from the suicide position to my fifth line setting and constantly have my hand on the quick release setting when I land or launch. I do think about safety.

Having said this, if there is a possibility of an extreme session I will be on the water. If I had known Brad was out at Blouberg on Tuesday I would have most probably joined him as well as the guys at Noordhoek. I know the dangers and accept the possible outcome even in the light of the recent tragic accidents. This is what I enjoy and live for. It is my passion.

There are other extreme sports that offer the same dangers and yet people continue to push the boundaries....

If it doesn't make sense to you then we view the sport from different angles.

The only argument you may have that I'll agree to is when you place someone else’s life in danger.

 

This has nothing to do with choice of kite. Douglas Jenman was on a C shape kite in 2003.

The common denominators with the majority of kiteboarding fatalities :
(1) coming too close to obstacles / not leaving enough distance between kite and obstacle
(2) not releasing soon enough (we're talking half a second to 2 second response time here)
(3) strong onshore conditions

Choice of kite is not a common denominator.

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iKiteboarding.com

I support high wind kiting to the full and respect to all who was out yesterday. Jon, not trying to attack you or be rude but its not a trend its a way of life. We take what we do seriously and we know of the inherent dangers regardless of the cost, and please, don't even hint towards recent events if you find it impossible to even walk when we dare to fly...       

Well this is the same as surfers chasing big waves, im sure people get a kick out of chasing big winds. Im sure we can all sit here saying its stupid, brave or dangerous. The fact is that you don't know your limits until you reach them, and people will always push them. So you can stand on the beach until the cows come home stamping your feet but they'll just walk right past and go kite.

The thing that gets me is when people go out and then ether a. dont have the skill/knowledge to get back b. dont have the equipment to go out there properly. Take it from someone who been out there looking for people, even a bright rash vest in those conditions can get you picked up.

My argument was that the introduction of the BOW kite has brought about the lax attitudes to the sport. Some people THINK it is safe beacuse "look at the size of the depower man" , I can do anything, I can ride my 12m in 30knts man! That is the point I was trying to make. That attitude gets you hurt, or worse somebody else. If you were to start on a C kite and get your but Kicked everyday until you learned to master the wind and conditions then your attitude would be one of "let me think about this more carefully" - even if that is not the case, you at least have a much more refined knowledge of the dynamics of kiting (because of the nature of the C kite, you feel every slight change in the wind, you are generally more aware). I am not slating the bow kite rider, I am saying that those who havent used a C kite dont have the same respect for the unpredicatble nature of the weather, the feel for the elements is lost in the depower.

Longbeach on Wednesday the 24th June. Oh the joys of winter. had to launch kites in the parking lot (no beach), a safety "officers" nightmare, but such good fun!

Great Pic - Did you get near Sunset? Would of paid mills to be out there just to see that carnage!