A story to learn from
An interesting story about a "kitemare" that almost ended badly. Still not sure the author got it right though.
http://www.spacecoastmedicine.com/2010/03/kiteboard-outing-almost-ends-i...
http://www.spacecoastmedicine.com/2010/03/kite-boarding-docs.html
Some things that if considered might have helped avoid the situation:
1) A light beginner using a 13 meter kite on gusty day. Probably way overpowered. Wind speed and wind force are related by a squared function. A 40% increase in wind speed doubles wind force, double the wind speed and you increase wind force by a factor of 4.
2) Always know how to use the safety features on your kite. Practice until they are second nature. The key to a proper response in an emergency is practice.
3) If you are in trouble, release the kite. No kite is worth trading your life for.
4) carry a line knife. If you can't deploy your safety to release from the kite, use the knife to cut yourself free.
5) Always go out with a friend. On this ocassion, this one made up for the other 4 lessons not being learned before hand.
in the article, the person kept saying they couldn't reach the leash?
The quick release of the leash should be attached to the harness. I've seen TONS of people put the quick release part of the leash on the flag line. Guess what, when you flag the kite, and start getting dragged and the kite is looping there will be so much tenison on the leash, you'll never be able to reach the quick release on the leash.
This is how I guy died in South Padre last season. He released his primary Chicken Loop release but then the kite started looping and he literally got dragged to his death by drowning.
Before I launch someone, I always check to A) see if their leash is attached and B) is it attached the right way!
Also, there are better and worse safety systems out there.
Some flag the kite really well, Cabrinha, North, Airush with a mini fifth line, fifth line or IDS systems and completely depower the kite and then there are some other below the bar mini fifth line systems that only flag the kite a certain distance like Wainman or they flag onto one line and then the kite goes nuts Chinese dragon style...Best and Freak Dog.
Oh Yeah, I've heard that if you flag onto 1 line that some 4 line kites have the potential to go into spirals and stay powered, increase power. I forgot about that. I even heard that it is a good reason to flag to 2 lines but my kite still pulls pretty hard on 2 lines.
I've flagged mine on 1 line a handful or 2 of times and never had a problem. It sometimes does spin a little and makes a mess of the lines but has no power and eventually collapses.
I guess this is a reminder to not get too confident in my safety systems. Some time it might spin and not depower and if I'm taken completely by surprise I'll be less prepared to react quickly.
Great tip about watching that everyone has their leash end on the harness side. Never thought to look for that. Thanks for the pointer.
P.S. I gotta say that the article is so poorly written that it's hard to tell what really happened.
It was written very poorly by the "victim / survivor". it really strikes me that she did not know what she was doing and that was the most important factor contributing to her troubles.
I don't get why the kite didn't flag out for her. It says she released 1 line and the kite went down but then it relaunched. If I release my chicken loop and the kite goes to 1 line, the kite can't fly. I've done it a number of times. Did she have an old kite with a different safety system? Or maybe the kite got tangeled in the 1 tensioned line and held it's shape (sounds unlikely)?
I hate to hear about close calls but do think it's a good way to learn from others experiences. It also should keep us from getting complacent. Thanks for posting.