Guys,

I had an accident today. My lines got tangled with someones lines in the water in Brighton-Le-Sands. As a result, my lines have been cut immediately by his lines. He was just fine. He was riding a Switch kite. I had to swim back on the beach and he helped me with the board. He took it and left on the beach. That's what he said.
After probably 20 minutes of swimming, I got back on the shore, while my kite was floating down south still in the water.

BTW....Out of 30 kiters on the water today, nobody gave a rats ass to grab it and bring it back. Very disappointing :( I had to run all the way to Dolls Point to grab it. Actually a guy gave me his kite and board to try to get it back, but it already washed in the rocks from Dolls Point. MANY THANKS TO TERRY! He actually got it for me and came back with it. The kite has a couple of tears and was deflated by the police. Apparently they were called by someone cause they saw the kite floating and believed there was a person in big trouble.
When I got back to Brighton-le-sands, where I initially started, the board was nowhere to be found. Someone grabbed it probably. Hopefully by mistake.

IF SOMEONE HAS IT, PLEASE CONTACT ME, I AM BEGGING YOU, IT'S THE SECOND BOARD I AM LOSING IN ONE MONTH.

It's a pretty small board. (129 or something). It's black on the top with some models on it. Takoon Sutra is the brand.

The total damage today is: The lines on my kite were cut. The kite has a couple of tears (god knows how many). I just hope the bladder is ok. And then, on top of that, the board.

Thank you,
Mike
[email protected]

Sorry to hear that, Mike!
I was at brighton too yesterday (12 to 18) but i didn't see Mike's accident..
when I was in trouble I eventually got help, tough (tried to jump, but my qr went off, and a kiter pulled me to get the lines stretched again)...
hope you'll find your board! I saw one on the beach on the second groyne around 5 pm, with whitish bindings, but didn't notice the brand.. don't know if somebody took it 'cause I was looking for mine as well at the time...

EnglishCraig said...

Likewise - rubbish that nobody helped you out - I assume the 20 other people on the water also would not want any kind of assistance if they had been in your position - SHAME!!

I kited at Brighton once, in 5 years I have never "bumped" kites with anyone, one session at brighton and it happened twice - seemingly a complete lack of consideration or awareness of others.

One other thing at Dolls last weekend i found a syringe on the beach - I know it can happen anywhere but keep eyes open - its got me putting booties back on again!

woah.. this sucks.. 2-3 weeks ago I picked up a broken can from the beach(in dolls).. nearly cut my foot (or worse my kite).. seriously.. what kind of person thinks it's "ok" not to clean up after yourself?

I am not really sure why. I guess it's because we are thinking, in case something happens, we can get help right away. I know for a fact, I won't be thinking like that from now on....

Also, it was a guy in the water that got in trouble somehow....I am not sure what happen.......but he was pretty far offshore. I saw him, but I was down wind.....because I am not such a pro, it took me a while to get up wind to him (probably 15 minutes).....by this time, you would someone would go to him to ask if he needs help....Guess what? Nobody came to ask him. I got there and by that time, he had everything setup to use the kite as a sail to go towards the beach. He told me he is fine.

Another example was a girl that lost her board. Because I am not really good at riding with one hand and the other on the board, it took me a while. A gentle man came though and got it from me and took the board back to the girl.

I really hope people will at least ask, even if they aren't able to help because they are beginners, but it gives you a sense of confidence knowing that someone saw that you are in trouble and if things get crappy, they can announce right away.

Good winds and hopefully safe riding,
Mike

JBFletch said...

why does everyone kite in that one small section off beach???

Ive been kiting for over 10years, and the one time i rode at that location it scared the **** out of me.

Theres plenty of nice beach all the way to Dolls Point, why not spread out??

I hope you get your board back and I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune but maybe this is a wake up call for people to spread out.

Luckily no one got seriously injured.