carefull i had an awesome session on a 9 vegas yesterday, 80kg's

Guys, can we be careful with the comments please, his name is Shane and I last heard today he is in a stable condition at royal Perth hospital. He suffered 2 broken ankles and face lacerations. I am unsure of any other injuries. Namely back and spine.

Keeping it respectfully brief, my facts as I saw it unfold
I have only met Shane on 2 other accasions

I was 1 of 3 first on scene.
11m 2010 nomad
Yes obviously overpowered
He came in and landed as I was heading out on a 7m
I viewed his kite roll down the beach thinking it was a run away
His kite then relaunched into a sw direction 45 deg angle full power
I came in and was landed by another kiter.
Other kiter called ambo's
I went to Shane
Farkkkkkkkkk
Intensly farked feet x2
Both ankles broken facing unnatural positions and face lacerations.
Myself and 2 others stablized him without moving him.
I held back the vomit and sickness in my chest.
Waited 20mins for ambos
They arrived and more local kiters arrived. 6 total
Ambos stableized him over a 90min period
We all loaded and carried him out of the dunes

Let's not harp on the obvious please guys
The good is he is ok now,
All they guys on the beach helped!!! For a horrific accident, every one helped and did what they could!! Excellent effort not once did anyone panic, trust me Shane's injuries would have freaked out some.
Big thanks to the 2 ambo drivers, you put my mind at ease once you arrived, big thanks to Mark and the tall south African !!

Best wishes Shane get well soon.
Seabreeze Let's leave the debate for another day

Guys his name is Shane, your typical learner with (unfortunately) kite blindness. I was not there, mates were. Sounded horrific, flung badly down the beach then apparently very high in the air. Two broken ankles, a black eye and damaged spinal cord. His sister just picked up his car, he is OK and can wiggle his toes. He's in Royal Perth trauma ward if you want to send wishes. Looks like he'll be in for 5 weeks. If you are reading this Shane, best of luck man.

Sorry to hear.

I know one Shane, quite tall guy. Hope is not him. Best wishes, recover well.

Yesterday on Pelican Point one learner had a board leash. The leash is really not needed on this spot, if anywhere.

At the same time a few guys grabbed and delivered lost boards
to the struggling kiters on a high winds, no probs.

Be safe.

Horrible accident.

Onya fellas for helping out and holding it together during a nasty scene.

Best of luck to Shane for the recovery.

I was just one of the guys helping the ambos with Shane and it was an ugly scene. I helped stabilise his feet with the ambo, I have a strong stomach but the those images will stay with me for a long time. Shane's a strong dude and did very well given the pain he must have been in.
Its a great relief to hear his doing well after the opp's and I wish him a speedy recovery. These accidents should remind us all that we should take care out there and watch out for others that may be learning and help keep our sport as safe as possible.
All the best Shane.

Good on ya guys, takes a strong stomach for that. Not pointing fingers but.... Do shops explain what winds are best suited for what size sails? I'm not a kite surfer myself but hope to give it a try one day, and would really like them to explain that to me when ever I get around to purchasing my first kite.

Just asking what size kites suit what winds?

Mark _australia said...
with talk of bans here there and everywhere, I thought you blokes might be a bit wary of a 'question' like this posted by a bloke calling himself etoh (short for ethanol, usually the shorthand used by doctors and nurses when they are referring to p!ssed idiots) and it is his first post.

Fishing for info ....?

Shrewd Bastard!

Mark _australia said...
with talk of bans here there and everywhere, I thought you blokes might be a bit wary of a 'question' like this posted by a bloke calling himself etoh (short for ethanol, usually the shorthand used by doctors and nurses when they are referring to p!ssed idiots) and it is his first post.

Fishing for info ....?

Good point

Conspiracy theory hmmm i like your angle Mark............nothing like setting the cat amongst the pigeons

sometimes the good auto relaunch can cause drama

ouch. sounds like a horrific accident.

so what kite size was this guy flying and what was the wind?

Number said...

etoh said...I guess I was wondering (perhaps a little naively) what chain of events could come together to cause such an accident, or could this occur purely as a result of incorrect choice in size/type of kite. And inturn how to avoid this happening to me.

1. If you got the biggest kite at the beach, don't go out.
2. Make sure that u know the safety system by heart
3. Don't mess around at the beach, launch and get out on the water, land as soon as you coming in.
4. If you ignore point 3, don't keep the kite at 12 while standing at the beach.

I dont kite so Im just wondering why you wouldnt keep the kite at 12, are they not stable there?

The other three points make perfect sence.

Btw all the best Shane, my mate broke both ankles skydiving and its not a quick recovery unfortunately

With the 'old' kites if you left them at 12 they would fly overhead, then hindenburg only to become powered just before they hit the ground, and with little or crappy safety you had to take the hit. Hence we learnt to keep kites to the side, where you can use your body weight to fly the kite to the edge of the window to depower.

What a horror story, every kiters worst nightmare, best wishes on the recovery Shane.
Only convinces me more that I have my water weapons sorted correctly, no wind SUP, light to moderate wind Kite, and when it's really windy or gusty shifting or stormy winds Windsurf.

I get the best of all three sports with less risk!
No issues launching landing a windsurfer on your own. And no chance of storm thermals.
I've read stories of WA self launch/ lands in 'claims of 30knots' nothing short of stupidity IMO, if it 'really' is 30 knots, especially with the kites so good at relaunching themselves these days.
The safety systems are good but certainly not perfect and in strong winds anythings possible.

Landing is always the bugger part of the sport, have been doing it since 2001 has always been the bugger part and always will be, back in the day 'everyone' was always keen on helping each other land, these days seems like there are nearly as many just as keen to ignore the landing... Not suggesting that happened here but it's a heap safer sport when someone helps you land...it's almost like the rest of it so easy and safe and the only suspect part is the landing...
Good luck Shane and get back on the water when you can...