The same story was on the channel 10 11am news (at least here in SA).
Looked like a blue North caught in the powerlines. According to the report the kiter released the kite, suffering only a minor ankle injury.

kiter222 said...

...We tried to get the reporter to not do a report as we dont want any negative publicity but he saw a story...

You did well, TV didn't show anything about the fire.
It just showed a blue kite on the power lines.

superlizard said...

...i wasn't there yesterday, but sometimes people insist ...

Well it's not fun for me, I'll assume that it was you and let the fun began;

Maybe superlizard can join Alex sanz and start a team for banning the sport from the planet!

Only a matter of time until the B word came up and a biatch fight was on.

The important thing here was no serious injury to the kiter OR Joe public. Banning potential is waaayyy behind.

Still can't quite believe it wasn't a Cab though.

definitely too many people launching and landing too close to mcbain st lately, apparently oblivious to the light poles. i wasn't there yesterday, was it up near mcbain st?

on monday there were lots of crew launching and landing from the wrong side for the wind direction in terms of maximum safety.

perhaps some diplomatic peer-education efforts are in order?

I love Altona, this is just the best spot, you have to see it.
It would have to be one of the top 3 locations in the world and by the look of things they won't be any more pollies out there real soon.

Well said UNCLEDOUG

There are douches, its annoying, there is not much we can do about it. As much as I feel bad for the guy, there is no excuse for this. If you're landing too close that you have no margin of error, you shouldn't be landing or you're not good enough to land that close. It doesn't take a pro to hold the kite in one spot for someone to catch, even in gusty conditions.

Kitegrom said...


Everybody goes through a near death kook experience **** up at least once, its just part of learning, so we shouldnt judge this fellow too harshly.

No we should be sticking the boots in... what an idiot... this sort of thing happens far too frequently at Altona and we will not be allowed to kite there soon.

There should be no near death kook-outs at all. People need to engage the brain when they get close to shore, especially when there are trees, light poles, powerlines, cars and general public very close to the landing area.

Kitegrom said...

First off Altona is not in the top three best kite locations in the world. If you think this you need to get out more and explore this place called australia.

Uncledoug youre just pissed becuase kiteboarding is taking over. Relax, and accept the evolution of watersports and the domination of kiteboarding Melbourne town.

Everybody goes through a near death kook experience **** up at least once, its just part of learning, so we shouldnt judge this fellow too harshly.

So we can expect a kite in the powerline every weekend because everyone is entitled to one mistake?

Most industries these days work on preventative measures, rather than reactive measures. We should be trying to stop this **** happening, rather than feeling sorry for people when it does happen.

It will take one serious incident for bans to happen in Melbourne, and that could be blanket bans.

harry potter said...

I agree, some pretty harsh judgements on the poor bloke who got dragged....

I didnt see it myself as I have not kited there for 2 years but I do know that kites have been ending up in those trees and powerlines for years, by all accounts this time was not as bad as some of the earlier incidents as the power did not have to be cut ( I am led to believe ). There have been times when the whole esplanade has been without power untill midnight because of a kite(s) in the power lines.

I will even own up to having to retrieve my kite from the back yard of a house over the road at Altona as well as disentagle my bar and lines from their Tv antenna allbeit many years ago.

Uncledoug please take your localism elsewhere you dont own the spot..... or do what i did and find UNCROWDED places to kite.

You will have to get use to the kooks and crowds because the fact is that as far as a learning spot goes Altona is about the best around, knee deep for 100s of metres...... I used to kite at Altona every night about 3 years ago I still kite almost every night elsewhere when there is wind in flat water with maybe one or two other kites out, people just need to stop being sheep and explore the coast line there are so many places to kite.

Altona is a excellent learning spot and thus will attract learners and kooks therfore incidents will happen from time to time. It up to the local experienced kiters to deal with dickheads who do the wrong thing and keep them in line to avoid bans not get on a forum and flame some poor bloke who had an accident and was injured.

I agree we all make mistakes but we should be working towards people learning from our mistakes rather than remaking the same mistakes. Just because we learnt on uncrowded beaches with no instructors doesn't mean new people entering the sport should have the same option. In the early days of kiting, there were 1/10th of the people to make these mistakes so they went unnoticed and people didn't have a choice. These days there is instruction available and enough people around to ask questions.

The problem is people think they are taking risks with their own lives when in reality they are taking risks with everyone's lives and everyone's freedom to kite. Yesterday I watched in amazement as a guy who was desperate to have a session with his 11m kite out while 35knot gusts were hitting StK. WTF? How selfish is that. All of that for a overpowered session where you can't try anything anyway. He may think he's only risking his life but when he gets dragged across the beach and over the wall and into a car, its my *#$% car he is risking hitting or my #&*% wife and kids that could be standing on the pavement watching who get taken out. IF he hits neither, its my freedom to kite at StK that he is risking when he plugs a car. Sure, we'll all feel sorry for him when it happens, but why should be feel sorry for someone making a mistake that is clearly nothing more than selfishness?

Good point Saffer particularly about the kite numbers ie: ten times the kites means far more incidents and that will eventually be a big problem.

In most cases the pine trees act as a good kite stopper preventing the powerline issues, new kiters should be encouraged by the local crew to launch and land in front of the trees as opposed to directly infront of the parking section. This will go some way to minimising public impacts.

As i said I was not there so I dont know the circumstances surrounding this particular incident " was the guy being selfish or a smart arse " from the report I heard it involved the kite catcher as well.

If the bloke did something out and out wrong then I agree flame away,
but if it was a mistake on his behalf or on his kite catchers behalf I think many of us are being a bit harsh, people make mistakes even experienced people ( the difference is smart people only make the mistake once ) it is up to those who are experienced to help minimise the mistakes of those around them through helpful advise.

If this guy is quite new to kiteboarding I really feel for him, he has had an incident, been injured , probably fried his kite and is now being chastised by all and sundry on a national forum. hey.... WELCOME TO KITSURFING

I bet he just cant wait to get down to Altona again and visit the friendly kiters after these posts. It seem the days of kiters helping out and watching out and giving helpful advise are long gone and have been replaced by the peanut gallery who sit on the sidlines chastising beginners and kooks instead of helping or offering advise.... these are quite often the same people who are first to throw their arms up about bans etc...

As I said before if he was being an idiot flame away but if not perhaps we should/ could reign it in a little.

Sorry for the rant ..... but having traveled this county and many parts of the world surfing, I have experienced and delt with localism ( delt with it swiftly in Indo, did what I was told and went in in Hawaii ( the guy was $#%ing huge like Johnny Boy Gomes ) it is a scourge on the sport and something kiting has so far managed to avoid, unfortunately inflated ego's and posts like Uncledougs are proof that the rot is setting in

Saffer said...
[br
Given the conditions yesterday, I'd be interested to see how many people would have gone out on an 11? Not many I reckon.

Wasn't there somebody else out on a 12 at the same time? (okay he did have some weight on me...)
But I do take your point, Probably shouldn't have gone out with an 11, wouldn't have if i'd bought my 7, but as your first post says I was desperate