A guy got hit by a kite at Leighton beach yesterday. This guy was passing by with his dog when a school kite knocked him down. When he realized what happened he went straight to the student and was close to punch her before the instructor stood in the way.

Blood all over the face, the guy got burnt mark by the loaded line from the mouth to the ear and apparently needed a few stitches below the ear....

I've seen this school (ran by a local) operating at the river and Leighton many times.
This guy was close to her student but she got pushed forward by the shorebreak, her lines went slacked, the kite dropped, she yanked on the bar and so you can imagine the rest.

The instructor didn't even have a safety leash himself. How come he could secure the kite in a proper manner then? He didn't have a first aid kit either.....

I talked with the injured fella, a cool guy, but he couldn't see the damage yet... I reckon he's pissed off by now...

**** can happen to anyone but I reckon this one could have been avoided. As a school why would you send a 60kg student in an unstable wind (15-25) with a 10m kite when there is a 3 foot shorebreak and people passing by????

This certainly has an ominous feel to it...

Part of me wants to say that schools should stick to beaches like woodies but this could have been much worse if there wasn't an instructor present.

Hope the poor guy's okay.

any comments from School Owner?

gmd said...

Schooling needs to stop at any public beach with swimmers or beach goers - simple.
I have to see one responsible instructor yet at Mullalloo, Pinnaroo or Leighton not sending their students body dragging across the path of other kite surfers or close to beach walkers .. If they don't find a spot with NOBODY around but the students they should change their profession .. There are spots in Perth where you can do that and maybe not in 28knots of wind like yesterday in Mullalloo.
I would recommend to that beach goer to sue the cr@p out of that instructor and lodge a complaint with the council.
A driving school does not take a student onto the road until they can find the brake or do they here ??
And all that for $300 a lesson ??
There is only one schooling spot in Perth right now which I would consider reasonably safe and good for students. There are other spots but obviously too inconvenient for the schools and students.
regards
gmd

Just curious Gerard, where did you learn to kite? not easy these days finding a beach without people even in 30kts.
what happens once your teaching then people arrive?

Accidents happen, I hope the school has insurance and permits if required.

Obviously bad news to hear that a civilian got injured by a kiter. We can only hope the injuries weren't too serious & that there's a speedy recovery.

Speaking as a die hard regular @ Leighton, this ****s me to tears. One or two 'instructors' have been operating @ Leighton this summer with minimal regard for other kiters and other beach users.

Whilst the beach is wide, the explosion in numbers @ Leighton over the past season makes any instruction at Leighton less than ideal IMO. The 'minimal regard' the instructors have shown over the season includes, for example instructing in the midst of crew launching & landing when there's been heaps of upwind room for instruction; having students body drag through the established take off area, frequently all the way down through the dog beach area.

Based on my dealings with City of Fremantle in my other role, I'd be remarkably surprised if CoF had issued anything like a permit to trade/conduct a business on Leighton beach. It's hard enough dealing with them for event permits on that beach, let alone one to 'operate a business'.....

The problem that this reported incident creates will most likely be a knee jerk reaction from CoF about kiting @ the beach. It will be interesting to see what if any outcome there is. Just freakin' wonderful....

Catch 22.. Put it on this forum and it arms the anti kiting lobby everywhere. Complain to council and it just ticks the box of another kiting complaint and reason to ban kites.....rather than a fellow kiter trying to be pro-active on safety. That said accidents and injuries can and will happen in every sport; I see the local surf schools take people to hospital on a regular basis. Maybe the state association could handle complaints; rather than them being posted on public forums. It may help identify problem areas and individuals leading to better usage and safety for all beach users. I know examples of surfers in the past who have done the wrong thing and their sponsors have dropped them after being made aware. Maybe the state association could contact a schools kite supplier if it is really is a dangerous shonky operation.

mazdon said...

are you north american gmd?

nope .. but that would not stop me of taking this instructor out of circulation ..
regards
gmd

Sounds like a nasty ACCIDENT, sh1t like this happens all the time in every sport and life in general. Every day someone runs someone over with their surfboard, bike, car, motrbike, tractor, blah, blah. blah, yet you never see it dramatised on a public forum. The more you publicise this sh1t, the more damage you are doing to the sport. The person that hurt the guy should console him and compensate him in the way he would like, then that should be it, end of story.

I think we should ban kiting at all beaches with sand...

Leighton often has gusty conditions with holes, eddies etc and times when kites can just drop. This is mainly due to the Coriolis effect pulling the seabreeze into a southerly direction so the wind comes over the port. Not ideal for teaching when this happens.

I'm not one to advocate a society that sues one another, but in this case, should the victim choose too, it shouldn't matter to the kite school as who in their right mind would operate a business such as this without public liability. Sure the premium may jump but at least he'd be covered. ????

gmd said...

Schooling needs to stop at any public beach with swimmers or beach goers - simple.
I have to see one responsible instructor yet at Mullalloo, Pinnaroo or Leighton not sending their students body dragging across the path of other kite surfers or close to beach walkers .. If they don't find a spot with NOBODY around but the students they should change their profession .. There are spots in Perth where you can do that and maybe not in 28knots of wind like yesterday in Mullalloo.
I would recommend to that beach goer to sue the cr@p out of that instructor and lodge a complaint with the council.
A driving school does not take a student onto the road until they can find the brake or do they here ??
And all that for $300 a lesson ??
There is only one schooling spot in Perth right now which I would consider reasonably safe and good for students. There are other spots but obviously too inconvenient for the schools and students.
regards
gmd

so you're saying no one should teach kiting anymore and the sport should just not grow at all.

Us "instructors" were at Mulalloo and pinaroo WAY before you were. hell when i started riding at pinnaz, before i was an instructor, i was one of maybe 5 others on the water other than the students and the other 4 were generally people who came through that school or has had dealings with them. Problem being is when someone goes through the school they stay at the spot because thats where they are comfortable and then the whole place gets crowded out.

where do you propose we body drag, further south through the windsurfers? behind the point where the wind becomes gusty and unstable endangering even more people? what all so that you can just ride left n right doing sweet FA?

being the person on the board makes you more mobile, and better yet if you follow official ski rules you should be out past the yellow markers when riding. what i dont get is why people have to get so close to students who are already concentrating trying to learn basic control. i think you'll see any good school will spend considerable time on the beach teaching basic kite control.

perhaps you more experienced people should leave the only good learning spots for the schools?

Charl dv said...

gmd said...

Schooling needs to stop at any public beach with swimmers or beach goers - simple.
I have to see one responsible instructor yet at Mullalloo, Pinnaroo or Leighton not sending their students body dragging across the path of other kite surfers or close to beach walkers .. If they don't find a spot with NOBODY around but the students they should change their profession .. There are spots in Perth where you can do that and maybe not in 28knots of wind like yesterday in Mullalloo.
I would recommend to that beach goer to sue the cr@p out of that instructor and lodge a complaint with the council.
A driving school does not take a student onto the road until they can find the brake or do they here ??
And all that for $300 a lesson ??
There is only one schooling spot in Perth right now which I would consider reasonably safe and good for students. There are other spots but obviously too inconvenient for the schools and students.
regards
gmd

so you're saying no one should teach kiting anymore and the sport should just not grow at all.

That sounds good. I hope it dosent grow anymore, problem solved.But I guess you wouldnt make any moneyLOL The sport growing is the biggest problem

GalahOnTheBay said...

^^^ +1

If we coun't teach on a beach with other people we could not teach at any metro (and further!) beach

Juddy said...

One or two 'instructors' have been operating @ Leighton this summer with minimal regard for other kiters and other beach users.

Why not ring the council when these people are running lessons?

If they have a license and are being unsafe, the council will yank it. If they don't have a permit then...

Snitching is poor form but if it's a case of 2 ahats getting us all banned then they should get what they deserve.

Yep, we've ended up forming a good relationship with our rangers here to stop other people that arent licensed being dangerous on the beach

Must have been a euro student.

Charl dv said...
Problem being is when someone goes through the school they stay at the spot because thats where they are comfortable and then the whole place gets crowded out.

Wow, what arrogance. ^^^
An instructor-guy complaining about crowdkiting at his private kite-school beach.
It's cause and effect, dude.
First comes the cause, then you get the effect.
Get it.
lol.