Pardon my ignorance but how did the kites get further out to sea on a 20 knot cross on shore breeze.

EDIT: To address the negative rating I didn't mean it in a negative way just trying to work out how it happened, sometimes just going through the entire situation like you were in it helps think about the appropriate action. First thing I thought was the wind would have been cross on-shore I was wrong. Second thing, why the QR didnt work.

Hi Jeremy,

Some clarifications. I was flying the yellow 10 m Flysurfer tonight.

I landed my kite at Swannie at the end of the session when a fellow kiter pointed out a red kite deathlooping approximately 3 km's downwind. I saw a yellow kite going towards the kite and I thought that with 2 kiters, it should be relatively easy to help.

I launched and sprinted downwind towards both kites.

At mid course, the yellow kite was no longer flying, but i could still see the red kite death looping.

I reached the kiter dragged by the loopping red kite after possibly 10 minutes, maybe longer, off City Beach.
The yellow kite was tangled with the red kite. No sign of the kiter on the yellow kite.

I gave my knife to the kiter on the red kite, he cut his lines and freed both kites, and I dragged him back to the beach.

The kiter on the yellow kite swam back to the beach after his kite got tangled with the looping red kite.

Both red and yellow kites kept their courses downwind offshore.

Another fellow kiter took care of the three of us, all exhausted and drove us back to Swannie.
The kiter on the red kite was driven to the emergencies.

Spacemonkey, at this time, the wind was cross shore without any on shore component. The kite and kiter were definitely slightly going off shore.

Jeremy, thanks for keeping an eye on us, and for the offer of lending a kite. The person who sacrified his yellow kite to help might accept the offer.


Please assist if you see someone in distress. There is an happy end this time and that what's important. Get well soon to the red kiter!

Good winds,

Fred

Well done 007 ...You did really well. I am going to carry a knife to cut the lines in future. Never thought much about carrying a knife before but having seen yesterdays incident and heard your feedback ..it speaks for itself. I look forward to watching your epic jumps on your flysurfer and likewise i hope the red kiter makes a quick recovery.


Jeremy

Did you find out what caused the kite to start death looping? Also the guy couldnt unhook and pull QR if he had the time to grab the knife off you and use it? Not blaming anyone just curious. Top effort on the rescue.

Hey Guys,

Top work to Jeremy and Fver, sounds like an eventful afternoon, good stuff to all involved in the rescue. It's in these stronger winds that stuff can go wrong and a looping kite with a hapless rider is something that needs attention, especially that late in the afternoon.

We also rescued a rather concerned kiter who's strut had gone down causing his kite to invert, bowtie and get seriously tangled. He was about 1km out off Pinnaroo and once his kite went down and he couldn't self rescue due to the mess the canopy was in, we decided to launch the boat when we started having difficulty in keeping his kite in visual. 15min later we had the kite, board and rider back on the beach, half and hour later we were all drinking a few cold beers courtesy of the rescued rider and new friends were made.

Moral of the story is to keep an eye out on other riders whilst you are out there and render assistance when you can. Don't just assume someone else will offer to help. At the end of the rescue, you will feel all warm and fuzzy inside and you'll more than likely be compensated with liquid kiting currency

Good winds and speedy recovery to the red kiter and condolences for the red and yellow kiters loss. And thanks for the beers Steve

Congrats for the rescue effort guys ,
I too am wondering why he couldn't use the QR or unhook, perhaps one or more of the lines was caught on the harness or something and there was to much load on the lines.
I have only been kiting for a year or so and am definetly no expert so stand to be corrected but I had an experience similar to this ie on a self launch one rear line got caught around the wing tip and the kite came up looping. I let go of the bar and nothing happened, still looping and dragging me along the beach. I was ready but reluctant to pull the QR just yet as there was people downwind, I managed to pull like $*#@ on one of the front lines above the bar and this depowered the kite enough to stop it.
So I am wondering if this might be the best course of action if you are caught in this situation, of course it takes a bit of strength and would have to be done early before the lines are too twisted?
Or is the risk of getting your hand tangled in the lines to great?
P.S. because I like to kite in the waves one of my biggest fears is getting rolled in your lines in the surf, so I have two knives attached to my harness.

Top work to all concerned for even noticing this situation.

Just two days ago I pulled my knife out of my daggy old bump n jump vest to check it. I have noticed less and less folks wearing vests/helmets etc and I doubt if many at all carry a knife. In a situation like this, without the knife, the outcome may have been 3 dudes all tangled and up the creek!

Again top work fellas.

Anyone want to chip in $10 or so for the (attempted) rescuer's replacement? seems a real shame for a good effort to be punished...

Laurie can you marshall this?

I was actually hanging out in Charlie G's ED yesterday evening (as you do) after a wee accident involvenig a submerged rock and I saw 2 guys with wetties come in looking pretty shaken, I guessed you might be kiters, I hope you fellas are okay and recupertating well.

Its only when event like this arise do I pay attention to certain important aspects of safety - when was the last anybody checked out the conidtion of thier hook knife?? I dont even know if mine's in my harness anymore. Will do tonight though.

Well done to the lads involved with the rescue, that in itself can be a brave move if its starting to get late. Top marks.

Hi All,

I can not clarify too much about the cause of the looping kite.

The kiter could barely speak after the rescue and the cause of the accident is not clear to me.

I understood that some lines got caught in his safety system or his harness, which initiated the looping. He did pull the safety release. However, after some time kitelooping, the rider was too exhausted to do anything else than following the kite and hoping for the leading edge to burst.

It would be better to let the red kiter speak about this.

***
Red Kiter, I hope that you will get better soon.

Happy to help, and so happy to found you councious when I reached you


Fred

Holy frijoles!!

having been thrown around like a rag doll a few times, it doesn't take long to go limp and be struggling to release.. poor bugger. Having a knife may have given him something else to try.

Can WAKSA maybe organise a kitty for the rescuer's kite?

Afternoon all, myself and my girlfriend were wandering along floreat beach when we saw the kites about 600+m offshore, after a deciding that the kiters were still attached by the way the kites kept launching and crashing we asked the Floreat surf club guys for some help. They launched an IRB and chased down the kites right on dark. Said they found the red kite with no-one attached and no sign of the yellow kite. They returned after dark after chasing almost to Sorrento I would say! We were glad to hear from the water ploice that they had heard about the incident and that both people were believed onshore and safe. Good effort by the Floreat guys who were conducting raining. Cheers

Glad to hear everyone pulled up OK. So everyone is aware the Surf Rescue 'RIB' also went out to search for the distressed kiters. A few people at Floreat Beach were becoming concerned for the kiters and asked at the Surf Club to help out. On this occasion (as it was well after patrol period) there just happened to be a group doing their First Aid Certificates late at the Club and immediately set about to launch the RIB and search for the kiters. By the time the RIB was launched the sun was below the horizon and the kites (could not tell anymore if the kiters had ditched their kites or not), were way off Scarborough. The ranger and police were called and eventually all the stories integrated to reveal that almost certainly the kiters had made it ashore and were being taken to hospital. In the meantime runners set off down the beach, the Ranger turned up and the guys in the RIB found the discarded kites. One of the rescuers in the RIB lost his prescription glasses on the first wave through the breakers – snapped clean off. By the time the RIB was back ashore it was close to 9pm and the first aid group still had an exam to sit! A big thank you needs to go out to the “First Aid’ group at the Floreat Surf Club as well as the few spectators trying to raise the alarm. It shows how easy it is to get into trouble – that’s life; but also that there are many people willing to help when needed. Keep kiting and keep helping out

Did they get the kites back then?
See, the clubbies arent always that bad

fver - you are a legend - great story of self sacrifife to an unknown person but just a fellow kiter. the other guy is too he just needed saving in the end as end. imagine their untimely end had you not appeared. surely they'd be halfway to Christmas Island. moral of the story , carry a knife.... save yourself and goodbye to your kite on cross off days...

Another day, another couple of kites ...

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