Many thanks to the Sydney Water Police and Volunteers of BB Coastguard for their assistance today at Kurnell. A nasty gust of NNE ( according to BOM about 38 knots )nailed five kiters who were enjoying an 18 to 25 NNE .

I found myself being tea bagged downtowards the nature reserve ( BIG THANKS TO RICK for driving around to pick me up - saving a looooong walk back ) and THANKYOU COASTGUARD for recovering my board which worked its way over to the oyster lease.
The POLICE and Coastguard VOLUNTEERS also assisted another kiter who found himself near the oyster patch.

I will be around at the Police HQ and Coastguard HQ during the week to thank Karen and Rob properly - very very very nice people - thank you from all of us.

cheers
col

glad it worked out ok.

Was northerly almost all day in the gong. most gusty wind ive ever been in. even worse then usual SW'ers. was going from hardly being able to waterstart to diving the kite and suddenly becoming airborne. did 3 or 4 tacks and gave up.

should have driven to gerroa instead of sitting at home waiting for it to turn NE all day.

Just curious
Was any of you guys out on 5th line kites and lived to tell the tale?

There were a couple of us out a blacksmiths beach today, just up the road from norah head which had similar wind today at about 5 pm.

It looks like we were out in gusts of just under 40kts and decided to pack up and just missed the some gusts over 40kts

We were on 12s with 5th & one 11 4line, and weren't getting tea baged.

ric

Thanks Kev and yes very rude of me to forget about the KINGS of KURNELL KOUNTRY and their assistance to myself and George in returning our lines to normality after their dance with the spagetti bowl. THANKS fellas - I would still be in the park soughting out the mess if not for your help. There is no doubt about it -- KITING has introduced me to a great sport and an even greater bunch of mates - crikey its a good life isn't it... Beer on me next time I'm there boys..

Nothing like some wind to bring out the best in people.

Gusts are scarry, you just never know how fast they hit and how stong they may be. It is just so important to be far from shore. 40 knots is lots of wind on a 12.

All I can say is it was carnage.I did not see it coming , the gust hit me with that much power , I had no chance all I could do was hightail it back to shore as I watched my board drift away in the distance, not a nice feeling.

Who ever invented the fifth line is a genious without it I would have been ****ed.I would have to say the fifth line is still the safest safety system on the market because I was coming into shore a million miles an hour pulled the safety and held onto the fifth line with the kite 100% depowered.

As I looked around evey other kiter was getting teabagged and the frustrating thing was looking from the shore and not being able to do anything about it.A big thanks to the waterpolice for their quick response, the kurnell boys and of course GEORGE for saving my board.

It just makes you realise you are never fully in control when kiting and to always respect mother nature and never take unecessary risks.

G'day Col

I was getting ready to drag the boat out but I heard you were all ok, had no idea who was involved.
Please come and see me with your bar and lines I want to sort out that Ironheart before you use it again. I can always give you the one off my demo, so you won't miss any watertime.
Make sure you give me your mobile number when you are in next please.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve McCormack

Wazza,

What about me?

I got my arse kicked harder than is has been for a while. Riding a 14m R4 with a home made 5th line setup. Overpowered more than I have ever been on that kite, so I ditched it. 5th line did its job mostly, but the kite flapping around still had enough pull to drag my sorry arse up the wet sand a couple of meters on my back (over a 30s period). To make things worst the leash (an old naish one which I had extended and moved the release point away from my back to "make it easier to release") had tied its self in a knot in the handle on my harness and I couldnt release it. Pretty happy I had a Prolimit harness with a releasable spreader bar on which I promptly took off, just before someone grabbed the kite.

The gusts at Norah Head which is visible from Toowoon were upto 45kts - 80km/h.

Definately made me re think the safety situation. The set up had been tested fine in winds up to 25 knots before, not sure whether the pull could be further minimised by modifying the setup of the 5th line. Im pretty confident that the system is set up with the stopper just before the point at which the kite starts flying inverted. However even holding the kite on the beach was a mission. Maybe its better to go back to the 4 line system? But I really like the 5th line system, for its resistance to tangling when you are droping the bar learning something new. Definately will be replacing the leash with something nice and fat.

Cya

Pete