There is a theory being espoused which suggests that the centre strut of a kite (that's the middle one),
directly causes catastrophic failure to a kite in the event of a severe crash.
It is thought by some folks that a stiff centre strut (one that has been pumped up to max inflation),
causes the kite-canopy to rip from trailing edge to leading edge after a hard crash, due to the inability of the kite to collapse at the middle and thus absorb the shockwave.
These same folks advise riders to under-inflate the centre strut to enhance the crumple effect.
Having a kite with no centre strut is also an alternative way to avoid this problem.

Interesting theory - got any evidence?

The most common failure in foils is the cell wall splitting from front to rear as a result of the shockwave. It often goes unnoticed by some people. It's an easy repair to do.

It only ever got hard to repair if it went into the leading edge. Then it was a bastard trying to sew around the curve and get all the mylar bits right.

Anyway, that's beside the point. Shockwave failures have been around since power kiting began and people would crash their foils nose down. Makes a nice boom.