G'day,

After my last few sessions, and 2 big crashes, i wanna know if my crashes are normal, HUGE, or just plain ghey! So let us all know some of your nice crashes, stacks, face-plants, close-calls, trips up onto the sand or rocks, etc etc...

Here's mine:

Got up on the board (i am a n00b) and went along for a few meters befor i forgot to turn the kite back up and keep the power on, so as i tried to turn the kite, i fell off the board.....big deal u say....but in the time i was not lookin at the kite, i had put the kite into a dive which turned into a loop (well almost a full loop according to spectators) and it picked me up with a weird spining sensation, noticed i was upside-down well above the water, then i took off across the water at what felt like a million miles an hour, coming to an end when the kite crashed into the water about 60m later.....no thanks to my jammed recon system (read other forum thread) that i was yanking on the whole time.

INJURY STATUS: physically ok apart from ingesting a large quantity of saltwater...maybe a fish or two and lookin dumb infront of some spectators who all had a good laugh at me

LESSON LEARNT: let go of bar when crashing, and if so, pull safety!

Anyways thats my latest lil incident, hope to hear some good stories, i am sure you more experienced guys would have some nice big crashes to share wif us.

Sheppo..

Good stories guys, I've had those near death things back then also...but you asked for it..so here goes my latest stupidity.

Called a mate last week to show him the magic of Woodies. Got down there, good wind and all the best kiters in WA...we were in heaven. Checked wind and looked strong, all pros had 10-12m kites up and convinced that it was still going up. Anyhow, I suggested to my mate that we walk up to the spit (rather than fly like the pros because we are just so scarred) and take both kites, so we can decide which size to put up.

After a long walk we finally got to the magic spot..and it stunk to high hell.....rotting seaweed....ugg. So, not only was my mate now all tired out, but we were in the most awful place to launch. Not to worry....... put up our 15 and 14m thingys, launched and went out...me first of course.

It was just great out there, but wind coming down....so I felt like I made the right decision. So there I am, with all these pros., knowing that I'm powered and having a blast......next thing...I'm feeling cocky....kite tip catches water and over she goes. Not to worry.... been there before....(have a low aspect easy to relaunch kite)....and the wind begins to drop.

Next, I realize that in my exuberence I have gone out for a deep tack and would drift past "the factory" pier if I did not get the beast up soon..........no worries, been there too. Grab the board and leash it to my person, cool...1'st prob. solved...)don't loose expensive gear). Next, I let go of the bar using the Slingshot push button...easy....wind still dropping and me drifting towards the sea. Then, totally sure, (because I have done this at least 10 times before).............I grab the leash line to retrieve the bar.

But what do I do!!!!!!!!!!!!! And for the second time (first one at Melville...where that angel Dale cooly let the air out of the beast and saved it), I grabbed the final release....(doing it under water where I couldn't see). For those, unfamiliar with the Slingshot Rapid Fire, you must grab the leash line AFTER>>>>>>DAMM IT, after the RED emergency.

So, once again I have the beast drifting away from me....but wind dropping....so I try and swim after it......just about there..y'all know the story. Exhaused, but panicked....because who knows what the wind will do these days...I was going to whatever it took to catch the beast before it hit the beach, houses, power lines or whatever. Ran and swam for a good 2.5 hrs....lucky the wind kept dropping, and a beautiful woman rescued the beast before it got eaten by the mob fishing on the pier.

Long walk of shame, but with smile on, as someone was looking out for me.......

Stupid and embarasing.....

Hi Guys,

I'm not convinced the forum is the best place for our scary, dangerous stories. The forum is open to everyone not just kiters. That means councils, police, insurance agencies etc can also hop on and take a look. What do you think their opinion would be of kiters as a group if everyone posted their 'horror' story? We know we got out of our situation OK and usually didn't put others at risk but non-kiting readers could easily get the wrong message.

It's an awful thought that non kite-related readers might see these stories out of context and it could end up working against us. This actually happened during WAKSA's battle to keep kiting open at Cott, one of the key Cottesloe councilors on the committee to deal with us regularly visited the forums and got all the dirt on us!

We know compared to the total hours spent kiting by every kiter in the country that incidents are few and far between, but it could easily be perceived as otherwise if all our little mishaps get catalogued in one place. We all discuss our errors and undesirable experiences on the beach and over beers anyway, maybe we shoud keep it that way.

Just my thoughts...

Jess

Hold on a minute JESS and KH...what's the definition of a "forum," where does it come from?

As a none-local...I can not answer that question. Let us get phyilosophical though...I'm sure there are many lawyer kiters who could get in to this one.

Hoo Roo

It seems the only way people learn is from other people's stupid mistakes. It it a good idea I think, and if anyone makes one of these mistakes after reading this, they deserve what they get.

"Learn from others' mistakes, because you can't make them all yourself"

L

Have faith in people.........99.99999999% are cool and consciencious but shyte happens. One of the foundations of the power of groups is openness through discussion...just look at history. The cool thing about the net is that it allows like-sport-minded people to help each other at no cost.......and of course have fun and look afer itself (the gruop...or "tribe"...we are ALL on the same page when it comes to preserving what is so precious to us.

Let the wind come...

And Eat Chocolate.........HAPPY EASTER

Hoo Roo

Hey Guys,

May be you didn't read this part of Jess' reply?

quote:

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Originally posted by Jess


This actually happened during WAKSA's battle to keep kiting open at Cott, one of the key Cottesloe councilors on the committee to deal with us regularly visited the forums and got all the dirt on us!

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This actually happened! By advertising the fact that we have near death experiences and close calls involving the public, we just add fuel to the fire that burns against us.

This may come as a bit of a shock some of you, but we aren't very popular with the aurthorities. We are a pain to the police, the life savers, councils and C.A.L.M., fisherpersons, sailors, surfers, windsurfers, bird conservationists and most other beach users to name but a few. About the only recreational group which sits lower in favour than us, is the jet skiers, and look how regualted they are.

We are still a VERY SMALL MINORITY compared to surfing which is a massive sport in terms of commercial interest, recreation, tourism, and providing jobs in our commmunity. Their sport gives back to the community in a big way. I know kiting does too, but in a tiny scale.

All we are suggesting is keeping a bit of a lid on it, this could backfire on you and may end up putting your local beach access at risk, then what, go crying to WAKSA to help you?

Just think about it, thats all!

Good winds to all

My vote is for open and uncensored forums. Its important the full information is transparently available to all. Yes we all want to protect our sport - but I don't believe any form of "protectionism" or censorship is really benefital in the long term.

My biggest set back came from being over enthusiastic and not heeding the ground rules: don't go out in winter after a storm has passed by, don't go out in direct onshore winds, don't go out alone. I was busting to get out to extend my skills, and even though I'm very safety concious, I easily rationalised my way around these ground rules and placed myself in the way of danger. While I was cutting an edge very close to shore and trying to get out past the waves I was lofted very high, very quickly, and my kite dumped me head first onto the beach. I felt like I'd been run over by a truck and thought I'd broken my back. I actually had broken my neck and with damage right along from C3,C4,C5,C6,T1,T2 vertebra. Its agonising lying in a hospital bed not allowed to move a muscle for hours, which drag into a days, and longer. Try laying totally still for even 6 hours. It is physical agony. Your not allowed to be fed anything but fruit juice and you can only listen to people around you because you eyes can only see dead ahead at one blank spot on the ceiling.

I was very luckly and have made a 100% recovery. If my kite had kept looping I would simply have become as piece of numb jelly. So I really do consider myself to be one of the luckiest men you will ever meet. Of couse I couldn't wait to get back out kiting and I totally love the sport BUT ...

... it physically sickens me to see people being cocky in shallow water and watching beginners launching or losing control close to the beach. There are clear, <yes the "C.L.E.A.R." guidelines published by WAKSA> basic ground rules which I think will become "standard drill" in years to come as our sport matures. For the moment I think we all have a responsiblity to look out and to speak out for our fellow kiters safety by:
(i) if your an experienced kiter realise that what you do does set an example which others will copy,
(ii) if you see a newby who's just bought his first kite out of the Quokka then take some time out to make friends and shephard them, given them the guidelines and recommend them to a kiteschool for a quick and safe learning curve,
(iii) get WAKSA registered.

Graeme

If some one wants the stats on kite Accidents, then there are a range of forums to visit, comercial interests should not determin the content of this forum, keep it open and free, most people will learn from other kiters bad experience. I guess the word "Instructor" didnt go down well?????

well my accident didnt quite happen whilst kitesurfing....
but anyway
whilst on a KITESURFING HOLIDAY in lancelin the wind let us down so we went to the pub
as you do
after a few beers retired to the backpackers and challenged ourselves to a game of ping pong
it was quite a competition and in all the excitement whilst JUMPING to get the ball i slammed into the pergola and bruised my back and did my shoulder
wind came in the next day and i couldnt kite properly
worst kitemare ever!!

WELL ...from both the above two

It would seem that getting yourself banged-up does nothing at all for your kiting
No matter what game you are playing when it happens

but hey - lookin at them arrows - everyone may as well be pregnant today

you should have timed it between seasons...
milehigh and i have discussed bambinos and there is no way im missing out on a season...
conceive jan or feb ... ready by nov... something like that
is it possible to get a forecast a year in advance???

quote:

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Originally posted by nonikkers
conceive jan or feb ...

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YEAH Right ... you'll be too busy kiting in Jan/Feb

Sitting at home waiting for the wind to get up is the most dangerous thing you can do. You might have to do the gardening or go shopping or some other close call.

If pregnancies and drunken ping pong crashes are allowed I'm sure I can relate my experience. 5 weeks ago I arm wrestled a mate at work and I just found out today from talking to a surgeon (I should say, after 2 doctor's consultations, an x-ray, an ultrasound, a bone scan, and 2 surgeons consultations) that I damaged a couple of tendon attachments - The ones requried for wrist extension.
I haven't got much grip strength either and it's painful to put the hand into certain positions required to fly a kite (I know this because I've "tested it" a couple of times and failed miserably), but fortunately no surgery is required. The surgeon said it could take 12-18 months to heal itself as tendons take a long time apparently and I'm to give up arm wrestling and kite surfing for a while and try to stay out of trouble. At least I can't complain about the timing.

Going back to Tina's pregnancy. Surely Darren should have posted that as one of his accidents!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck guys