Unfortunately another tragic accident!
www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=4394465http://www.kiteforum.com/phpbb/view...=asc&highlight= Subject: RE: [lhg] Missing Sailor (Kite Surfer) -- I was there and it all went wrong.
I was there and dealt with the situation moment-by-moment with the "rescue" team. I was at Long Beach watching my friend, a windsurfer, struggle with the wind. After about 10 minutes with the wind (on a 6.5m sail) my friend made it back to shore. At the time my friend was still in the water, the kiter was 1/2 way from the beach to the visable tip of the breakwater (about 150 feet maybe) from shore when he could not fly his kite. He was leaning on the kite as he drifted down wind (east). I think that he could have swum to shore at that point since he just hit the water and should have still been warm.
Seeing him float down wind, I notified a police car on patrol at about 5:10 that two people were originally in the water and that the windsurfer was out but that the kiter was stuck and needed help. I walked with the officer to the beach and pointed out he kiter. At that point, he was about ? mile down wind and ? mile offshore. At the same time, the police received another call from someone on the beach. I had the only pair of binoculars and watched the kiter in the water until about 5:40 when his kite was blowing around, which to me meant that he was no longer able to hold on to the kite. The Bridgeport marine police arrived about 12 minutes later.
Between 5:10 and 5:40 I was with the emergency personnel. The police assured me that the boat was leaving Stratford marina as we spoke. Another guy who lived on the beach said he had a boat and motor and could go rescue the kiter. (It was unclear whether the boat and motor were ready to go, but it seemed that he may have needed to do something to get out there). The police told him that the boat was coming out and the beach house owner said he would shine a light on the water to illuminate the kiter.
During the wait, I was watching the kiter with my binoculars and asked the police two times about the rescue boat from Stratford. I was trying to ensure that it was on its way. I was twice assured that it was, although don't recall ever hearing the officer reconfirm that with the dispatcher. Well, it never did arrive and ultimately the Bridgeport police marine boat made it to the site. The police officer that I was with was unable to communicate with the marine police directly (I had asked since I could have helped them find the kiter since he was still in my binocular view, although it was now getting dark. It would have been unnecessary though, as they found his kite directly upon arrival in the area). As it turns out, the local paper explained that the Stratford rescue team had its own problems. One guy got chest pain and had to be taken to the hospital and the rescue boat itself broke down in route. The paper quotes the rescue team as saying that they didn't have the
right equipment for the "rough seas" although from my vantage point, it was not rough. The wind was not consistently strong and the wind was off shore to side off shore, thus not creating much wave from a windsurfer and life long boaters perspective. The boat they had was a 14" Zodiac, certainly large enough. I think that the real issue was the motor just died.
From my view, I think that is was highly likely that his death was avoidable.
As I reflect on the situation, I have a few observations. We sail or kite understanding that there are risks and we are primarily responsible for our own wellbeing. The kiter made a critical mistake, he didn't want to leave his kite and get to shore when he apparently had the chance.
A windsurfer on the water with the right equipment for the wind, with the right experience could have easily saved his life during the initial 30 minutes. Too bad there was no one on the water to do that.
As to the rescue effort, at first I thought that they totally blew it since they called off a guy who had a boat on the beach, but in hindsight, maybe they were just foiled by bad events and the job was there's to do. If Stratford had a better suited boat for rescues (deep V for wave conditions) with perhaps two engines, such as Fairfield police have, they may have saved this man's life.
This is a very sad situation for us all and the kiters are particularly vulnerable to this situation since if they are stranded, there is simply no way to get back to shore other than swimming. For sure it shouldn't stop us from going out, but we do need to play it safe, dump your rig when necessary, stay close to shore and buddy up.
regards marco
