This is my first season kiting. It's incredible fun, but also incredibly dangerous. My instructor taught me to respect the kite, but still I find myself doing things that are dangerous. When you are new, there are so many things to think about. It's really easy to not consider every risk and manage them all appropriately.

With the benefit of hindsight I can sometimes see when I've done something stupid. I try to make a mental note not to make that mistake again. But I still find myself repeating some mistakes. But one thing I am trying hard to learn and embed in my mind is that "distance is my friend".

Yesterday at Victoria Point a guy was trying to launch on the sand, but he was fairly close to a tree up on the bank. He was being assisted by a friend. In the strong wind, things went wrong and he got dragged across the sand. A guy I was talking with saw what was unfolding and sprinted towards the tree, yelling for the guy to pull his safety. Fortunately the guy pulled his safety in time as his kite flew into the tree. Could have been very disastrous.

This morning I read a thread about the guy at Sandgate yesterday who came unstruck in a big way. I presume he ended up in hospital. Hope he's OK.

I've read a few comments from experienced kite surfers criticizing inexperienced newbies for doing stupid things, for not realising how dangerous this sport can be. But the reality is, there will always be newbies. Without newbies, kites would be ten times more expensive. Actually, without newbies none of us would be in this forum. But for us newbies the dangers are possibly worse because often we don't even realise that they are there.

My instructor drummed it in to me "distance is your friend". Stay away from obstacles. When something goes wrong, sand is more forgiving than rocks, trees or any other hard obstacle.

There have been too many accidents where people have hit solid obstacles when something has gone wrong. Some of these accidents could have been avoided, if there was more distance between the kite and the obstacle.

I'd just like to stress the following point: If you are new, don't launch or land close to obstacles.

Yes this is difficult because the experienced kite surfers generally launch close to where they want to pack up. As newbies we might want to fit in with the crowd and do what the rest of the crowd is doing. I've done this a few times myself, but I never feel comfortable in the process.

I need to keep telling myself:
"it's more important to be safe than it is to fit in" and
"other kiters don't mind walking 100m from the grass to help me launch or land"

My question for this forum is: How experienced do you need to be before you can launch or land close to solid objects

AlphaBravo said..


My question for this forum is: How experienced do you need to be before you can launch or land close to solid objects

the possibility's are endless for a accident to occur even for pro's. even world champions forget to do a buckle or a clip here or there (particularly when testing new equipment) sometimes and sadly sometimes that results in fatalitys.

you need to have so many things ticked off your little safety list good to go groove whatever it is before you launch ANYWHERE net alone near an obstacle. and every site is different with its own set of rules and hazards.

the real question is why would you want to launch near a rock or hazard?

going to need to know your specific spot before can give any help with that really. just keep in mind a 10m kite can pull a 50 foot yacht and those 250-500kg lines will deglove your fingers

Simple answer to your question.
A........sometimes launching near hard objects is the only option.
B........sometimes people are lazy.

Yeah distance is your friend. But it may not be an option and It is one factor.
As an example I have one launch site that has a beach with down wind distance but ****ty gusty swirly wind because of an upwind cliff disturbing the wind. Or a spot that has cleaner wind that has obstacles close by. I choose the cleaner close obstacle option.

Yeah distance is your mate, but only when it's been at the right place, at the right time.

Try and kite off some of the beaches in Thailand? Hardly any room what so ever.

Kozzie said..

actually while im on about it.

im not trying to take the piss but some you blokes are getting on a bit.... can you start figureing out whose going to be the one writeing into the council everytime someone cracks a smile or walks with a spring in there step? because i cant see it among my circle of friends but every generation there must be a few so im trying to weed them out now figure out a cure or something for it before it happens to me or someone i know. ive given up trying to figure out what todays youth are doing when i heard the terms "youtuber or memer" used in a casual sentence, is that my first step into sending a mothball smellemail to the government going off my rocker about the hoverboarders being to noisey around the corner?

LOL What are you saying? We should dob in "happy" people!?