Maybe the wise sage that is Saffer does know what he is talking about.

yeah - he should write a book

And the NORTHS have it.

Another north - across the road and over the powerlines (Sunday 24/3 afternoon)

People need to realise if something is going wrong - it is best to release to your safety - much better than being dragged across a road and into/over powerlines.

Surely not... Those north riders are pretty much all sponsored riders.... :p

None of the above.

KBV are watching, but ... well.. it's really not up to them or any other representative. It should be up to us to sort it out and for trainers to educate, educate and continue educating about safety and protocol.

I dare say, Altona or any other beach for that matter will not get closed, even if there is another fatality there. How many people get run by jet skis a year? How many even die on our roads? A lot more. Priorities for those things are much higher than someone in gov or lga stepping up and saying... 'right we'll put up signs here and there... we'll start an education campaing... we'll start a monthly forum... we'll police the beaches, etc..". It just won't happen sadly.

No, the real "solution" to all this is simply educating each other. ie. approach noobs, offer advice, offer best practice, etc.

Big eeeZeee said...
They may not close the beach but they can sure as hell ban all kiteboarding along it.

As I see it, there is a limited time before bans get imposed at altona and even possibly Brighton. There's no way to keep the tards/noobs from ****ing up the sport unless some form of licensing comes into play.

I mostly agree but can't we take a less drastic action than licences.
It's just the proximity of the road and power lines at this spot that requires attention.

Big eeeZeee said...

Rob S said...

Big eeeZeee said...
They may not close the beach but they can sure as hell ban all kiteboarding along it.

As I see it, there is a limited time before bans get imposed at altona and even possibly Brighton. There's no way to keep the tards/noobs from ****ing up the sport unless some form of licensing comes into play.

I mostly agree but can't we take a less drastic action than licences.
It's just the proximity of the road and power lines at this spot that requires attention.

no it's not just the power lines. If that incident was at brighton beach on a hot summers day they would have slammed their kite into someone on the beach. hey accidents happen, but when you have no ****ing clue that's a whole other thing

Perhaps you should enlighten the clueless. How will this licence sytem operate?

Yeah, it's a tough one, it can go from good to bad real quick. I'm at the end of my first season, and haven' thad anything too bad go my way, but I still go through a routine of touching my QR and touching my leash release before I launch... just to remind me where the hell it is by feel.

Still doubt my chances of actuating it if it all went to buggery.

suprok said...
I know the feeling - first few seconds when disaster strikes you often think you can bring things under control & not destroy your kite/hit car/etc - by then your 50m across the beach.

It happened to me yesterday. Off I took of into a nice smooth ride but I was not able to edge the board upwind well enough and I raced towards the beach. BANG! I face planted the sand and was tea-bagged up the beach. All within like 5 seconds! By the time I even had my hand on the quick release I was already in the bushes. Luckily there was no one around to get hurt from my kite (and more importantly a witness to my noobness!!!). I managed to self launch and get back into the water, abeit with a few cuts. Cest la vie.

As soon as I saw myself heading into trouble - QUICK RELEASE!!!

It happens and it happens to the best of us too (yes you too Stevo, Carl, etc! I remember hehe)

But please lets not blame it all on the noobs. They should know what to do, but if they look like they don't - go up and say hi.

suprok said...

matto said...
And the NORTHS have it.

Another north - across the road and over the powerlines (Sunday 24/3 afternoon)

People need to realise if something is going wrong - it is best to release to your safety - much better than being dragged across a road and into/over powerlines.

Was a mate of mine, still learning - he was in shock & very embarrassed about it. We were out when the wind died, came in, chatted & small front kicked in (this was around 6pm I think).

I launched his kite, watched it go up, turned around & walked towards mine. Then saw someone running towards me & heard a shout - turned back around to see him getting dragged towards the road.

It all happened so quickly; he eventually released the safety - luckily only a cut ankle & dented pride. Kite & lines were ok as well. Somehow his middle lines had become knotted and he couldn't de-power.

I had a chat to him about the need to release safety as first priority.

I know the feeling - first few seconds when disaster strikes you often think you can bring things under control & not destroy your kite/hit car/etc - by then your 50m across the beach.

Don't know what the solution is other than education - mistakes happen, it can be a dangerous sport. I know when I was learning my kite ended in the trees a few times (down at Sandy Point though, no powerlines).

Assisted launch and he still ended up getting dragged down the beach? How about you tell him to check his lines and bar before giving you the thumbs up. Back to st kilda for him I say

random101said...
F'in idiot.

I have every right to be pissed off newbs should be getting proper lessons in a safe environment - altona is not for begginers for this reason and there are plenty of instructors that are competent in instructing who won't turn around when there newb friend is flying and watch them go into power lines.

Some people need to calm the fark down & get all the facts before they shoot their mouth off. Now I remember why I don't post here.

Firstly I was not giving lessons & secondly he is not a complete newb. I mentioned he is still learning as it's his first season; he's had proper lessons, is very competent, can do jumps, backrolls, transition jumps etc. He has a land kiting background and is very conscious of the safety aspect.

I posted the details to show how quickly things can go pear shaped. The main lines themselves were fine - there was a weird knot/twist thing right at the hole through the bar - he didn't notice it. After the kite launched it went to 12 & all was good - he was walking to his board, I turned to get my kite. Then small gust hit.

Should I have waited a few more seconds, probably; should he have checked the lines more carefully, yes. Should he have punched the safety immediately, definitely. Mistakes happen & hard lessons are learned.

winter said...
Launching where you are not supposed to be!!

Yes, I'll cop that we were _just_ past the trees - we had dropped the kites when the wind died. Didn't register that we were slightly further down from where we originally launched.

What happened with the suggestion of using that sand island at the end of Esplanade road to launch/and from? I've checked it out and whilst it looks a little prickly, it looks more appealing than powerlines or trees.

When the tides in (and one doesn't have 200m of flat beach front) it would be by far and away my preferred place to launch from.

Discuss.