Yo, this was not "blown up" at all by Toby. I asked him yesterday to post on this because this is a problem that needs to be discussed, not swept under the rug.

I sat and watched for a bit, thinking it would be a good opportunity for these two to learn a lesson about staying away from other riders. Then the TurboDiesel started to loop, so I walked out. Even then, it didn't look like a big deal from shore but once I waded out I realized it was a clusterf*ck out there on the water. Neither newbie knew what to do to shut the kites down. Trent saved the day by riding in like the Lone Ranger and grapping the TurboDiesel after it hit the water after a kiteloop. Trent probably prevented damage to both kites, because the loops were putting a lot of pressure on the Waroo canopy and the TurboDiesel would have likely looped into some rocks or trees had it made it to shore.

The wind was light when the tangle happened, but that was a gratuity. We were all waiting for some heavy wind to switch on with sunset approaching. I had rigged and was riding a 12m. Had the wind come up as expected, this situation would have gotten sketchy fast and I would have been running away from those kites versus trying to get in there and get things untangled.

When I go to the 16m Waroo that was down, I could see that the Slingshot bar was caught up in its bridle, hence the kiteloops. There were lines all around me and I started to regret going out there when the TubroDiesel looped. There was power in it and both the Waroo rider and I were getting dragged. I had Waroo lines all over me pretty fast and I was thinking, "here we go again," with thoughts of my 2005 kitemare that involved getting dragged by two kites.

I don't think either of the newbies were being rabid *ssholes, but there was an air of nonchalance about the whole thing from them, like this is a normal part of kiteboarding. It isn't. This type of problem is what killed Silke Gorldt. Tangling with someone else's kite should be taboo in this sport, not a "small situation."

I think inexperience caused this, but trying to learn is not a good reason to go out and cause a reckless kitemare. The newbie woman looped her kite a few times and got dragged when she first tried to launch it at the start of her session and did not look comfortable flying the kite. She also came pretty close to hitting Adam with her kite before getting tangled with the other newbie. She was very friendly but I will avoid her on the water for the time being like the plague and I would be hesitant to launch her kite after what I saw yesterday.

The tide was not all that high yesterday afternoon. Riders with this kind of skill level, once they are comfortable flying their kites, need to head out to the sand bar and not get bunched up near the shore to minimize the chance of these kind of kitemares. Further, they should then stay away from other riders, especially other beginners. Bows and SLEs don't depower worth a shit when they are wrapped up together. Those two newbies just got lucky that the wind didn't jump by 8 knots after they got tangled.