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Old 02-20-2007, 09:16 PM
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ricki ricki is offline
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From another perspective ...

Towing up to 150 ft., extreme right?
No, not when compared to 1500 ft. on proper gear.

To view it as otherwise is to get totally jacked by boosting a FIVE FOOT jump as compared to a fifty footer with kite gear.

Fly for real or make due with serious limiting handicaps. It's all relative and worth thinking over.





and another parting thought reposted from the kiteforum thread:

Quote:
Originally Posted by RickI
Looking at our fatalities, it is hard to dump all the dumb moves on kids. It seems that the opposite in years past was more the case. I was doing some pretty extreme stuff at 16, single tank bounce diving to 270 ft. to O2 toxicity in Cozumel and suffering my first minor DCS hit in the Bahamas on a 250 ft. dive the same year. My partners were very experienced adult commercial/scientific divers, not by accident however. Risky stuff, sure was but at least I tried my best to learn what it was all about, emergency procedures, physiology, deco theory, barotrauma symptoms, first aid and I tried to use the best available gear and techniques at the time. Primitive stuff to be sure in the early 70's but it was a priority. You know, like my life depended on it, which it did. The same can be said about kiting. Kids can be insightful and reasonably cautious if they are of a mind to and if they are guided in that direction. The same can be said of some but sadly not all adults.

Life isn't about staying totally safe at all times and in all ways, at least not the way I like to live it and many others among us I suspect. I feel learn what you are getting into, how to handle yourself, train/prepare, gear up right and have at it within reasonable limits. Accidents will happen, people will get unlucky and sometimes folks will die. That is the way of things. It is the more obvious, readily avoidable, oft mistakenly titled "freak accidents" that I would like to see far fewer of. The most severe variety may be diminishing in conventional kiteboarding. Better for the potential victims, riders at large and our sport in general.

I don't consider myself a hang gliding expert however doing boat towups for 14 years with proper gear and procedures things stick with you. I have been studying kiting failures and accidents far more in depth along with experiencing a number of my own incidents. From this experience I view towing up with kiting gear that I am currently familiar with as unduly hazardous by comparison to other established tow up mechanisms. I view it as serious, obvious and avoidable accidents waiting to happen, not as a whim or light conclusion but based upon quite a bit of time in the saddle. For what it is worth. The frequency of accidents as always will be driven by the number doing it along with other obvious factors. If few do it, there will be fewer accidents. If they keep it low key, there should be lessor fallout on our sport and the rest of us. Tow ups might be more feasible but the gear, safety systems and procedures have to evolve.

Hang glider lockout on tow in pictures. This guy is literally being pulled/flown at high speed into the ground with things out of
his control at that point. A kite can does the same thing when allowed to do so by using a tether or tow cable, possibly at very
high speed and force of impact.



From: http://westcoastbrit.blogspot.com/20...xperience.html

Here is an aerotow hang gliding clip. Once things when south you can see the glider heading off in the opposite direction of tow and as a result being pulled at greater force in the wrong direction. The glider eventually inverts but is landed safely thanks to the pilots skill and cool head.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn4cTQH743E

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Last edited by ricki; 09-25-2015 at 12:33 PM.
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