Lucky to be alive...kitemare gone really bad.

[Coach]

Alright guys...my reason for posting was to simply thank the guys who came to my aide and let them know how thankful I am. What happened to me could have happened to anyone from newbie to experienced safe rider with years of experience - like me. It could not have been predicted or prevented in that the bridle lines to this kite were intact and not comprised to the naked eye. IF there is a tool out there that measures the strength and integrity of bridle and/or flying lines, let me know. IF there is, I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANY RIDER IN THE AREA USE ONE. You can't predict something like this. I take great care of all of my gear and inspect it regularly, particularly, my bar/lines/larksheads leaders, bridle attachment points, etc. Probably more than most. And, those of you who know me I am sure don't view me as a kook, dangerous on inexperienced rider. I am an educated person and a world class athlete who played professional tennis and coached on tour for over 20 years between the two. I am not a moron. So, please - if you have something productive and not critical to say, something about gear or lines, etc, let me know. But don't evaluate me as a rider, nor my practices as a rider - unless you know me and ride with me. IF there is a way to practice self rescue under these conditions, when a 12 meter kite has a bridle line snap and begins to loop at an insane rate at 20-25 knots and you are unable to break away the kite, in this situation, let me know. Otherwise, don't pass judgement on something you could never know about unless you went through it yourself. Thanks.

Bill you are wasting your breath. There are always a bunch of reasons why it won't happen to them (only because it hasn't yet).

I had a very similar experience 3+ years ago and it was one of the happiest days of my life ... when I realized I was still alive.

Really surprised you are not dead after hearing the story in detail.

Man am I glad that tree was there.

Drink a tall one and plant a tree in thanks.

Bill. I don't think anyone is being critical of you. I sure hope you don't think I am. Basically I am saying safety gear sucks and 2 minutes wouldn't have afforded you time to "get out". I think a few others are saying that they would recommend checking lines etc. as a precaution to other forum readers (not you). That's how I read it anyway. I realize how frustrating it is too get screwed by your kite when you didn't do much/nothing wrong. I would have knifed and burned that thing by now myself.

I have gone on three rides similar to yours. I wasn't at fault on any of them, imo. (Two of them had back line OS leash attachments).
I think our safety gear is still in the dark ages. The industry isn't too concerned with safety or setting standards, so what happens is we are left guessing what is safer than something else. It's obvious to me if we had great safety gear that yesterday wouldn't have happened and you wouldn't think we are being critical. The gear was just lacking, not you.

[Unimog Bob]

Hey Bill,
I'm glad to hear you are on the mend. I was glad to do what I could to help. I know you would have done the same for any of us. I wish there was more we could have done. It was tough to watch knowing there was nothing we could do to reach you in time to stop you. You fought like hell to get loose the whole way. I'll be looking forward to riding with you again soon.

[Coach]

Thanks Tom and Bob...I appreciate it. I didn't mean to sound like a dick to anyone else. Still a little bit groggy and not used to being inside all day. Sucks. Yeah, Tom, I have rewound the situation in my head over and over again. Scott said he thought it lasted 10 to 12 seconds. I have to think it was longer, based on the distance, the speed at which I was being dragged AND the fact that Bob told me that the kite hit the water twice for about 2-3 seconds, over the distance of at least 700 yards - I checked it out on Google Earth. I had enough time to realize when the kite wasn't going to stay in the water and the direction I was heading - I even thought about the traffic believe it or not - that I was f'd. There was nothing stopping that kite.

I am going to hammer a flippin cross on that tree and do a better job celebrating Arbor Day in the future.

[Coach]

No Scott...i don't think you were being critical at all. Plus, you ride with me all the time and know that I am a safe and respectful rider, or least try to be. I think I am still a little groggy and pissed off at being stuck inside. That is why I apologized (in advance) in the next post. No offense taken or perceived. Thanks again. I am fine.

[kiteUSF]

Just read the post. I was actually driving over the skyway after getting my broken rib looked at when I saw toby really close to the road. This must have been right after it happened. Glad to hear you are alright.

[Coach]

and to top this shit all off, the freakin fire ants got me as i was crawling in Bob's car. Nasty bites on my foot. What a day.

I personally found that sort of humorous. Here is a guy that just got worked, arm lacerated, etc. He is dealing with the pain pretty well.
Then... some little ants bite him.. YOWEEEE.... I hear.
That's when I knew you were gonna make it.

[toby wilson]

Yep, that was right after the accident, I recovered Bill's board, then went downwind to see how badly he was hurt because I could get back upwind with my kite much faster than anyone on land to let someone know if he was critically injured to call an ambulance. Thank god that was not the case.

Bill, I don't think that there is ANY rider in this community that could have handled the situation any better than you did yesterday (including Billy Parker). You ARE a kook though. Just kidding! Your experience paid off, you stayed calm, tried multiple times to release yourself from the kite and luckily were not too close to shore when it happened so you had a few seconds to think although you were being drug under so I am sure that thinking was out the window and your instinct just kicked in.

ANYONE who wants to put this on something that Bill did or did not do is just foolish and pulling the blinders over their eyes. ***t happens out there, you cannot predict when, where, or how it will happen. I have had my share of kitemares over the past 3 years, I have been lucky that they were not as bad as Bill's, Tom's, Bayflite's Josh's or Christopher's. Gear gets old and you don't notice, heck sometimes BRAND NEW equipment fails.

Props to Bill for doing what he could yesterday in the little bit of time that he had to make descisions, in my opinion he is a great example of what our area riders are all about.