kite-surfing accident off of the Dunedin Causeway

[ricki]

Hey Scott,

Sorry for the poor accuracy and apparent bias in the reporting. There is a tendency in the media for that however the severity will vary among publications. Overall though I though your comments reflected fairly well on the sport.

I never spoke to Keith Morelli, had messages to contact him nor had I heard of him before seeing this article tonight. I am mystified as to what all his gross misquotes are based upon. The statistics included are incorrect to my recollection, some amazingly so. For instance there were NO FATALITIES in the USA in kiteboarding in 2003 or in 2000 that I know of. As to total accidents in the USA in ANY year, I have no idea. Wonder if he attempted to read the KSI with one eye closed, gathering grossly incorrect totals and publishing them in possible violation of the Copyright and terms of use. That wouldn't be very professional and as to fact checking?. I just left a voice mail for Mr. Morelli seeking a better understanding of what he printed and the basis for it. Scott, at least he spelled your name correctly. Although, all things considered I don't really mind his screwing that up in my case.

Anyway, the media at work. It does make you wonder about news from Iraq.

Here is my email to him.

Keith,

This is Scott Fears.
I read the article about kiting "Accidents on the Rise" and it has a few misquotes. I mainly care about one and it actually has me very upset.

I never said that if a smaller kite was up Chris wouldn't be in the hospital. I don't even know what size kite he had up when the accident occurred, so it is literally impossible for me to make that determination.
Did you take notes, or just guess about what I said?

Please remove that quote. I focussed solely on the proximity to power lines in our discussion toward Chris and his accident.
I would appreciate it if the proximity to powerlines (something that can be controlled by decision processes) is focussed on more than the gust coming (the whole reason we control our distance from objects). There is no way Chris would have known on that day that a gust line was coming, especially with his experience level. Again, it is for this reason (mother nature is sometimes unpredictable) that safe kiters live by the saying "distance is your friend." I am hoping this article will reflect on this reality and that most of the time kiters are safe because we follow these safety guidelines.

In addition, kiting is more safe than SCUBA diving and many other recreational hobbies.
It seems the article mainly wishes to show kiting as dangerous. I find this odd, since this is literally the first injury in the news in this town, ever.

I am hoping at bare minimum my quote can be changed to reflect what I actually said.
Thank you,

Scott Fears

[ricki]

Anyway, the truly important thing is that Christopher will recover. After such a harsh accident, it is marvelous news. Best wishes for his rapid and complete healing.

Oh, the safety stats. Yeah. I am curious how it feels Rick, putting countless time and God only knows how much effort into tracking kiting statistics, to have them abused and grossly misrepresented in attempts to make the sport look less safe now than before SLEs.

Remember "the summer of the shark"? Look up the actual stats. The media is clueless even when given the proper information. It's beyond disappointing.

Originally Posted by RickI

Anyway, the truly important thing is that Christopher will recover. After such a harsh accident, it is marvelous news. Best wishes for his rapid and complete healing.

For sure. Chris, I PM'd you awhile ago. I hope you get it.