Count how long it takes...

So you're not so sure now are ya bayflite

[BigR]

Bayflite is right , back in the old old old days you would have to unhook to get rid of the kite since it was fixed loop no CL. I got drug across a nice number of bays that way.

and in the old days you stil had to unhook since it was a CL inside a fixed loop ( double loop )

only in the last 6 years can we now have use of QR , B 4 that it was all about unhooking

Hey Scott, my QR works 100% , not 80%. The more tension , the easier it releases

Back in the old days the accident rate was a lot higher too

Which is why (tada) they invented the quick release.

[bryanleighty]

one big missing item from all of this is that (in reading up on those have gone thru kitemares of epic proportions) ... many dont so much as let go of the bar much the less pull the QR or attempt to unhook. When shit hits they go tense and hold on for dear life.

I think its a pretty common instinct for those untrained in those types of situations to just hold tight and brace for impact. I know that when I got a minor loft a couple seasons ago I held on and got taken for a ride.. nothing to write up about other than when I came down I was in 3 inches of water and got a nice slam out of the deal before I was able to recover. happened too quick to react for my untrained self.. if i had been near a shoreline would i have reacted different?? dont know.. prob not..

I think that anyone can learn to unhook/QR or whatever if they were constantly involved in situations that they had to do it. Our problem is that we might only go thru something like this one time per year.. most of us one time per 5 years..

Stuntmen can throw themselves down flights of stairs without getting hurt because they do it all the time and learn the proper ways to fall .. hell.. that skater that fell those 40 or 50 feet at the xgames is alive today because he is so used to falling that his body reacted out of instinct to lessen the impact the best it could. at the last second he twisted his torso around just enough ..

For someone like me that has never had a real scare, I just hope and pray that I can find that QR fast enough or if that fails will have enough sense to do whatever I can to release the kite by whatever means necessary.

Here's the matching graph for the video.



FWIW, when I had my big kitemare, I pulled the release (several times), tried several times to unhook, then I ran out of time... tried to unhook again after getting lofted onto the beach and running directly at the kite (it was pulling faster than I could run and I fell on my face). I tried everything... nothing worked.

Then I realized the one thing I didn't do was crash it as soon as I felt the first spike.

That would have ended it. Since then I crash early... it's easy and you can relaunch if you need to after it passes. Everyone knows you are in trouble, and it doesn't send your waroo down the beach for others to deal with.

Of course this means you have to ride far enough from shore that you can crash your kite without hesitation...something you should do anyway (in strong winds).

This guy had no chance... he had between 3 and 5 seconds to do something but was yanked so hard he didn't have a chance in hell of doing ANYTHING except contemplating his possible death. Too close to shore to just crash it (while he could, he probably wouldn't for fear of damaging the kite).

All that guy had to do was look at the storm, see the squall, and not ride.
It's really not rocket science.
Also, the same thing had happened two days in a row at that launch site, and people knew it. If a a shark is appearing and eating guys two nights in a row at 5pm, I'm not going to jump in at 4 45.

To prove the point, check out Doppler right now.
Then look at what it is blowing over on the east side of the bay (20).
Wonder what it's going to be blowing here by 5pm (probably 4:15). Is it a guarantee it'll spike?
No, but I am not going out there right now, rigging my biggest kite and monkeying around 40 feet from shore til it hits, either.

I know I am sounding preachy, but I would rather come across that way and like a nanny than have some new riders not hear this. There are ways to limit getting whacked. Checking out Doppler and wind histories from the past couple of days to look for spikes prior to riding are two good ways to limit odds of getting caught in a storm.

[ricki]

The windplot shown above was for two days prior to the accident. I understand the guy started in 9 to 10 kts. and it boosted to 30 kts. with a 16 m C kite at the time of the accident.

I put it in there because so many people, perhaps too many particularly in northern areas may kite regardless of incoming squalls. Most of the time you won't have a life threatening experience, just often enough to make doing so a fools proposition. Sorry for the confusion.

This is something to think about. In severe accidents, riders almost never successfully active their emergency depower for many reasons. You can try to reduce the list of reasons but I would work even harder on avoiding the violent weather in the first place.

Straight to 25 plus, at 4:05. Some things are fairly predictable.

http://www.iwindsurf.com/windandwher...149&siteID=812

Check out Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Seems like 4pm is "feedin' time".

http://www.iwindsurf.com/windandwher...on=Last+7+Days

[t_twotone]

Distance would maybe have saved this guy. Looking at the video I think he did what 90% of us would do, try to ride out the gust. A seemingly hopeless scenario. Maybe we should ride unhooked until we have proper distance. I know I don't.

Nah... it would be even more dangerous to ride in that mess unhooked with no depower.

Two solutions:

1) Know what the weather is going to do (the previous day is a good clue).

2) Ride straight out and stay out. Minimize your chances of being caught in the gust.

You are right he did what 90% of us would do.... heck a bunch of us have been doing it for the past two weeks 10 to 30, like clockwork at 6pm.