Almost killed myself last night kiteboarding ...

[ricki]

I received this from a long time local kiterboarder describing what happened on Tuesday and wanted to pass it along ...

"Hi fellow kiters:

I decided to write this in hope that it could save one of us in the future from potential serious injuries. Feel free to forward. Also because I have met so many good kiters who do not really know how to use their emergency system, how to self land or self launch. I have been kiting for 5 years in all types of conditions in Miami, Key West, Bahamas, West Indies, Puerto Rico, Cabarete, etc… so I feel pretty confident, but last night I almost shit in my pants. Here is what happened:

Tuesday May 22 “ Around 630 pm to 645 pm

Conditions: Stormy “ Sprinkle rain – Very Gusty “ Strong on shore winds

E “ ENE (East to East North East) 18-19 MPH gusting to 30-32 MPH (see readings below)

Kite: 10 meter North Rebel “ Rider 182 pounds

Launch area: 34th & Collins Miami Beach - wide beach area - about 220 feet wide - no on lookers around (thank God!)

After a regular setup my kite is ready to be launched by my 14 year old son who helps me launch on a regular basis. My leash is attached to 5th line. I am hooked in. I am 60 feet away from water and 160 feet away from first hard objects. I am checking my lines which are still sagging at this point.

SUDDENLY my son let go of the kite because he believed I gave him the thumb up, but I did not. I was not ready to launch as I did not check yet if my lines could have been crossed.

Because there is still slacks in the line, the kite wend downwind about 20 feet (onshore), then up, then started to kite loop in mid air. The kite looped at least 10 times as it dragged me on my knees on the sand about 65 feet directly straight onshore. My son had launched me 100 of times before so I am so surprised that my brain is not ready for this. I panicked, as I am being dragged on shore wondering what happened, and what should I do next, because I was not expecting this. I let go off the bar but I am being dragged out of control as the kite keep on looping with no sign of stopping to loop or coming down. At this point I am frightened as I see the boardwalk getting closer to me and the kite is just about to start reaching hard objects 90 feet away (wooden poles with rope, right before the dunes/grass area). As I am on my knees being dragged on the sand I am searching for my release. But I am facing down on the sand looking for the damn red release. I am thinking pull or push? At this time, I pulled on wrong area of the bar scratching my hands, but no successful release yet. Milliseconds later I finally reached my red iron heart quick release which finally de-powered the kite which fell right behind the wooden poles on the grass without damage. My heart is pumping at 150 miles and hour. I recovered my kite which is hooked to my leash attached to 5th line. It happened so fast, that if I had waited another 3-5 seconds to release I would have gone head first into the boardwalk/parking lot or Collins Avenue..........

Lessons to learn from this: Distance is your only friend, so this wide beach area saved me. Make sure your communication with your launcher is correct. Do not kite in extreme conditions (on shore, gusty, high winds) unless you are mentally prepared for the worst to happen. This is about split second decisions. Always rehearse in you mind: what do I do next? (especially at take off and landings). Know your quick release like you know how to use your car breaks. Practice how to use your emergency release before you are forced to try it out in a real emergency. Once again, I have met so many good kiters who do not really know how to self launch , self land or use their emergency system. I am glad I had practiced mine many times because this time, I struggled....... but it saved me!

Be careful out there, safety first, Happy kiting!"

Wow, glad he is okay. Do you think you could launch your kite with one hand on the bar and one already on the QR "ready to go" if something went wrong?

I know there are varying opinions on how to most safely launch, but after seeing the worst injury I have ever seen (femur fractured to bits) during a bad launch, I keep my finger in the QR while launching. I don't know that I could find it while the sh#$ is hitting the fan. By the way, during the incident I mentioned above, the rider was unhooked for the launch but maintained the death grip on his bar during the whole (5 second) ass whooping which included two loftings over vehicles and getting dragged on concrete. Nailing a fire hydrant at mach 2 is what finally ended the ordeal. It was unreal.

The moment of the launch can definitely be dangerous.

[kiwiar2000]

wow. Im glad he is alright.
Thats a lesson to be learned.
Thanks for the story Rick
-Danny

[Cborges]

thanks Rick for the forwarded story. These last few days I have been at Matheson and it has been side-on most of the week...the winds have been strong and gusty and there is no room for error there, being that the parking lot is our beach(pretty much)...I was on my 11M and the winds just kept picking up and I was super overpowered after being out for over 2/12 hrs thinking to myself...how much it was gonna suck to land my kite in the crowded, rocky, high tide landing area of Matheson..During landings, if a kiter ever feels unsure its always a good idea to just ask someone on the beach to come and assist you by holding the back of your harness for more leverage( especially during high tide there). Thats what I did..so much safer and I could easily lower my kite without being pulled closer into the parking lot...asking for help is sometimes hard to do for some folks ...but when faced with onshore dangerous conditions..its the best thing to do. Of course knowing how to activate your release is a must...everyone should know this from day one of kiting.
Hope everyone is enjoying this great wind...
Happy sailing!
CJ

[kiwiar2000]

thats true Cborges.
good idea.

[Luijo]

I know by fact that once you are in trouble it's really hard to reach for the QR. I have been an instructor for for a few year already. As part of the instruction course, I go for what I call emergency procedure. I hope this will help me or one of my students in the future.

This segment of instruction needs to be experience by the student in the early stage of instruction, just after the student is getting to fly the kite.

I'm not the most experience instructor out there, but I always emphasize in safety. After all they will sure end up learning to kite.

Nothing is more valuable than our life's." loose the kite "

Saludos,

Luijo

[oc xrated]

I'd agree with skyway, have one had on the magic knob and the other on the control bar when launching, just make sure you are hooked in and the chicken loop isn't half on and half off. Thanks for the story Rick glad he's okay!

[mkiter1]

Always let your kite go when it's getting out of control. your safety first ...you will be able to buy another kite later

[Jeff]

Wow what a kitemare. Glad he's ok. What happened is commonly called the "Cork Screw of Death" which is very very dangerous. Once the kite starts looping like that its hard to pull out of it if not impossible once it starts gaining momentum. The most common causes of it is a crossed line,the kiter gives the OK, the launcher lets go, and as it goes up to neutral it can start spinning out of control in a matter of milliseconds. In his case if his lines were not crossed I would say when his son let go with the slack in the lines the kite jumped back and up and sent into a spin by over steering. If you don't know how to punch out with your eyes closed or with a face full of sand nows a good time to practice it. Never take Launching or Landing lightly.
A similar incident happened to me a few months ago and i learned a lesson from that day on.
It was S 15 -17 and i was at Hammock self landing the kite in shallow water at the edge of the window after a nice downwinder. I set the kite down and as let go of the bar unhooked but wearing a leash (hooked up wrong I later found out) as i let go the kite came up a little and started launching and in a millisec the kite started looping over and over out of control downwind . I was being pulled by the kite leash and as i was trying to punch out it wasn't working correctly. I was able to ride it out and crash the kite down which stopped me. What happened ? I hooked the kite leash to the right side of the bar on the kite line above the bar. When I let go it caused the bar to power up and pull from the one side making the kite go into a corkscrew. I was lucky as it was a South wind with no one down wind of me.

All Kiters no matter how much experience you have should make sure you test your QR System as it can most certainly save your Ass when you least Expect it !!!

[White Eagle]

I have been trained to surf kite but my trainer put little time in describing the emergency release. Thanks for the info on your experience. I will definetly get my trainer to go over the release mechanism thouroughly.

White Eagle