Injury at Skyway

[Erick]

I saw the rider (I’d never seen his face before) being dragged out of control towards the rocks near by where trees are. His Monkey kite eventually crashed against the fence and threatened to relaunch several times, the rider seemed to be badly injured at that time because he was not making any efforts to regain control of the situation. I was standing at the beach probably 60 feet away from the incident and the wind was approximately 17 knots. Luckily, the driver of a mini van stopped and grabbed the kite, I belive at that time the kite was already in the middle of the side road. I couldn’t imagine the kite relunching at that moment it would have been catastrophic and most probably would it have end up in the middle of 275. According to Randy the rider inquired about lessons earlier and also after the incident he was shaking and couldn’t move one of his arms also appeared to have a severely lower back wound. Three ambulances and a police car showed up at the scene minutes later. Not a pretty sight at all.

Bob. Quicker than I thought.

[BigR]

newbies riding at the sketchiest launch in town at night?

The sun was definitely still up, lets not spread disinformation if you weren't there

I hope he is not hurt too bad, sounds like otherwise. I too feel bad, but honestly, am somewhat pissed. I was just telling Bob the prior night this was coming real soon.

Listen guys, this is just my opinion, but one that I feel strongly about and hope to convince others to see my way. I know Steve and some others already agree, but I wish more would act out against "cowboys" trying to learn on their own.
If you see a guy who is obviously clueless (I don't know if he was, 'cuz I wasn't there) trying to do stuff on his own, don't hesitate to point him out and tell others and then as a group say "hell no, you ain't riding" or "hey, get the hell off the water" in a firm but informative/caring way.

It's one thing to be nice to new riders who are struggling with the basics yet go out aways from shore, do the right thing, and aren't totally clueless.
It's a whole other ball of wax to tolerate a "time bomb" and allow him to jeopardize his own health and our riding spots.

I wasn't there, so I have no clue what this guy looked like or if it was obvious.
I noticed there were a couple FHP officers just hanging around Sunday night watching.
That spot (SW) is one that could be closed the fastest, imo, because it is property of D.O.T. and we had a kite about 4 years ago go in the road. We were told point blank that the next kite in the road would be the last.

What kind of board was he on? I know a guy that showed up earlier with a particular brand board asking about lessons and had already purchased a board and seemed very gung-ho.

Sad story and hope he is not hurt too bad. I really do believe this is one area (totally clueless guys showing up.. if this was the case) where we need to agree to ban together and say "no ride today, buddy" regardless of the naive guy's "rights".

Does this sound reasonable? I personally have zero problem approaching a clueless guy and politely telling him no way. If he then attempts further kiting, it simply won't happen if I am there because of the obvious and inherent threats.

[BigR]

There were at least 4 other learners there, maybe two were taking lessons from Randy. The others seemed on their own.

It was'nt obvious at first that this guy was a hazard. That's the thing, a new guy shows up and doesn't kook out until he is in the water way away from you with his board ( too far to yell at ). Out of the 3-4 newbs out there he was the only one that kept going downwind off the "ledge" from where you can still walk back upwind from.

Yep, sounds like you are spot on Raul.

It sounds like this kiter launched and got out in next to nothing winds, was messing around in the light stuff and as soon as the wind filled in (moderately quickly, as always on these easts) he had a pretty big kite up and got whacked pretty quickly. Doesn't sound like this could have been stopped.

[Unimog Bob]

I think part of the issue is you can buy a kite and get a lesson right at the skyway. This is not a good beginner spot! If you are under close supervision by a good instructor maybe, but to get one or two hours and a new 15M kite and expect to ride there safely is insane!!! There is some implied permission that it is a learning spot if you got a lesson there. If you can't confidently water start and go directly upwind you have no business riding at any skyway launch unless you are under direct supervision.

I admire Randy and Cindy for working hard to create a successful business. I see them both as friends, since they don't post here I'm going to try to talk to them about encouraging their customer to practice and develop their skills at other sites. I can't imagine what kiting would be like if we get banned at the skyway, but unless we change the way it is being used it will be and soon.

Oh, and having a certificate doesn't make you a good instructor and teaching is about more than making money. Having the knowledge and skills are much more important, and more so to genuinely care about the student and creating a positive outcome.

[DanB]

Here is an update from my friend who spoke to the family.

The rider is from Venice Florida and had a gash on his head, sprained neck, broken vertebrae, broken tailbone and several lacerations.

He stayed overnight and will be released today.

Hope that he is more careful next time.

This does pose a serious risk of beach closure and yesterday at skyway was pretty messy.

I am not sure the best answer but we as a group may need to consider something soon.

Sad to hear about this. It's disappointing that someone didn't stop this guy when they saw the deal going down. Asking for lessons, trying to ride right before the wind picks up at 7, etc. Who launched him?

So much talk about self regulating our sport and obviously it is not working.

If you try to speak up instead of just giving a thumbs up you are branded as a drama queen, chastised, etc. We are getting 25 new riders per week and if we are going to be too polite to stop someone (obviously unqualified) from riding we are going to have a few more serious injuries this year, maybe a fatality.

Sad, I hope he recovers and gets trained correctly.

[BigR]

It's pretty obvious.

We need a gatekeeper.

An that person is the person who is always at the beach.

Also , if that person doesn't have the time to keep the new person under constant vigilance then that new person cannot kite there until they prove to be proficient.

It's also in the best interests of the gatekeeper since shuting down access also shuts him down.

Otherwise we won't last another season there