Firstly, no harsh words, i rode my pole board for the majority this weekend.
the real reason i write is that i witnessed a near serious accident at seacliff beach on saturday morning.
"with the wind far from consistent, the best was being made by both wind and kite surfers, while the preffered wind prevailed.
a strong squall was on the horizon and most kite riders had move to the safety of the beach.
one unfortunate rider (to remain un-named as i sure he is still shaken) managed to get himself into trouble on land and deployed his safety device.
a local sailboarder went to his aid, only to be thrown into the air by the kite acting eradictly.
luckily the sailboarder managed to walk away with a KO and nasty line burns on his body".
the reason i bring this up is, that the question needs to be asked.
with all the SAKSA bantom going on i feel that memebrship may not be the only issue and really insurance isnt needed if one has a idea of self limitaions.
surely common sense and basic weather and marine knowledge could prevent 99% of kiting accidents??
riding in stormy inconsistent winds and relying on members of public to assist, shouldnt really be on any kiters list of thing to do.
i thought i would share this with you as i know that there are a lot of riders both new and old out there, that may struggle with some of the above mentioned.
what can be done as i feel for the safety of fellow riders.
sure insurance helps, but i wont heal a bone or bring back a lost member of our kiting community.
fair suck of the sav joyrider,
i dont think anyone has an in depth understanding about the weather when they start kitesurfing,
mabey since you are educated in "common sense", you should join the water police and stop these learners from learning.
good job to the guy that tried to help and not to the spectators i say.
sorry if i offended you jamez.
ive been kiting for a little time now and ive seen crew come and go through the sport. a couple of them not lasting due to the "danger factor", which grew due to unsafe learning and riding practises.
im always happy to help if people ask, but when crew dont ride with open minds and have no future plan to educate themselves in certain areas that affect there riding, then why should we ,as a community, be the ones to take the blame when **** hits the fan.
enjoy it of course but have a brain.
its only time and SA wil have one of those R.I.P colums in KB mag saying how good a bloke that dude was.
wake up and sorry to burst your bub bro
Hi Jamez- the person involved in this incident I am led to believe was a very experienced kiter. I think Joyrider is trying to make the point that we all become complacent over time and need to step back and take a look at the bigger picture.
Learners learning is important, but I would also suggest that the winds on the day in question were so gusty and gnarly that it would not have been a good day for anyone to be learning.
I know Joyrider and some others who were there on the day and if they could have helped they would have....
The kiting community is still relatively small and has good vibes- stay safe and look after each other,
cheers
Ok boys. From the horses mouth now. Thanks for the support and the comments. To fill you in on the details - I having been kiting for a year. Had 9 months off work so kited a fair bit in that time. Experienced? With a kite? Score of 1-5 with 5 being top kiter I would say about a 3. Experience with SA wind patterns in November about a 2.
I stood and watched the wind for a good 40 minutes before putting my kite up. It is a big kite (13.5) but I am 92kg. The wind seemed to calm but a gust came through and to be honest I panicked a bit as I had felt the earlier gusts and knew what was coming. Tried to get my kite down but it dragged me. Should have deployed the safety device but saw teh windsurfer and asked him to help. My mistake. If you don't understand the sport you don't know where to hold the kite. He grabbed the lines. The rest is history. Kite tore front to back (fortunately and unfortunately).
We learn by our mistakes (the first in my short kiting career). Hopefully the last like that.
Hope the wind is blowing this weekend!!!
Have a good one.
sorry to use you as an example chizel.
i dont write on this forum to have a go at crew and bag out crew, but i thought it could have been a good way with all the gar gar that posted on this site at the moment to make a point and be serious, (obviously others up the page didnt think so).
it is important to be correctly insured and so on. but its also important to look after yourself and the crew around you.
weather is a tricky thing but with time and patient the patterns can be some what learnt. and the same goes for gear and riding styles.
i hope you are safe and not to shaken up, i hope your kite is back together or a new is on the way. and i hope as a communtiy we can use this incident as an eye opener and check our selves ready for the busy summer ahead.
as for the crew that think its a joke.
good luck and watch those clouds over marino, (its going offshore)!
no one thinks its a joke, i understand these things happen to even the experienced riders,
just beware anyone else that might have an unfortunate stack, if the right eyes are watching then you too could be posted all over the forum as an example of what not to do.
Don't apologize. Point taken. Don't want to give the sport a bad name in terms of reckless behaviour on the beach. I know no-one is pointing fingers as we are all subject to the elemenets and need to err on the side of caution. Sometimes it is hard when you work long hours Monday to Friday and all you think about iS gettig out on your Saturday arvo!!!
Have fun out there today.............
jamez its not like that at all.
if i did that then id be writing no-stop as im sure there are small mishaps all over the coast.
the fact that chizel see's the point to this topic, is a perfect example of how riders around here think.
one side agrees and wants to make sense of the topic and the other is just here to dick people around.
have fun today everyone.
be safe
