Thor wrote:Great job Rick. We all know you are one safety minded individual and anyone who sees you kiteboard will see that you walk the talk.
Paul on the other hand, how many pictures do we see on his web sites where no one is wearing a helmet I think he is talking the talk and collecting the money.
Thanks Toby and Thor, it is good to see more people taking simple precautions to focus on the fun and try to dodge the down side of things.
Paul started using a helmet and promoting their use in the last year. The Velocity Games a year ago this month was the first competition in the USA in which helmets were REQUIRED for competitors hitting the kicker and slider. Paul was an important contributor/organizer of that event and is heavily involved in organizing VG '04 that is to start in a couple of weeks.
I understand that use of helmets in kiteboarding instruction under PASA is going to be actively enforced and verified through planned course audits. Paul is the lead instructor for PASA and should be performing many of the audits personally. I frequently speak with Christopher Nygard also of PASA about new measures for adopting and effectively promoting sensible steps like this focused on safety and sustainability of our sport.
Paul is actively promoting helmet use in more ways than the article and the few actions described above but it is premature to talk much more about those efforts at this time. More to come on this in the future though.
Lastly, the rider in Utah that was seriously injured in a lofting accident last week is a close personal friend of Paul. If he was motivated to promote helmet use in the past he is REALLY motivated now. I understand that Derik appears to be close to coming out of his coma after more than a week, I truly hope he awakens soon and rapidly recovers.
Your idea about showing more folks rigged out on kste.net website is a good one though, I will pass it along. I have been using and plugging helmets, etc. for many years but this is just a hobby for me. It is great that the guys in the business are starting to take up promoting these simple precautions. More supporters are welcome.