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The Safety Topic: please post your experience and advice!

Forum with lots of safety info - a must for newbees
PullStrings
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Re: The Safety Topic: please post your experience and advice!

Postby PullStrings » Fri Dec 28, 2018 3:41 am

podiatanapraia wrote:
Sun Dec 23, 2018 12:51 pm
And this is what happens when an instructor DOESN'T teach his students the importance of proper launch procedure.
One of the most important launch procedure is that when you grab your bar from the ground...flip it 180 from wrong way to correct way...before hooking in

In this case the helper flips the kite up going counter clockwise to hold it up and assist launch
Make sure to do the same with bar by going 180 counter clockwise also to match kite
I strongly suspect that in his rushing to go out and excitement this kiter/pilot forgot to do so....and that's why the launch failed miserably...kite swinging hard left

Besides look at his body language while holding his bar with death grip near the ends....i bet he had also fear in his eyes
It is a position that shows a lack of control....confidence....and experience of the always present dangers in such 10 sqm weather wind
There is zero reason to lose ground position at launch... in this case both feet side by side a bit squatting and skipping was bad form.. you must plant yourself steady and stable
Better is a bit of a side position with left front leg forward slightly bent bracing and right back leg bent more....only left hand on bar...only right hand on quick release

Be safe....because you want to kite again tomorrow

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Re: The Safety Topic: please post your experience and advice!

Postby matt-0 kite » Mon Dec 31, 2018 4:30 am

... and because you hopefully don't want to take out an innocent bystander either.

Saw it happen just the other day, a close call in a crowded launch spot-- kite backstalled on launch, very nearly knocking over a baby in a stroller along with the parents sitting beside. Bad choice of launch location- insufficient communication between kiter and helper-- lack of awareness of the space around.

I dove for the kite and secured it before it took off again, and afterward the girl told me that she had no idea there was a baby right there (it was 3-4 metres downwind of her kite when she launched).

That final, unrushed 360 check of surroundings before launching... easily forgotten when people are a bit nervous (tunnel vision/target fixation), or too eager. See from 5:15





And when they are overconfident.
There is zero reason to lose ground position at launch...
I almost agree with PullStrings. I'll give people the benefit of the doubt, though :) and say that 99.9 percent, not 100% of launch accidents are preventable and traceable to one or more specific failures of action or uncompleted checks during the launch procedure.

matt-0 at vietnam-kitesurf.com
Last edited by matt-0 kite on Mon Dec 31, 2018 6:40 am, edited 7 times in total.

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Re: The Safety Topic: please post your experience and advice!

Postby grigorib » Mon Dec 31, 2018 4:34 am

Small Turhines are so punchy in gusty winds, you just can’t depower them enough to compensate that jerking pull. You do lose ground easily

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Re: The Safety Topic: please post your experience and advice!

Postby PullStrings » Mon Dec 31, 2018 3:49 pm

matt-0 kite wrote:
Mon Dec 31, 2018 4:30 am
afterward the girl told me that she had no idea there was a baby right there (it was 3-4 metres downwind of her kite when she launched).
when people are a bit nervous (tunnel vision/target fixation), or too eager.
Good point and beyond tunnel vision how about just vision in itself !!
Close to an average of 30% of the world population is myopic/ nearsighted and it is supposed to increase to half of population by 2050
So how do you know if the person you are assisting to launch can see clearly 80ft + away ?
20/20 vision is ideal in each eye but some aren't even close to that
Many will have 20/100 vision or worse...that means that someone with 20/20 vision can see clearly at 100 feet what the 20/100 can only see the same at 20 feet !! Alarming
Many kiters wear contacts or had refractive surgery but some people go kiting with uncorrected vision !!
Add to this older eyes with the start of cataracts which increases disabling glare from the sun
Add to this a lower angle sunlight in the eyes at launch for the kiter being assisted that has bad vision and no polarized sunglasses to begin with !!
The kiter can have bad distance vision...the assistant can have bad distance vision...and worse yet...when they both do !!
So go get your eyes checked
Make your eyesight as good as possible for your safety and others

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Re: The Safety Topic: please post your experience and advice!

Postby karolinakite » Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:49 pm

Hi there, here are some thoughts about dangerous situations while kiteboarding. I hope we can learn something from getting more awareness about the accidents. Kiteboarding is an amazing sport and it's super sad when you hear stories about fellow kiteboarders getting injured.
I hope my video helps beginners as well as advanced riders to avoid such a situations :)


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Re: The Safety Topic: please post your experience and advice!

Postby downunder » Thu Jan 17, 2019 8:48 am

First of all, and this might be a surprise for many,

we in Australia do NOT launch standing from the shore side. That got me big time in Europe. As seen on the podiatanapraia vid, the kiter launches standing from the shore.

Instead, the kiter should be standing in the water, if lofted, it would end hopefully in water. If the kite loops, it would again end in the water. But not with this launch. If looped, it would smash the camera guy or anyone on shore.

99% of bad launches on my local happened b/c the kite looped. Just like on this vid. It is absolutely beyond my understanding why would anyone launch a kite standing between a car, a towel, beach umbrellas etc and than dragged through all of this.

This is the reason why I don't even bother with the EU any more.

D.

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Re: The Safety Topic: please post your experience and advice!

Postby podiatanapraia » Wed Jan 23, 2019 12:32 pm

downunder wrote:
Thu Jan 17, 2019 8:48 am
First of all, and this might be a surprise for many,

we in Australia do NOT launch standing from the shore side. That got me big time in Europe. As seen on the podiatanapraia vid, the kiter launches standing from the shore.

Instead, the kiter should be standing in the water, if lofted, it would end hopefully in water. If the kite loops, it would again end in the water. But not with this launch. If looped, it would smash the camera guy or anyone on shore.

99% of bad launches on my local happened b/c the kite looped. Just like on this vid. It is absolutely beyond my understanding why would anyone launch a kite standing between a car, a towel, beach umbrellas etc and than dragged through all of this.

This is the reason why I don't even bother with the EU any more.

D.
Interesting! Can you tell me if that´s the norm in all of Australia, or in a specific region, or just at a particular kite spot? Cheers!

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Re: The Safety Topic: please post your experience and advice!

Postby matt-0 kite » Mon Jan 28, 2019 4:41 am

Thanks for the observations downunder. I can remember as far back as I have been teaching (16 years) the "Stand by the Water" vs "Kite by the Water" debate for launching. On a narrow beach, with shorebreak or crowded conditions things become more critical. Here's my two bits:

Kite at the Shoreside: The most obvious benefit is that you can launch, keep your kite low and get out into the water without ever having to bring it to 12 o'clock. In the case of an overpowered kite, you would be pulled out to sea and away from danger. We teach to avoid as much as possible putting the kite to 12 o'clock on the beach because it puts you in a vulnerable position: A strong gust or moving ithe kite too fast will send you straight up (and then down again), while a luffed kite will drop straight into the power zone. On a narrow beach where either the launcher or the helper has to be in the water/shorebreak, it's better to be standing on solid ground; I've seen a lot of people trying to launch their kite while getting knocked around by waves in waist-deep water.

But then again, with this method you may be standing right next to a wall-- and if the kite is going to drag you 3 metres but there's a wall 2m away, things won't end well.

Standing at the Shoreside. There is a lot to be said for standing as far as possible from obstacles as possible-- getting dragged across the sand is much better than into a tree or wall. And if you have space and the presence of mind to put the board just beside you before launching, you have less distance to walk from there into the water. But-- in my opinion the biggest drawback to launching this way is that it introduces the extra step (and risk, if you don't have good control over your kite) of having to bring the kite across the top of the window over to the sea side. Also, the wind right next to the treeline and/or buildings can be less stable, expecially in sideshore winds, so you're launching the kite in dirtier wind. "Kite toward land" also means if it gets overpowered it will pull you towards obstacles on the beach. Then, in that moment where people try to steer the kite up and away from whatever they're getting dragged toward, a bit too fast doing this means doing an unintended powerstroke.

Overall I tell the people launching from my spot to please do whichever is more comfortable for them, the best choice depends on the person and on conditions. In the case of people who are not in good control of their kite, or who don't use a good launch procedure, they may be better off standing by the shore.

Downunder wrote: "99% of bad launches on my local happened b/c the kite looped." Same observation here, except that in many cases the kite either backstalls (then surges forward with power), or just shoots up and over.

Back line wrapped around the tip of the kite? Bridle problem? Not bad luck, but a failure to do the procedure properly, especially finding the launch position carefully, and the back line tension check: before launching, sheet all the way out (to check for depower) and back in again (to check for EQUAL and SUFFICIENT tension). This step greatly reduces the possibility of things going wrong.

In each case though, things need to be as close to the waterside as feasible, usually this means that either the helper's or the kiter's feet are wet & in the water.

I'm at Jibe's in Viet Nam: vietnam-kitesurf.com

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Re: The Safety Topic: please post your experience and advice!

Postby downunder » Mon Jan 28, 2019 6:01 am

podiatanapraia wrote:
Wed Jan 23, 2019 12:32 pm
downunder wrote:
Thu Jan 17, 2019 8:48 am
First of all, and this might be a surprise for many,

we in Australia do NOT launch standing from the shore side. That got me big time in Europe. As seen on the podiatanapraia vid, the kiter launches standing from the shore.

Instead, the kiter should be standing in the water, if lofted, it would end hopefully in water. If the kite loops, it would again end in the water. But not with this launch. If looped, it would smash the camera guy or anyone on shore.

99% of bad launches on my local happened b/c the kite looped. Just like on this vid. It is absolutely beyond my understanding why would anyone launch a kite standing between a car, a towel, beach umbrellas etc and than dragged through all of this.

This is the reason why I don't even bother with the EU any more.

D.
Interesting! Can you tell me if that´s the norm in all of Australia, or in a specific region, or just at a particular kite spot? Cheers!
It is a norm in Australia with assisted launch, as I understand.

But, we are spoiled by choice with our deserted beaches;)

D.

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Re: The Safety Topic: please post your experience and advice!

Postby rjkritzer » Sat Jul 20, 2019 1:55 pm

Self-rescue practice...did not go so well...

After an all day session in strong winds on a 9M switchblade I decided to practice a self-rescue/self-landing. The water was only waist deep and my other practices were in lighter wind conditions. Seemed like a good opportunity to get another practice in more challenging conditions.

I put the kite on the water, and popped the safety release, the kite rolled maybe a half-turn, maybe twisted, but generally kept its shape as it flagged out. But somehow one other line became tangled on the kite and it stayed powered by 2 lines.

It was possible to wrap up the lines since I could stand, but it took some serious effort - if I were in deep water this would have been a real problem. I got about 5 feet from the bridle and grabbed it, pulling the kite to me, and had good control of it, until it slipped out of my hand. It powered quickly. One of the lines ripped across my finger and put a 1/4" cut by the finger tip. I got the kite back under control, got to the beach and fortunately had a bandaid and hydrogen peroxide in my car.

My question is how do you make sure your kite flags out when you pop the safety, or at least reduce the risk of a line tangling? Also, I considered relaunching after I got my bar, but could not really tell how the kite was tangled, and thought it could be a real problem if fully powered with a tangled line.


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