fatality in france

[voodoospirit]

a 25 years old kitesurfer got killed at st jean de luz (atlantic coast), he was training in the bay, conditions were around 30/40 knots

a gust hit its kite, threw him into a pier, he went uncouncious
the kite kept going into a building, lofted the kiter above it, passed over the avenue, hit another building, then the kite got stuck on the building then the kiter fell 7 floors




french link: http://aquitaine.france3.fr/info/aquita ... 55388.html

i translated as i could.

[Feng]

Le kitesurfeur, un étudiant de 25 ans, s'entraînait dans la baie Saint-Jean-de-Luz au Pays-basque vers midi et demi ce dimanche. Une bourrasque a soufflé dans sa voile et l'a projeté contre la jetée. Inconscient, le jeune homme aurait pousuivi sa course folle.
The kitesurfer, a 25 year old student was training in the Saint-Jean-de-Luz bay (basque region) arround 12H30 this sunday. A gust hit his kite and threw him into a pier. He went uncouncious while the kite kept going.

Selon les tèmoins, il aurait heurté le mur du Grand Hôtel en bordure de plage. Il serait passé par dessus le bâtiment et aurait percuté un immeuble de l'autre côté du boulevard. Sa voile serait restée accrochée au toit. Le kitesurfeur serait alors tombé de 7 étages. Le SAMU était sur place mais n'a pu que constater le décès du jeune homme. La victime serait un étudiant d'une autre région. Au Pays-Basque, le dernier accident mortel de kitesurf avait déjà frappé un étudiant. C'était il y a deux ans, à Bidart.
According to witnesses, he hit the wall of the Grand Hôtel on the sea front. He was lofted above the building and hit another building on the other side to of main road. His kite to stuck on the roof of the building. The kitesurfer fell 7 floors. The emergency services were already on site but could only see that he was dead. The kitesurfer was student in another region. In the basque region, the last accident causing a death involved a student two years ago at Bidart.

<== end of translation ==>
I found a picture of this hotel. You can see the pier going inside the sea, the wall in front of the hotel and behind the hotel.

I include the wind stats of sunday.

[Toby]

sorry to hear a fatality in such short time again.
My condolences.

Anyone can comment on the wind? Onshore? Squalls coming thru? Visible?

Really sad.

[Windrider]

Good lord. He traveled a long way from the water to the hotel. What size kite was he on? Does the red line showing 27 knots indicate a gust? I could envisualize a range of 2-16 knots. but a spike to 27 knots? If he was on a 16m or so, he'd be incredibly overpowered. Not much he could do if the gust lofted him to out of control in a second.

Be at peace, waterman.

[mike holmes]

So sad to hear about another fatality.
As said before, more info about the wind conditions and kite size may help to understand what had happened there.
This is one hell of an accident.
Condolences to the family and friends.

[mathieu leheilleix]

Shame... read about it this am.
looks like there was a good 30 knots of wind out there.

Condoleances to the family & ride safe guys.

[ronnie]

Condolences to his friends and family.

[KingAstra]

I dont think 'impressive' should be used in the thread title.

so true! That was my first thought too. I hope you change the title voodoo...

[voodoospirit]

edited, may be not the same meaning in this context in english ( my bad)

witnesses ( a rider who was there):
everyone were on 12m² , the rider was using a directionnal, he tried to land in hurry (was sliding on the beach trying to land (or QR?)) when a 40knots gust came, got lofted at 5-6m after hitting the walking pier at the end of the beach (and probably collapsed as his arms were along his body when he got lofted), he regain consciounsness at half height and took his bar again, got lofted again, went over the avenue, hit the top of the hotel and a chemney (the pink building on the photo?), flew over it and landed on a the roof of a house behind it. he had his harness on him, the QR was opened by the force of the impact, he was found on the ground ( fell from the roof to the ground, i guess)

newspaper:
http://www.sudouest.fr/2010/11/07/un-ki ... 6-4383.php

[mathieu leheilleix]

Another report from AFP..... Tragic news

SAINT-JEAN-DE-LUZ, France, Nov 8, 2010 (AFP) - A 24-year-old
kitesurfer crashed to his death when wind swept him up and hurled
him over a nine-storey building at a seaside resort in France,
witnesses said.
"He was overwhelmed by the force of the wind while he was
kitesurfing" by a central beach in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, a resort town
on France's southwestern Atlantic coast, an official in the rescue
services told AFP on Sunday.
"He crashed into a nine-storey building and then went over it,"
the official added. "Afterwards he was carried even higher and then
lost force in the sail and crashed down."
Kitesurfers harness themselves to a high sail to catch the wind
and pull them along at high speed with their feet on a surfboard.
Reports said the weather was wet and windy on Sunday afternoon when
the accident happened.
Witnesses told AFP on Monday that the wind first tossed the man
against a three-metre (10-foot) sea wall next to the beach before
pulling him higher.
A porter at the Grand Hotel just across the road from the beach
said the surfer shot into the air at "incredible speed", was hurled
over the top of a nearby residential building and fell 15 metres to
the ground behind it.
"A doctor who was attending a seminar at our hotel was the first
on the scene. He thought the young man must have been killed by
hitting the sea wall first," the porter said.
He added that there were marks on the beach indicating the
surfer had tried to brake in the sand.
A similar accident struck in April 2009 in nearby Bidart, where
a 23-year-old man died from his injuries after being hurled by his
kitesurfing sail into a car park.