Need a new term for being lofted horizontally!

[Tone]

Arse kicking.

[RickI]

Plummet, I suspect you may be a rare kiter, to both have such high winds with some frequency and to actually go out in them. I am not saying there aren't others but I suspect there are actually substantially fewer than we read about on here. I would try to avoid making it seem so easy and reliably "safe." Just a thought to hopefully help some others to not overestimate their skills and blow themselves to hell.

Regarding fatalities vs. wind speed, there is the following which I previously calculated. I need to go into the archives to come up with more current information:

Gusty winds were reportedly a factor in 67 % of cases of a total of 52 reported fatalities from 2000 to 2006 (related to squalls or wind shadow from shore obstructions). Violent weather from squalls were reported to factor in 52% of the cases. (worldwide)
Wind range
Average = 28 kts.
Range = 12 to 50 kts.+"

This is fairly old data from 2000 to 2006, largely including traditional C kites. STILL, that is a fairly low average wind speed for a fatal accident to occur in. It doesn't take much if things go wrong in short.
More at: viewtopic.php?f=131&t=2401090


For the time period including 2006 and 2008 (March to March) including 36 fatalities, worldwide:
Storms/squalls were involved in close to 50% of all fatal accidents.
Wind range
Average = 24 kts.
Range = 10 to 50 kts.+"


From the time frame from 2008 to 2010 including 30 fatalities up to Sept. 2010, worldwide:

- Ranking the significance of hazardous weather conditions in kiting fatalities from 0 to 5 with 0 meaning no involvement to 5 with major involvement, an average of 4.2 was calculated for the fatalities reported.

It seems like the sport is becoming more careless in hazardous weather and the hard won weather lessons of past years. This is suggest by recent accidents and what seems to be an unhealthy all too common outlook. It isn't rocket science, squalls/thunderstorms and excessively gusty winds kill kiters, they always have. We need to collectively focus in on that fact, again.

FKA, Inc.

transcribed by:
Rick Iossi

[Toby]

Thx for the info Rick

[junebug]

Launching an 18 in 30 knots is stupid.
I launch in gusts max 25.

But then if the wind picks up I stay out and stand my man

Putting up an 18m kite in 25kn gusts is mind blowing to me. I’m pretty much foiling exclusively these days, and I’d be flying a 4m in that wind.

Foiling has its own risks, but getting lofted or teabagged isn’t really one of them, at least for non-racers like me.

[grigorib]

Launching an 18 in 30 knots is stupid.
I launch in gusts max 25.

But then if the wind picks up I stay out and stand my man

Putting up an 18m kite in 25kn gusts is mind blowing to me. I’m pretty much foiling exclusively these days, and I’d be flying a 4m in that wind.

Foiling has its own risks, but getting lofted or teabagged isn’t really one of them, at least for non-racers like me.

18m in 25+ knots is almost prerequisite to Airstyle. Basically you use a kite like a paraglider and it gives you all the time in the world to do neat tricks with or without the board.

I'm not sure what kite size I'd take to foil in 40 knots. 4m would be too big.
On the day Hugh is talking about I brought a foil but 5m would be too big and punchy so the foil stayed in the car which is unusual - past Sunday was was the first time in two years I brought a twintip to our lake at all

[plummet]

Plummet, I suspect you may be a rare kiter, to both have such high winds with some frequency and to actually go out in them. I am not saying there aren't others but I suspect there are actually substantially fewer than we read about on here. I would try to avoid making it seem so easy and reliably "safe." Just a thought to hopefully help some others to not overestimate their skills and blow themselves to hell.

Regarding fatalities vs. wind speed, there is the following which I previously calculated. I need to go into the archives to come up with more current information:

Gusty winds were reportedly a factor in 67 % of cases of a total of 52 reported fatalities from 2000 to 2006 (related to squalls or wind shadow from shore obstructions). Violent weather from squalls were reported to factor in 52% of the cases. (worldwide)
Wind range
Average = 28 kts.
Range = 12 to 50 kts.+"

This is fairly old data from 2000 to 2006, largely including traditional C kites. STILL, that is a fairly low average wind speed for a fatal accident to occur in. It doesn't take much if things go wrong in short.
More at: viewtopic.php?f=131&t=2401090


For the time period including 2006 and 2008 (March to March) including 36 fatalities, worldwide:
Storms/squalls were involved in close to 50% of all fatal accidents.
Wind range
Average = 24 kts.
Range = 10 to 50 kts.+"


From the time frame from 2008 to 2010 including 30 fatalities up to Sept. 2010, worldwide:

- Ranking the significance of hazardous weather conditions in kiting fatalities from 0 to 5 with 0 meaning no involvement to 5 with major involvement, an average of 4.2 was calculated for the fatalities reported.

It seems like the sport is becoming more careless in hazardous weather and the hard won weather lessons of past years. This is suggest by recent accidents and what seems to be an unhealthy all too common outlook. It isn't rocket science, squalls/thunderstorms and excessively gusty winds kill kiters, they always have. We need to collectively focus in on that fact, again.

FKA, Inc.

transcribed by:
Rick Iossi

Ricki,

I'm not trying to marginalize high wind riding. It is dangerous. There is no two ways around it. You take your life in your hands each time you go out!

But I do want to get across that kiting with an overpowered kite regardless of wind speed is more dangerous. Your stats also prove this, average wind speed being 24 knots for 2006-2008. I suspect newer data will also reflect this.

My advice is to take a kite out that can handle the biggest gust for the day. If it can't, then you are on the wrong kite or shouldn't go out.

So a 4m in 30-40 knots is safer than an 18m in 20-30 knots.

In trueth, I cant fathom Tobys launching his 18m in 25 knots. To me its utter madness for the 25knots I get at my local. But i guess he is heavier and has less powerful tropical winds and is kiting on benign flat water, not waves with rocks. The biggest kites I've been out on in 25-30 was a 13m ozone edge. That was just utterly stupid! But awesome jumps! Trying to walk up the beach to land was ridiculous !

[JakeFarley]

Today in east central Illinois was super windy, and extremely gusty, with gusts recorded to 50mph on surrounding weather stations. We were all riding 5-6m kites. In addition to a couple of vertical loftings, I experienced something new. I was riding under reasonable control, kite at perhaps 30 degrees, when it was hit by a gust that yanked me through the air horizontally. It was clear I would not be able to land it like a regular vertical lofting, but managed to lift my board up and landed on my butt, skipping along like a stone. I need a new term for this!

An unintentional butt slide (UBS) or a high colonic...

[Hugh2]

Today in east central Illinois was super windy, and extremely gusty, with gusts recorded to 50mph on surrounding weather stations. We were all riding 5-6m kites. In addition to a couple of vertical loftings, I experienced something new. I was riding under reasonable control, kite at perhaps 30 degrees, when it was hit by a gust that yanked me through the air horizontally. It was clear I would not be able to land it like a regular vertical lofting, but managed to lift my board up and landed on my butt, skipping along like a stone. I need a new term for this!

An unintentional butt slide (UBS) or a high colonic...

The advantage of my seat harness!