Re: Need a new term for being lofted horizontally!
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2018 3:24 pm
Arse kicking.
world's leading kitesurfing website
https://kiteforum.com/
Putting up an 18m kite in 25kn gusts is mind blowing to me. Iβm pretty much foiling exclusively these days, and Iβd be flying a 4m in that wind.
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.junebug wrote: βFri Nov 02, 2018 2:30 pmPutting up an 18m kite in 25kn gusts is mind blowing to me. Iβm pretty much foiling exclusively these days, and Iβd be flying a 4m in that wind.
Foiling has its own risks, but getting lofted or teabagged isnβt really one of them, at least for non-racers like me.
RickI wrote: βFri Nov 02, 2018 2:00 amPlummet, 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
An unintentional butt slide (UBS) or a high colonic...Hugh2 wrote: βMon Oct 29, 2018 3:30 amToday 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!
The advantage of my seat harness!JakeFarley wrote: βFri Nov 02, 2018 7:32 pmAn unintentional butt slide (UBS) or a high colonic...Hugh2 wrote: βMon Oct 29, 2018 3:30 amToday 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!