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Fatality in France

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Slappysan
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Re: Fatality in France

Postby Slappysan » Tue Dec 11, 2018 12:48 am

Toby wrote:
Mon Dec 10, 2018 4:48 pm
Simple question: is it worth putting up that risk for a fighting, cold and no tricks session in 40 knots, where the chance of an injury or even fatality is pretty high?
Or just stay home and wait for the next good and fun session?
Toby a lot of people don't live in Brazil and don't have access to great waves ... except when it's blowing 40 knots, then you get head high waves pretty much everywhere and for many of us these are the best of the best sessions we will ever get at our home spots.


https://vimeo.com/145826916

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Re: Fatality in France

Postby foam-n-fibre » Tue Dec 11, 2018 2:14 am

So just to clarify, there is a suggestion that the launch was done with the kite in at the dunes instead of the other direction. What was the wind direction - side-on? Was there an updraft at the dunes - how high are they? Or was there a kite problem and launch gone bad which was not related to the dunes? Or do we know?

Sad story.

Peter

P.S. that vid above is Lake Ontario. Yes, we need strong wind to get good waves there.

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Re: Fatality in France

Postby Flyboy » Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:06 am

foam-n-fibre wrote:
Tue Dec 11, 2018 2:14 am
P.S. that vid above is Lake Ontario. Yes, we need strong wind to get good waves there.
40 knots? No. Something over 25 knots is good. I would say 30 knots is just about perfect with a 5m kite. Over 35 knots it's too windy to ride waves wth any kind of control.

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Re: Fatality in France

Postby RedSky » Tue Dec 11, 2018 7:24 am

PullStrings wrote:
Mon Dec 10, 2018 11:52 pm
He wanted the assistant that was launching him to put the kite down...( i'm assuming that he saw something wrong with the lines )
The helper did not hear or recognize the command and just sent the kite up

Very sad
That's terrible!

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Re: Fatality in France

Postby longwhitecloud » Tue Dec 11, 2018 10:08 am

2 killed in a week, terrible, RIP.

i am sick of people calling kiteboarding a safe sport/ safe gear, especially those marketing it for profit. Danger is part of the fun but needs to be well managed as we know.

The setups and conditions around the world can be so different. Gusting in the 40s in Maui for example is not super unusual, but still needs the right experience/ kit and consuderations.

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Re: Fatality in France

Postby iriejohn » Tue Dec 11, 2018 10:53 am

If I'm launching in sketchy conditions I always tell the person who's launching that (a) I might change my mind and that (b) I might want to immediately land the kite. Really not very complicated.

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Re: Fatality in France

Postby Havre » Tue Dec 11, 2018 1:28 pm

I do not consider kitesurfing to be especially dangerous, but boy have I seen some stupid behavior around (a general comment - I have no idea what happened in this case). Reminds me about what I see riding my motorcycle. I like to ride fast, but in traffic, in wet conditions etc. I will always be very conservative. If people had driven their cars the way many ride their motorcycles there would be cars flying around everywhere.

In both cases accidents can happen to anyone of course. I realize I could very well get killed or seriously injured riding my motorcycle or while kitesurfing - but I don't consider either activity, when done right, especially dangerous. Got to respect the risks though.

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Re: Fatality in France

Postby matth » Tue Dec 11, 2018 1:53 pm

longwhitecloud wrote:
Tue Dec 11, 2018 10:08 am
2 killed in a week, terrible, RIP.

i am sick of people calling kiteboarding a safe sport/ safe gear, especially those marketing it for profit. Danger is part of the fun but needs to be well managed as we know.

The setups and conditions around the world can be so different. Gusting in the 40s in Maui for example is not super unusual, but still needs the right experience/ kit and consuderations.

Agree!!

The kiter always has the option to punch out, sadly many kiters never practice this or are to hesitant to do it for what ever reason.. I would have punch out once I realized the launcher was not following my commands....


I still believe the safest launch method is what I call tethered assist. Use and anchor, stand your own kite up , and then have someone hold your kite in launch postition....now you are in complete control of the launch.

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Re: Fatality in France

Postby PullStrings » Tue Dec 11, 2018 2:15 pm

matth wrote:
Tue Dec 11, 2018 1:53 pm
I still believe the safest launch method is what I call tethered assist. Use and anchor, stand your own kite up , and then have someone hold your kite in launch position....now you are in complete control of the launch.
Yes that's sounds double safe and works really good if you are not alone
I'm a sandbagger self launcher and the way i set-up my 5 Rebel it will pop right up a few feet above the beach and i re-test that all is OK with kite still low
I have to say that the 5 has his own pre-tuned bar/ lines always attached to the kite....kite/bar/lines were originally tuned in 20-25 knots to be ready for the 35-40 days
It's worth the extra cash invested into a brand new specific bar/lines that will have very minimal wear for high winds to maybe save your life

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Re: Fatality in France

Postby kite_hh » Tue Dec 11, 2018 2:40 pm

iriejohn wrote:
Tue Dec 11, 2018 10:53 am
If I'm launching in sketchy conditions I always tell the person who's launching that (a) I might change my mind and that (b) I might want to immediately land the kite. Really not very complicated.
I am kind of sure you implied that in (a), but just to be sure: I will tell whoever is helping to only let go of the kite once they see an unambiguous sign by me (arm stretched out and thump up). Until two weeks ago I thought this was self-evident..
matth wrote:
Tue Dec 11, 2018 1:53 pm
I still believe the safest launch method is what I call tethered assist. Use and anchor, stand your own kite up , and then have someone hold your kite in launch postition....now you are in complete control of the launch.
Yes!

This is also the safest way to go out if you are alone with your trusted buddy. Start him first the usual way, then continue to have him help you with the assisted tethered self launch.

Having (unknown) people launch you is a huge risk. Especially if conditions are extreme. I wrote this a few days ago ( viewtopic.php?p=1036731#p1036731 ) and this story seems to sadly reiterate my point.


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