Facial injury

[grtlakes]

Recently I was injured by a blow to the face. It was after a water start. Either the board or part of the foil flew into my face and resulted in 10 stitches to the upper lip and inside the mouth. It happened so fast I couldn’t react. I was kinda knocked silly and it took a while to reorient myself and foil back to the beach. I have no idea what happened.

This is the first time In 5 years I have been hit in the face. Now I’m wondering about full face protection. If it had hit slightly above or below the impact area I could have shattered teeth, nose or jaw.

So? Freak accident or is this something to expect and mitigate as much as humanly possible?

Also, has anyone had success with some kind of facial protection? Something like a hockey helmet type cage.

Thoughts?

[borist]

can you provide more data on condition, water, wind, kite size.... thanks

[richy-c]

Theres a guy at a spot i go to who wears a full face hockey helmet for foiling. Looks goofy but maybe hes had a bad experience like you

[edt]

My friend wears a cage helmet either a hockey goalie or field hockey one. If you have been hit before you want to use one of those helmets. Can't throw down if you're always worried about getting hit in the face.

[UKSurf]

Recently I was injured by a blow to the face. It was after a water start. Either the board or part of the foil flew into my face and resulted in 10 stitches to the upper lip and inside the mouth. It happened so fast I couldn’t react. I was kinda knocked silly and it took a while to reorient myself and foil back to the beach. I have no idea what happened.

This is the first time In 5 years I have been hit in the face. Now I’m wondering about full face protection. If it had hit slightly above or below the impact area I could have shattered teeth, nose or jaw.

So? Freak accident or is this something to expect and mitigate as much as humanly possible?

Also, has anyone had success with some kind of facial protection? Something like a hockey helmet type cage.

Thoughts?

Sorry to hear this. There is no doubt this is a risk with hydrofoiling, I wore a full face ice hockey helmet for a while learning after seeing someone getting smashed in the face. To be honest you dont really notice it. They are cheap to buy on ebay, waterproof and would certainly stop something like this happening. There was a post on here a while back about a kitesurfer whose friend had to have facial reconstruction done after being hit in the face with a hydrofoil.

[br44]

So? Freak accident or is this something to expect and mitigate as much as humanly possible?

Sorry to hear. Could have been lots worse: getting knocked out on the water, even if for just a few moments, ....

What did you do just before this happened? Aggressive kite dive? Small wave hit? Where exactly were your feet when you water started? For example if your feet are too far back, or too close to the heel side, or your weight distribution is "wrong", then the foilboard can fly up and hit you. Avoiding the sequence of events which led to your being hit is the first (and most important?) line of defense. Being extra careful during water starts and so on may be as helpful as a helmet, if not more.

[grtlakes]

Conditions were 4’ to 5’ waves about 20kts on a 8 m kite. I have spent about 12 hours foiling in similar conditions during the last week. I had been practicing toeside riding and gybes prior to getting hurt. However, when the injury occurred I was simply water starting nothing I haven’t done before hundreds of times.

At this stage I am primarily interested in avoidance and protection.

It’s frustrating because I really have no idea how to avoid this as I’m not sure what happened. Possibly the board went between the lines and the kite powered up.

[br44]

If the kite was fairly low, then a 4-5 foot wave is enough to float the board into your lines. As soon as the board hits a back line it sends the kite, which pulls you right into the board/foil. If that's indeed what happened, then the moral (well, one of them) is to keep the kite high(er) in waves to reduce the chance of such collisions between board and lines.

[darippah]

I assume you were riding strapless?

[Kitetwin-1]

This has happened to me twice in the last 6 months. In waves not to big, In the water, board upwind, dealing with the kite, turn to reach for the board and the foil flips over am struck me in the face lightly just missing my eye. Enough of an strike to draw blood. Can’t take things fir granted, be aware when the foil is upwind of you. I’m not wearing a cage, just have to be more carefull.