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http://articles.kwch.com/2012-08-06/kit ... r_33039325

Kiteboarder killed at Cheney Lake identified
August 06, 2012|By Chris Durden | KWCH 12 Eyewitness News

(KINGMAN COUNTY, Kan.) — Authorities have identified the man killed in a kiteboarding accident at Cheney Lake. Investigators say 42 yr. old Bruce Eric Matthews of Wichita died Saturday.

Matthews was kite boarding in strong winds during a camping trip with his family. Eyewitnesses say the wind lifted Matthews up into the air and brought him back down several times. They pulled him out of the water. An off-duty police officer began CPR until paramedics arrived.

When kiteboarding, a person has a small surfboard strapped to their feet, and a harness around their waist that connects them to a kite. The harder the wind blows the higher the kiteboarder can jump, and the faster the rider can go.

Always sad to hear people losing their life. Would like to know if the kiter was tea bagged onto solid ground. The article states they pulled the man from the water. Many scenarios are going through my head as to how he actually died.
(And what can be done to avoid it)

RIP,TONY

nicmorel posted this on sessionalert on Aug 6

Saturday we had good winds, but a tragic fatal accident happened to a fellow kiteboarder. Bruce Matthews was his name, relatively new to the sport (about 6months-year new) not able to kite upwind yet was his level/experience. We do not know exactly what happened for he was very far downwind few coves going into his campsite (him and his family had RV site downwind of the launch). What we speculate happened was wind picked up from storm front moved in and he was in an uncontrolable situation. We either believe he was slammed hard few times in shallow water and was knocked unconscious or was drowned unconscious. Witnesses that came to his rescue attempted CPR till park rangers, police, paramedics, and rescue helicopter arrived. He never pulled any safetys. We all was on 13s in 20-25mph winds thru the day and wind picked up to 30-35mph winds when this happened and we believe he was way overpowered (I know I was and so was many others). The point of this sad and unforgettable situation is safety awareness that this possibly could have been prevented. He did not have a helmet on. Our kiting area we highly enforce safety and we all wear helmets, lifevests or floatable impact vests as well as sometype of feet protection (booties). Please everyone, invest in safety gear! Please wear a helmet! You never know what the wind/weather will do! It may save your life out on the water!!!

This should not have happened and it's always so sad to hear about a death like this.
My condolences to his family and friends.

Again this should not have happened.

To many errors were made. 13m kite in 20-25mph.
I'm 225 lbs and go with a 9m in winds above 20mph.

Kiting a storm front is a very bad idea even for an expert rider.

No Helmet.

Kiter did not activate his release.

Safety Release reflex (SRR). Everyone should become familiar with their safety release and be ready to activate it very quickly.
Unfortunately it is not like the breaks of your car. We use out breaks both in emergencies and in normal driving. You only need the safety release in an emergency... that is why I say it is very very important to know your release very well.

See this thread for more on SRR:

viewtopic.php?f=82&t=2357453

Another thing that is important. newer riders should be using bigger boards and smaller kites.
Bigger board requires less power so a smaller kite can be used. Less power results in better safety.