Ram air caught in surf disaster

[flying grandpa]

Just yesterday it happens my kite was caught in surf at the middle of the bay. I pulled the leash to prevent kite damage, then swam to my bar and relounch Soul10 after 2 min. Was easy. At least this time.

[lovethepirk]

I know this is a troll thread, but here is my honest thoughts anyway.......I bought a 16m Pansh Aurora II foil kite 6 months ago to dip my toe into foil kites. First of all the kite sucks balls for foiling in light winds, it is so slow I am honestly better off on a 12m LEI in 10 knots. I LOVE boosting on it in 18knots tho...fucking ridiculous air. Anyway...the kite relaunches the best of any kite I have ever had even in 8 knots. Maybe not all foil kites do this, but damn this kite can flip over 5x and then it still relaunches with no lines tangled everytime.

[markymarc]

On the other hand, sometimes they are problematic, although in this case mostly operator mis-judgements. This happened on Friday along Bloubergstrand. The wind was persistently SW, directly onshore, as it often is when the SEaster is not in force. There were a few kiters on the beach, some trying to ride 12m alongshore, while others sat and waited for a possible late afternoon SEaster, which had already started at my flat in Milnerton. This was at Dolphin beach, where I was chatting with a Swiss couple who had just arrived and were somewhat disappointed that the much vaunted SEaster was not there (I correctly promised them the next day, yesterday, would be a good one, as will today and the next two, woohoo!).

Eventually around 6PM, another Swiss guy, tall with long black hair, Oscar by name, set up a green 13m Ozone foil kite and a strapless Slingshot foil board and Hoverglide foil and launches, with a little help from me. The waves are small, so after body-dragging through them he gets going fine headed north to Bloubergstrand proper. He's obviously a very capable foil kiter in both regards (I've only tried a foil kite once, and found it very difficult, sort of like the old C-kites with limited depower and only a narrow sweet zone, and I struggle to foil strapless). Then he gybes and heads south past us towards Sunset Beach, all the time heading considerably upwind and out into the bay. I mention to the Swiss couple that he should not go too far, either upwind out to sea or further south, as he will run into the beginnings of the SEaster, and where these two wind patterns clash there is often little or no wind for a while as they compete to see which will win out. Sure enough, he is suddenly clearly struggling to keep the kite flying and eventually drops it, recovers it, drops it, recovers it, drops it, recovers it, and finally down for the count. The Swiss couple are concerned, so once I pack up my kite, giving up on the SEaster coming through strongly enough for my 9m, I promise to check in on him.

Down at Sunset beach, I find him still swimming in his kite, his board already lolling in the small waves on shore. So I go down, help him drag the sodden kite out of the water, and slowly drain it by the tiny flaps on the wingtips, and help him sort the messed up lines. Eventually we get it to fly again and he flies it back and forth on the beach as the gentle SEaster comes through. I encourage him to do that a bit more to dry the kite and I'll give him a lift back to Dolphin beach, but he can feel the SEaster and wants to ride it back downwind. I warn him that when the SEaster is that weak, as he goes downwind he will encounter the opposite problem, the same clash with the SWester somewhere between Sunset and Dolphin. But he is adamant and I wish him luck and not too long a walk, encouraging him to gybe his way downwind just beyond the breaking waves. But you know what it is like, once you get going you don't want to stop, so he heads out and way too far offshore for my liking, and in a couple hundred yards, without even doing one gybe, he is back in the water. It was near sunset now, so I walked down the beach to watch him slowly swim his kite back in, commiserated with him, and left him to drain it and walk the remaining halfway back to Dolphin beach. It doesn't look that far, but I bet he was exhausted from carrying a large wet kite and foilboard all that way, and surely it was long after dark before he got to his car.

This is a strange and dangerous story Hugh.. I mean messing up once can happen to anyone, but making the same error twice in such a short time? I mean, reading your story, he seemed very experienced but also ignorant to your advices? Are the winds that unpredictable in the evening? I mean they die out just like that or, was he just too stubborn because no one was on the water anymore? I will be over there next week or so... Thanks for a bit of advice on this.. You seem very experienced in the area around Milnerton/Capetown! Btw. did you see the latest video on Dimitri M (EPIC) needing to be rescued with his foil kite?

[JakeFarley]

This reminded me of the west coast sea breeze that we have here in the spring. The wind comes out of the east/northeast until around 5pm and then turns north/northwest and picks up to 15 knots until around 7pm when it dies and returns out of the east. One day I had just launched when a couple of kiters showed up that had not kited here before. I told them not to go too far west and to keep an eye on the time as the wind will die around 7pm. It was getting close to 7pm and I was close to the beach. The water was like glass and I looked at the flag at the beach, it was hanging straight down, no wind. My kite Hindenburged and I saw that one of the kiters was about 500 yards west with his kite down in the water. After about 15 minutes the wind came back out of the east and I relaunched my 21m and body dragged back to beach, checking occasionally for the men in grey suits following me. The wind was too light for the other kiter to relaunch so he has to swim in. He finally made it to the beach as the sun was setting.

Listen to those with local knowledge. It could save your life.

[RideLow]

Hahaha,

Lets do a motorised version of this.

Here's a video of a motorcross bike in the surf,,,,, that proves that jet ski's are no good in the surf......

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhhhhahahahahah
heheheheheheheh
hohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohoh


Its called an argument from ignorance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1DwH2tJ4PU

its called MOTOcross.. stop insulting us that ride!

[cor]

but the principles are the same.

They are anything but the same. Closed vs (semi-)open cell. But I don't expect you to understand that so I won't even bother.

I give 2/10 trolls for this thread.