Kiteboard lightning! Serious stuff!

[NXLVL]

Has anyone experienced pops or cracks similiar to static charge close to a squal line or thunder storm? Ive noticed during summer sessions with a storm line at least 5 miles away, I still build a charge during my airs and as soon as I ground, I get an electrical charge under my feet. Ive noticed the longer Im in the air, the more intense the charge. I have had serious CRACKS, not pops, that sent charges up one leg, through my groin, and down the other. Has anyone heard of a kiteboarder being struck by lightning?

mike

[Wetstuff]

Mike: I think in the past there have been plenty of mentions of 'tickles'. I think Rick I also mentioned that the potential reach of cloud lightning is about 20mi... I'll kite in the rain, but put down when it gets noisy aloft.

We had a guy - on his first visit to the beach a few years ago - stand under the local boardwalk to avoid a squall ...and Zeus reached down an fried his central nervous system. It's probably not a bad way to die, but this kid was like 18?!

j i m

[zerogee_ca]

Don't know about kiteboarders actually getting struck by lightening. But on a rescent trip to Hatteras a number of guys reported the same thing happening to them during a session at the slick in front of Real. It was a similar day that you describe. One witness claimed he actually saw the arcs coming out from their heals or calfs just before they landed. All the guys this happened to also had some metal pins /plates from bone breaks (coincidence??).

Lightening has been known to strike up to 20 miles from a storm.

[Kosh]

Experienced similar events when there was hail once. Do not want to experience the real thing

[NXLVL]

Sorry about the tickle topic, new to the forum. I guess, all Id like to know is how conductive is dyneema, and how are we compared to a golfer swinging a club close to a storm?

[zerogee_ca]

Mythbusters did an episode about Benjamin Franklin discovering electricity by flying a kite during a thunderstorm.

"The experiment itself worked perfectly as described, but the current produced by artificial lightning (which is a fraction of what a real lightning bolt would contain) was fatal. Based on this observation, the Build Team concluded that Franklin could not possibly have survived a direct hit as the popular story of the experiment states. They also found that the kite need not be directly struck by lightning in order for the experiment to work. Experiment: confirmed; Myth: busted.

(This is not an accurate description of the "Franklin kite story." According to H.W. Brand’s biography The First American, the story is as follows: Franklin flew a silk kite (with a hemp line holding a metal key near the end) underneath a cloud during a thunderstorm. Franklin connected the device to a piece of silk to insulate himself. After some time flying the kite, he noticed the fibers on the hemp line standing up as though charged. He touched the key with his knuckle and felt a charge from the accumulated electricity in the air, not from a lightning strike.)"

a link to a description of the actual Mythbuster experiments. Take note of their results with wet kite line.
http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2006/03/fran ... lence.html

[sarcasm]

I live in Florida and have been zapped several times, especially going back 9 years ago (I don't ride now in conditions if zapping is possible). Been zapped ten times within a half hour.
I have never heard of someone actually being hit by lightning, but... I would NOT continue to ride if getting shocked. You are just asking for it, imo.

[kitegrommet]

I've been zapped a dozen or so times also, each were in a Caribbean humid beach with the daily thunderstorms rolling in..

We found if you just do a small beach lift/jump, when your feet clear the sand, you get zapped..
Walking a loaded kite out of the water, get a bit lifted, and zap!!

[switch313]

yeah touching people in this situation is also really funny, the higher the kite the more charge, a zap in the nose is a real burn. if not a little dangerous well worth the fun................

[mx5alan]

Has anyone experienced pops or cracks similiar to static charge close to a squal line or thunder storm? Ive noticed during summer sessions with a storm line at least 5 miles away, I still build a charge during my airs and as soon as I ground, I get an electrical charge under my feet. Ive noticed the longer Im in the air, the more intense the charge. I have had serious CRACKS, not pops, that sent charges up one leg, through my groin, and down the other. Has anyone heard of a kiteboarder being struck by lightning?

mike

Yes, experienced it once. Had been flying in the rain then walking back up the beach stood with kite at side of the window while mates landed their kites - went to land my kite and jumped over their lines and recieved a static shock.

> at least 5 miles... Storms can be 10 miles away and still be a problem.