kiteboarding accidents / safety tips

[abetanzo]

I haven't had any problems learning to kite but its in the earliest stages of learning where someone can really hurt themselves. I too am guilty of holding on when it was best to release. Superman across the water!
Same on a sailboat, COULDN'T release being way overpowered for even that initial pull to un-cleat n ease! water in the cockpit wishing I was close to shore!
All this video shows is a lack of experience and poor choices leading to a big problem. then hooters!

[juandesooka]

BWD got a question from a concerned Gordon's Beach resident....how to tell if a kiter is in trouble or not and what to do. I wrote out some suggestions for them. Any other thoughts to bring up?

-- when a kite is down, the kiter will try to relaunch it, can sometimes take 15 minutes or longer. If you can see they are actively trying to fly the kite, they are probably fine.

-- when kiter has lost their board, they will try to "body drag" back up wind to it. That means they are in the water and zipping back and forth with the kite. As long as the kite is in the air and under control, you probably don't need to worry. If they can't get the board, they will just body drag in to shore (may lose board, but they are safe).

-- when the kite is in the water and the kiter can't relaunch, they can self rescue - they will tie up the lines, get to the kite, lay on top of it, and make it into a sideways taco and sail back in to the beach. If you see them like this, also probably ok, as long as there's some wind to push them towards shore and not a vicious current the other way. If they are in this self rescue position, but getting sucked out to sea and not getting towards the beach, that's when more help might be needed.

-- if you see a kite floating free, with no one attached....99% chance they ran into trouble and had to release their kite for safety, but it is worth calling the coast guard to be safe. The coast guard will want to know if the kiter is safe. If you have binoculars, you can probably see them somewhere upwind of the kite, paddling or swimming to shore. If they are in a wetsuit and wearing a life jacket, can last a long time in the water without concern. They may lose their kite, but they are safe, that's the important part. But if you can't see them, then help might be needed.

-- if you see a kite in the water, with kiter in the water behind it, and they are not self rescuing by the time they reach 3rd rock (first big set of rocks on Gordons), then they may be in trouble....past there, you're into the Otter Pt current especially on a flood tide. At that point, probably call.

-- if you see a kite in the water, with rider behind getting pulled and not moving.....they could be injured or unconscious....call.

Keep in mind too that kiters usually kite with friends -- we look out for each other. So while this is going on, can also watch the beach, to see if help is there. If someone is self-rescuing, unlikely anyone will cut their session short to lend help (the way back is called the "walk of shame"). But if signs are that someone is in trouble, others will be there to help, as happened today.

You can call 911 or the coast guard, Toll free (within region) 1-800-567-5111 or 1-250-413-8933 (front page of phone book)

PS JL brings up an excellent suggestion.....if helmets had a emergency beacon on top, activate it when in trouble ... notified observers there's an issue, and they can find you in the dark. Looking around the web, I don't see this.....anyone know of something like this? Could be an excellent safety addition.

[JL]

Here is an inexpensive light
http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Electroni ... -light.jsp
with S.O.S. mode. The cheap metal attachment could be replaced with kite line & secured to a harness

[SmallWaveSteve]

I ride with one of these around my neck (aside from @ Nitinat), not sure how effective it is for signalling, but its some peace of mind (and REALLY fricking loud, as in it actually hurt my ears the one time I blew it to test it out)
http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/HikingCam ... anyard.jsp

I had looked into a little SOS scuba beacon like this one (1km range of visibility):
http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Electroni ... hlight.jsp

If somebody does decide to go this route, use a screw-gate carabiner to attach it, not a regular snap-gate, could be bad ju-ju to have a kite line accidentally get snapped into the biner

[JL]

Good plan Man

[abetanzo]

wanted to clarify what happen Friday evening.. I had twist above the spreader bar in my two centre flying lines when launching and thought they'd sort themselves out with me twisting the trim line. improper loading to the ring is the probably cause.... user error etc... I knew it wasn't right..it wasn't fixing itself and thought I should head in and was soon about to before it happened!

I've used the bar for close to one year and its possibly close to two years old. I've cleaned it after every use and checked line lengths often enough but probably only inspected the spreader/swivel/pulley/ring connection once or twice..

lessons learned were: make sure your lines are flying properly with out twists/knots/chafes/out of tune lengths, when you know something ain't right go back the beach and fix it, learn how to swim better with a dam harness on or attach flippers to your harness, help a kiter in need (without the help of Ian and Paul I could have been a lot worse off)

Ocean Rodeo have already said they'd get me riding the bar again... Richard today said he'd like to take a look at the ring and view the clip and pictures from my GoPro.

I'm very happy to have not had anything worse happen! my kite got a small tear in the leading edge and some scratches that should be easily fixed with a small stitched patch. the bladder seems fine and held air during my first inspection. The cops didn't threaten to charge me like Oak Bay PD said on Willows, but they still took my name.

also thanks to cguygo for the ride back in the minivan while he was working... rock on!

[juandesooka]

getting a rap sheet with the po-lice...."a Victoria kiter, known to the authorities".

Looks the weld failed on that ring....I'd call that pure freakish mechanical failure.

You've now got JL, aka the "mad professor", searching the web high and low for higher quality swivels, plus additional twine redundant systems, etc.

But with the ring failing, not the swivel, these wouldn't work anyway. Plus I'd be sketched at introducing safety systems that cause your swivels to potentially not work right. Lots of stories out there about excessive line twist leading to failure of the quick release.....i.e., release and it doesn't depower....leading to either also releasing secondary release (bye bye kite) or a death loop spiral into who knows what. Yikes! Keep those flying lines untwisted.

[JL]

It's not an isolated incident. http://oceanrodeo.com/forums/viewthread/3697/ That's 3 more. I also disagree with the little spreader bar above the swivel not having the ability to support the 'oh shit' release. Something like http://www.mutinykites.com/content/mutiny-swivel-0 eliminates the need for any welded rings as well p.s. If your using an O.R. bar older than 2009 there was a recall on the swivel. The new one on the left & the old one on the right: http://oceanrodeo.com/_inc/phpthumb/php ... 26c3d5.jpg

[thankgodiatepastafobreaky]

For the record I'm going to miss that O-Shit release ring coming through the one side of the spreader. To be able to put the full load on that one front line from that ring was invaluable. It saved my ass more than a couple of times. It looks like the new OR bar doesn't have that as a stock set up.

And you can always count on something breaking. Equipment failure is often the reason for self-rescuing, so be prepared knowing you will have to do it. Don't kite alone and if you do don't go further than you can swim.

[juandesooka]

For the record I'm going to miss that O-Shit release ring coming through the one side of the spreader. To be able to put the full load on that one front line from that ring was invaluable. It saved my ass more than a couple of times. It looks like the new OR bar doesn't have that as a stock set up.

And you can always count on something breaking. Equipment failure is often the reason for self-rescuing, so be prepared knowing you will have to do it. Don't kite alone and if you do don't go further than you can swim.

That's interesting....so does new OR bar now go to more like a "mini 5th" system, there the quick release goes to the 2 front lines? (like the Cabrinha IDS) That's pretty popular and it seems to work ok, but it isn't really full depower, more like 90%....kite still flies in higher wind, just without much power. Personally, I like the idea of the kite flagging out onto one single flying line.....to me, that's 100% depower and feels safest. When you QR, that kite will not fly.

[JL]

No ... O.R. bars use either a slick roll-over bridle activated when you punch out OR let go of the bar ( Letting go of the bar only works if your using the http://www.oceanrodeo.com/products/freeride-bar & have the stopper close to the kite ) ... 'Oh Shit' handles are on the steering lines, beat to use those when your kite is down to avoid 'Death Spiral'

[JL]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBn570XvlCo

[JL]

Teabag: Sad to see people selling 2003-2006 era kites half price of what they paid brand new back then. Would also be sad if they were free considering the injury risks. Should be illegal to sell/give kites that the only use they have is to give to your worse ennemy to learn on. There are some cheap @$$ o l e out there, beginneer be careful when buying gear. - Wednesday October 23, 10:55PM Jl: Good point. Ask about depower & safety systems. Look into availability of bladders - Thursday October 24, 8:34AM

[juandesooka]

Near drowning, saved by buddy: http://www.mydailynews.com.au/news/save ... e/2063641/

I guess sub-headline in this one is "if he was kiting alone, he'd have died".

But the other question is what it means about his board dragging him under? Sounds like he was wearing a board leash ... danger! One friend has a leash with a velcro that releases under tension, that sounds a little safer at least.

[SmallWaveSteve]

It reads to me that when they say board they meant kite (i'm assuming the author doesn't know much about the sport)