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Serious accident today at 3rd

Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2013 9:27 am
by sc-surfer
troybo13 wrote:
BTW, no one could have prevented this. The Dad looked like a competent instructor an the kid looked like a student (he was wearing a Real T-shirt from OBX.) I thought nothing of it. The whole situation looked proper.
Not true at all. When I am teaching someone on land with a full sized kite and they are not yet ready for independent flight I attach a leash from the kites best depower location (the oh shit handles work best) to ME. Worst case is the student gets launched or dragged only the length of the leash before the kite flags out. Not very far! There's no way a small kite flagged out on a single line will loft/drag two people. This way, even if I lose my grip on the student and they forget to let to of the bar, things can't go too wrong.

Re: Serious accident today at 3rd

Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:32 am
by Sonny
I just want to state again that there is no reason to fly a full size kite on land unless teaching how to launch or land the kite. There is no reason to practice with full size kite on land, go body drag in the water.

Re: Serious accident today at 3rd

Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2013 11:12 am
by kitenaked
Sonny wrote:I just want to state again that there is no reason to fly a full size kite on land unless teaching how to launch or land the kite. There is no reason to practice with full size kite on land, go body drag in the water.
Exactly Sonny!

Smaller LEI (possibly even with short lines) is perfect for teaching the functions and skills without all the power. We also use an extra safety line from the instructor to the kite. It attaches to the nose or 5th line connection so the kite can never go past 11 or 1 before everything goes to this single line connection and kite drops. Teaches student to learn smooth control during first times flying and LEI.

Re:

Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2013 6:04 pm
by MehYam
tgautier wrote:Anyone got any bright ideas for how I could have done that one differently?
Sometimes you just can't make the horse drink. Sounds like you did what you could, and your nagging probably factored into his decision to pack it in.

Re: Serious accident today at 3rd

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 12:19 am
by shred_da_gorge
Sonny wrote:I just want to state again that there is no reason to fly a full size kite on land unless teaching how to launch or land the kite. There is no reason to practice with full size kite on land, go body drag in the water.
Third this. A friend of mine is an industry veteran who designed some of the most popular kites out there, and this is one of the first things he told me when I decided to switch from windsurfing into kiting several years back.

Re:

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 11:40 am
by mcfly777
tgautier wrote:Predictably he only made it 10 feet before overflying his kite, spooking himself. at this point I was yelling at him to land his kite. Thankfully he came to his senses and put the kite down - but honestly I don't think any of my insistence had any effect. He spooked himself and that was what did it.

Anyone got any bright ideas for how I could have done that one differently?
I think that's really all you could have done. As someone else said, short of physically restraining the person or disabling his equipment, I think you did the right thing. There are some people that just don't accept advice from others, no matter how much more experienced. This thread helps us at least to talk about this and get an understanding of what should we do in these situations. Thank you very very much for being proactive.

Leo

Re: Serious accident today at 3rd

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 2:43 pm
by troybo13
From the time the Dad launched the kite, flew it around a bit, then transferred it to the kid ( I did not see this part), was a matter of a minute or two. The kid's accident happened almost right away. To clarify what I said previously, the situation appeared proper until the kite got transferred to the kid.

I agree with the thread that flying a kite on land is asking for trouble. I also see alot of people doing it at Third. If I see something that appears dangerous, I will be the first to say something.
I will also not hesitate to council a noob if it appears he/she is making a mistake. Every kiter should care, and every kiter should help when called upon. Sometimes a catastrophe happens quick. I have seen a half dozen incidences this year that got dangerous in a second or two.

Serious accident today at 3rd

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 11:40 pm
by sc-surfer
There is a time to fly kites on land....I have no issue flying a 5 or 7 in light wind with a learner....

Making popcorn now...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Re: Serious accident today at 3rd

Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:14 am
by sflinux
Best wishes to the kid, I hope he makes a full recovery.
This incident reminds me of a windy day on the north shore of Lake Tahoe (locals were out on 10Ms). My 5 year old was flying a slingshot trainer. I had a leash going from the bar to me while he was flying the kite. On a bad gust he got lofted and let go of the bar. The pull was so hard that it broke the buckle on my leash and the kite took off. There were no harnesses involved. I was able to catch my son with one arm before he would have done a superman. I've coached him to let go of the bar when he gets scared.
As adults, we don't think twice about putting up the smallest kites in our quiver (2M foil, 5M lei). In light winds these sizes can be appropriate for lighter riders. But in stronger winds (over 20 mph), they are too big.
The other problem I see are chicken loops giving a false sense of security. On land, if a flyer can't handle the power of a kite while unhooked, then they are overpowered and should be on a smaller kite. I agree with Sonny, there is no reason to be flying a depowered kite on land, when the kite powered up will result in these consequences.
Some manufacturers (for e.x., Ozone, Wainman) make 2M lei which would be more appropriate once the winds get over 20 mph. For small foils, the HQ beach symphony (1.3M) is nice for lighter riders in winds over 20 mph.
Don't let your guard down on small kites, as their speed is good at generating power, especially when the winds pick up.

Re:

Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 2:41 pm
by Driver
All around Thursday was a crazy day. Late afternoon I think gusts were going well into the 30s though the lulls were probably 20 or less...

Saw the kid get lofted as I was walking out, super scary. His spotter just lost his grasp for a second as a gust came up.

Also saw tgautier trying to talk the guy down from launching later on. Neither the guy trying to launch him or the guy knew what was going on- they couldn't collectively figure out the launch angle to even get the kite up. I commend tgautier for saying something and agree there is not much more you can do...

Earlier I asked someone on the beach for a launch who had just come in. Didn't know the guy, but turns out it was a mistake. He picks the kite up before I have the bar in an odd way that hsa me concerned, then just as I get in but before i'm ready he loses the kite, which proceeds to hot launch down wind... luckily I was able to sprint it out and depower quick enough to stay off the rocks. I still don't know how I got out of that one. Shoulda called it a day right there but...

I was out for 15 mins and decided to head in due to the conditions, messed up on my final gybe during a BIG gust and crashed my kite, which subsequently split a seam top to bottom. Didn't think it would be too hard of a crash but I think the gust powered it up as it hit. Good times... Thanks to the guy who helped save it from the rocks below the lower launch, and the other guy who dropped off my board.