BayAreaKiteboarding.com

Kiter lost his life in accident.....

Gonna put some money together and donate to his 3 year old boy and wife / girlfriend....

If interested, let me know. Will pass on any info.

Tragic....could be any one of us....

Wearing my helmet now.


http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kite ... -box-cott/

Here's a link to the newscast report that includes footage of Marc Sproud kiting earlier in the day taken by a reporter and allowed to be aired on the news by his family: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa ... onditions/
He was blown onto the beach and knocked unconscious (no helmet), and before rescuers could get to his QR another huge gust blew him up into large obstacles causing major injuries.

Stories like this are always sad and a cautionary tale for all of us.

I'm trying to figure out how this could've happened--something doesn't add up. He was an experienced kiter and wasn't even trying to come in. He was riding in the "kitesurfing zone," then got blown onto the beach, then dragged all the way across the beach into hard obstacles.

According to maps, the beach looks fairly large. It's been my experience (learned the painful way) that if you're on the ground and being dragged in sand, you're going to grind to a halt pretty quickly even in strong wind. It has to be really cranking to drag you a distance. Could 45 mph gusts do this if he was on an appropriate-sized kite for the conditions? And if it was that gusty, why would he be that close to shore?

nick_80044 wrote:According to maps, the beach looks fairly large.

Looking at the video from the news, the beach looks REALLY SMALL = less than a lines length.
Accidents happen fast and distance you thought far away come close quickly in high winds.
Thoughts to the family...

nick_80044 wrote:Stories like this are always sad and a cautionary tale for all of us.
I'm trying to figure out how this could've happened--something doesn't add up. He was an experienced kiter and wasn't even trying to come in. He was riding in the "kitesurfing zone," then got blown onto the beach, then dragged all the way across the beach into hard obstacles.

Report from people on scene posted in Seabreeze thread above:
"It was slightly cross mainly onshore from the NW, blowing 18-35kts. Gusty and unstable air with passing showers He was on a 9 and a twintip well lit and was pinching upwind at speed along the edge of the sand, gust hit and he ran out of water. He then ended up running on the sand at 15-20 ks, tripped, then somersaulted."

So he was crankin' along, the board hit sand & cam to a halt. He tried to run it out but tripped. Also read, he was knocked unconscious & probably broke his neck from the initial tumble. Such a tragedy, sounds like he was a big part of the kiting community over there. I'd like to donate to his family. RIP