BayAreaKiteboarding.com

some buddies in cali told me some 17 Hello kid went out, in street clothes, at sunset beach after buying a crossbow from calikites in SDiego. With no previous flying experience he proceeded to rig up and send himself down the beach grabbing at anyting and everything to stop, proceeded to take out bystanders and eventually ended up on the porch of some multi-million dollar house hitting the woman enjoying a frosty beverage, and ended up breaking her arm and banging her up pretty badly. The story then gets a bit fuzzy...either he drug her through a plate glass door with him or he went through solo. People heard and saw the glass explode, but the lifeguards and police/fire were on it quickly so not too many people got up to the house. They were both taken away in ambu's and the kite was untangled form the house and roof. Rumor from my buddies is that the local kite crew is gonna crack down on the inexperienced kiters, but access is in jeopardy as the woman is considering legal action against kid/parents, the shop and Cabrinha...and the lifeguards and police are having a meeting. This is the lowdown I have received, hope that helps.
So much for the crossbow super depower, as I also heard the kid had let go of the bar...should be some interesting consequences from this crap...hopefully the local riders won't get screwed by this.

I will say that when I bought my xbow I couldnt release the safety if my lfe depnded on it. I tried so hard numerous times to punch the bar up, slam it, hit it, all kinds of things just to see what it did. Nothing. I was told by Cabrinha to take some sandpaper and take the cast mark off the ball. When I bought the kite I could barely snap the ball in place as it was. So I wonder if the kid was not able to release. Also the I do have to say that the kite has so much depower, I dont believe for a second he dragged that far with the bar sheeted out. I own this kite and there is no way that even in 35mph it would rag you with the bar sheeted out all the way. He probably paniced like most beginners and held onto the bar for dear life. Poor bastard.

Bad news all around.

This is the scenario I fear happening around here, especially at Berkeley. Everyone realize it's all up to us as a collective group. If you are kiting at a place like Berkeley, or somewhere that requires skills well beyond that of a beginner, keep an eye out for new faces. Be willing to talk to people to guage their skills. Advise them of the risks and dangers of your launch.

Be pro-active!

Word.

This story sounds a little fantastic. Has anyone seen a news article on this?

More information on ikitesurf.com discussion page

When you talk about someone taking on a full size kite (in contrast to a trainer) for the first time with no flying experience, there is nothing you can really say against the kite, any kite. Its like putting someone on the steering wheel of a car without any driving experience and putting them on the highway. They will cause an accident regardless of the car you put them in. I hope the parties involved and the authorities will have this understanding as well.

Anonymous wrote:When you talk about someone taking on a full size kite (in contrast to a trainer) for the first time with no flying experience, there is nothing you can really say against the kite, any kite. Its like putting someone on the steering wheel of a car without any driving experience and putting them on the highway. They will cause an accident regardless of the car you put them in. I hope the parties involved and the authorities will have this understanding as well.

"Well you see Officer (or your Honor), I can explain everything and I hope you can understand. What we had here was someone who had enough money to go to a shop and buy a kite and that's what he did. Anyone can do it, all you need to do is walk and talk and have cash, check or credit card. So he bought this kite and figured it looked easy enough, and well, I guess you know the rest."