Your worst wipeout?

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OliverG
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Post by OliverG » Mon Jun 06, 2005 7:06 am

Ok,

So far there hasn't been one too traumatic, but just enough so that I won't soon forget it. Last year, late in the season at Sherman I sent a high-altitude forward 720, got more air than I intended and overrotated, turning it into a 720++ and brought the kite forward too fast, too soon. I turned my head over my left shoulder and saw the water fast approaching at what seemed like 30mph. My descent was at a bit of an angle rather than straight down. My reaction was simply not there, now I react better and send the kite back hard the other way to try and salvage the situation as I can't have that happen again. Anyway, I slammed down on my left ribcage and instantly knew something was bad. I couldn't breath hardly at all, but grabbed my board and dragged into the beach. Game Over! I limped in and Kent landed my kite. I think it was a fractured rib, but no kiting for the next two weeks, and it took at least 8 weeks to feel right again. I will not soon forget the pain. A mere cough, or god forbid, a sneeze was indeed painful.

There's a couple other momentous occasions, but that one provided the most painful and longest lasting effects.

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dewey
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Post by dewey » Mon Jun 06, 2005 8:35 am

Your old impact harness would have helped. I've heard of a few people last year with fractured ribs. Were you off access and crashed hard?? I've hit the water sideways, but never with enough force to crack something. If that happens a long way out the swim would be killer. That's why I wear a vest.

Glad you were able to drag in.
Dewey

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kite-o-matik
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Post by kite-o-matik » Mon Jun 06, 2005 10:30 am

Hey Bob, are you going to post the video of that Wadell crash for us? :shock:

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sflinux
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bad week

Post by sflinux » Mon Jun 06, 2005 10:45 am

Ok maybe this isn't related to bad wipeouts, but I think interesting all the same. I had to write because eli mentioned his foil comment. I have been riding a peter lynn g2 15M for the past few months and really liking it. Liked it enough that I just picked up another one 9M for the gusty conditions of ocean beach.
Well it's been a bad week at ocean beach. Last thursday, I was getting ready to self launch my 15M g2 when a dog and owner decided to run into my launch area. I was patient and waited. Well during my waiting my kite caught a gust which released the sand holding it down and went airborne with the dog and owner still in my launch area. I made a run for it downwind (towards the edge of the window) so my lines would miss the dog and owner. Once I knew the dog and owner were clear I let go of my bar (I launch unhooked with one hand on the bar and the other on my chicken loop (to depower) and sheeting system fully depowered). Well when I let go of my bar, that's when the fun started. I watched as my safety line snapped and my kite, three lines, and bar flew towards the great highway. Some of the three existing lines wrapped around a pole before ripping and the kite finally landed in the park. Surprisingly the kite was ok. No one got hurt, just a mild stop in traffic. I walked away with three broken kite lines. I blame my leash braking due to the stopper ball on my line (the one that keeps the bar from sending all the way to the kite).
Two days later, I was excited to receive my new 9M guerilla 2. I did a test flight the day before with new (used) lines which appeared to be in good shape. I experienced a full range in wind that day. Around noon I was barely flying my 21M. Two hours later it was too much for my 15M g2. I was excited to put up my 9M g2. I went out in the waves and was having fun. What felt like an hour into my session, I was cruising out into the surf with my kite at 45, when all of a sudden, bam, my kite was gone. I was holding on to a bar with no kite. I suspect this is what happened. I caught a gust (+40 mph) which broke both of my front lines. One of my front lines broke at an oring (for my safety line) which was to stop my bar from sending to the kite. The other front line snapped at the leader line (a knot which the line was attached). Rumor has it that pl kites don't like to have a lot of load on the rear lines. Well instantaneously after my front lines blew, both of my rear lines pulled off of my kite. I was left holding onto a bar with stearing lines, attached to pigtails, attached to webbing which used to be inside the kite and no kite. Luckily the kite landed on the beach and some girls grabbed it until I was able to swim to shore.
The moral of the story: 1) putting stopper balls or orings on kite lines rather than leader lines is a bad idea. 2) foil kites need beefy front lines. I'm going to replace my front lines with 600# qline. I'm going to replace my leader lines so that the stopper oring is on the leader line rather than the kite line (my normal slingshot leader line was too short to put an oring for my 15M kite). Now I have to send the kite in for warranty, cause it has more holes, seams ripped, than I care to mention. Poor kite only had less than 2h of use.
-bric

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Returned board

Post by Karma messenger » Mon Jun 06, 2005 11:09 am

Hello Sander,

So Jason Voss returns your board to you.....you need to appease the Karma gods by providing Jason w/his favorite case of cold beer....trust me on this, it's a good investment.....

One board = $700 (value of what he returned to you)
One case of beer = $26 (how much you will spend to "thank him")
Karma gained by giving beer for returned board = endless.

A thanks in a forum that he does not read is nice, a case of cold ones is better.

But hey, it's just one dudes opinion.....

Best, Zeev.

Guest

Post by Guest » Mon Jun 06, 2005 11:26 am

I donít think Peter Lynns need different lines than inflateables. Slingshots have four lines and a stopper ball on the line, and no problem. No reason why this should be different. Lines brake on any kite. Changing to Q-Line is a good thing to do regardless of what you fly. Most lines I have seen are low grade dyneema. The only moral of the stories here is that you should not fly your lines to death, change them when they start wearing (or change them to Q-Line).

Sander

Karma exchange

Post by Sander » Mon Jun 06, 2005 12:39 pm

I am keen on karma exchange, and figure I must've had some in the bank when I found that my board had been returned to the launch. I looked for Jason to give him a beer that eve and didn't find him and haven't been back to Sherman yet... If you see him please pass on my gratitude and let him know that beer is on the way... He was the last person I saw before my wipeout so he could probably give an interesting play-by-play as well.
Sander

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Post by whitecap » Mon Jun 06, 2005 9:42 pm

hey Zeev_

Nice job on retrieving your own board yesterday at Sherman...It is not any fun flying in a breeze with only half of a harness connected to the bar. My Dakine hook pulled off under the South tower a few weeks ago, and I had to do that move back to crissy. Kinda interesting! I kept the board on all the way down to Anita rock, when the other side came off as well, and I ended up doing the superman slide into the beach. Some windsurfer got my board, which was very much appreciated.

Your move of getting back to the beach for another board to track down the firebird was sweet! glad it ended fine....

Now, go buy yourself case of cold ones!

l8ts,

bob

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Post by Bob » Tue Jun 07, 2005 11:05 pm

Hey Bob, are you going to post the video of that Wadell crash for us?
Sylvia is the goddess of digital in this household and she wants to include her clip of me from that Waddell session projectile kiting (you know faster than a speeding bullet with the same trajectory...) along with this great departure of a windsurfer who seperated from his board at altitude and after viewing the clip in the parking lot understated" Yeah I felt like I was a little high up on that one..."
When she figures out how to land the wave file in Ollies world its in.

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OliverG
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Post by OliverG » Tue Jun 07, 2005 11:12 pm

Bob wrote:
Hey Bob, are you going to post the video of that Wadell crash for us?
Sylvia is the goddess of digital in this household and she wants to include her clip of me from that Waddell session projectile kiting (you know faster than a speeding bullet with the same trajectory...) along with this great departure of a windsurfer who seperated from his board at altitude and after viewing the clip in the parking lot understated" Yeah I felt like I was a little high up on that one..."
When she figures out how to land the wave file in Ollies world its in.
Upload the file as an attachment to a post. The upload limit is 20mb, so there sholdn';t be any problems.

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