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Anybody have any details on the kiter today who was injured launching. It looked really bad. Hopefully he will be ok

I hope the person is okay.
There were a lot of kiters rigging 12 meter today. I rigged and rode a 5 meter and that was plenty pwerful for me. Could have been worsr...

I didn't see the incident but spoke to a few guys that did. Bad launch which somehow wrapped on the metal pole downwind and ganked him 8 ft in the air and then into the pole/metal box base at speed. Someone said cpr was administered, and clearly severe trauma.

Conditions were right for people to get overpowered....gusty. I was feeling op'd on my 8 even though the sensors were only showing low 20's with gusts close to 30.....lots of folks rigged too big I think.

if a launch goes bad you can usually take care of the situation by simply letting go of the bar. With folks rigged too big, you don't get enough depower, so you're screwed unless you get the time to eject. Which in gusty conditions......

Hope the guy is ok, will check here for updates....

It was said in my FB group that he passed away at the hospital.
His name was Brett Powell.

That info was confirmed to me this am by a mutual friend.....he did not survive his injuries.

Condolences to his family and friends.

So sorry.

This is unbelievably sad to hear. Condolences to Brett's family and friends.

Oh No!

Condolences to Brett's family and friends.

First fatal kiting accident in Alameda.

This is absolutely and totally terrible. My thoughts and prayers are with the family.

I saw it happen. And I've been replaying it over and over in my head and I don't think the antenna had any part in it.

I'm still processing so I'm sorry of this is a bit all over the place. But here are a few facts that I'm sure of.

He was a beginner. Never been here before. He had a helmet on, and a board leash attached to him, but no board in hand. His kite was a 10m Zion, very used condition with patches. When I gathered his lines, his QR was released, but I don't know when or by whom that mightve been deployed by.

I was launching kites for a few minutes and was standing in front of the shack when I saw him starting to get pulled by his kite. His kite was in front of the bench, and he was back by the sidewalk, getting pulled toward the water, but also into the bush. I saw this, as did others. I yelled my first gut reaction "sheet out", noticed other folks watching him as well, and I looked away. When I looked away his kite must've gone back up to 12 oclock and got caught in a gust. When I looked back to where he was, I didn't see the kite, but I did see him 7-8' in the air, past the bush and landed on the taller utility box.

Playing the event over and over in my head, I can't make sense as to how the antenna had a part in it, which is was not my first conclusion, and not what I had shared with others. It was the most sense of the tragedy I saw at the time, images flashing, being dazed, that was the closest I could figure out.

He landed on the utility box like a rag doll. And I froze in place, I didn't want to be another body in the commotion. Several folks were much closer and definitely got to him and immediately started CPR. I came over after I heard the ambulances coming, seeing what I could gather of the situation before being a bother.

When he was loaded into the ambulance, he was intubated and unconscious, struggling to breathe on his own, so it appeared in my unprofessional opinion. I was trying to see if there was any obvious swelling in his abdomen, but I couldn't tell.

They gathered his wetsuit, harness and helmet, which I thought looked intact. Unfortunately, some have said there mightve been a lot of blood in his helmet. I couldn't see anything of this.

The rest of the night we spent helping EBRPD Police find his car, and ID him. They asked me to look at a picture, but I couldn't give a solid yes or no, I only saw him from the side about 20 yards away.

I can't help but think about his family. I can't help but think we've all been that guy.

I also can't help but think he definitely did some stuff obviously wrong. There was absolutely no reason for his kite to be where it was when he was getting pulled. If proper launch etiquette had been followed this might've been avoided. He obviously didn't inform himself.

I'm still unsure about the whole antenna involvement, and it might not even matter in the end. I hope someone has a better account of the event than me.

Let's hope for the best for this guy.

=== I just saw the update, I was composing this for a while, just saw that he passed away ====

God Rest His Soul.
A very sad news for all of us.