Hi fellow Kiteboarders, With summer upon us and the wind blowing, many of us are getting out on the water for the first time this summer. It's a good time to review your equipment to make sure it is all operational and working. A key part to making sure equipment is working corectly, is to make sure that the safty is hooked up according to the kit manufactures original specifications, this way you can rest assured that when you need to use your safty, it's working corectly. I have been kiting for over seven years and still find I have to use my safty from time to time.
I have attached some pics of an accident that happend last Sunday 18 November, during an assisted kit lanch on Mindari Beach, WA. From my view of this accident the safty was not corectly used, and did not colaps the Kit when needed. This accidet happend without worning and was over in 20 seconds, but the damage to this kiteboarders body will be with him for the rest of his life. I do wish this fellow kitboarder a speedy recovery.
Lets all have a safe WA summer and look out for each other on the water and on the sand.
-------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING:
If you want to see the photos, click on my gallery, but it's not for the faint hearted - limbs at the wrong angles....
www.seabreeze.com.au/Media/Member/Dane+Ambrose/
Dane - Thank you - your intention is spot on.
The pictures might be in your face - but it is reality.
If this guy had seen these pictures the night before he had his accident - might he have put safety higher on the agenda?
If an in your face reminder of how powerful your kite is and your need to respect that (self interest!!) is too much then do not kite surf..
Admin' please put the pictures back up.
The 3 I saw are not graphic - they evoke sympathy and well wishes for the victim, - a heartfelt thank you for the ambo's who see way worse and just turn up when called - and hopefully as intended by the poster a play safe message.
Lets have a safe national summer -
Thanks again Dane
AP
admin edit: graphic photos removed pending review]
hmm seems the photos have been removed/(under review) to protect us from our wifes/boyfriends removing us from the water..
safety gadgets on our kites need to be checked but I reckon more importantly is my/ and others attitude to safety - eyeball that release every time you plan to launch the kite. As an intermediate kiter I still live by my flying instructors comment that the 'beyond beginner but not yet expert' pilot is the most dangerous - too good for the attitude but not good enough to deal with it ! I have had 2 occasions that caused my wife to question my sport - third strike and I'm out of the sport - which I'm aiming at not meeting!!
Every time I hear of another kite injury I wonder what could have been done to prevent it and I know all of the usual suspects will pop up - but the "crash comics" in gen aviation flying give a heads up for what to learn by - maybe we should have an incident / near incident reporting process ( here on Seabreeze??) to document to what to avoid.
As a 3 month casuality of a kitesurfing incident (some 12 months ago - now back on the water) I extend my thoughts to those recent kiters that came unstuck - good luck in your recovery
Should put the pictures back, just link them so people have the option to not look at them if they don't want to. Might be unpleasant but realistically accidents can happen to anyone if they get complacent / unlucky. Always respect your kite, always ensure your safety systems are in good condition and don't put your kite up if you aren't comfortable with the conditions.
click on his profile the links work but not for the faint hearted R18+ EXTREME GORE WARNING
www.seabreeze.com.au/Media/Member/Dane+Ambrose/
Sorry to hear again about this incident.
The photos are not so bad tho. I'm sure any major car accident is worse to see, to be fair.
Our wife's should think twice before driving on the roads, like this stats doesn't exist in theirs mind...
Yes, kite can kill. So does skiing, snowboarding or anything.
Be safe. Check and double-check your lines and everything before you launch.
I wouldn't label those pics as "extreme gore". Both feet are displaced but there is no bone or muscle showing for those of you thinking whether or not to look at the pics.
Definitely worth a look to serve as a reminder and a refresh for all on how quick things can go wrong.
Best of luck with the recovery bud
Firstly, i would like to know that the injured guy and his family are Ok with the photos being published.
The injuries are sickening IMO just because its obvious how bad the injuries are and how difficult it will be to recover.
I certainly wish him all the best and hope he can recover fully. And thanks to those who helped him. A very saddening thing to see.
Jeez, not good. Feel in for the poor guy. Gonna be off the water for a while, but the flow effects into normal life will be the hardest. Good lesson for us all here.
In saying that, I took my 9m out for the first time in a year last Sunday and wasn't till I saw this post that I realized I didn't even check the safety. Could have very easily been laying on safety bay rd with the same injuries.......
Lesson learnt, will check every time.
That's a bad ankle break. I did similar in a rock climbing accident when I was 21. 6 months later I was back into sports again, albeit with a gentle build up. Amazing what the body can recover from. Sure is best it doesn't happen in the first place though.
Hope the guy, recovers quickly.
Make sure you have your gear working correctly and you check the conditions and make sure this kind of thing is a one off.
Hate to see fellow kiters from any state, getting injured.
