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Forums > Kitesurfing General

very serious accident phone box cott

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Created by bolgo > 9 months ago, 22 Sep 2013
KBwhokbs
WA, 68 posts
23 Sep 2013 3:05AM
Thumbs Up

It was a wild and westerly day.
So saddened by this news but also taking solace in the fact that the man was having a kite (and a competent kiter by all accounts) up until the end of of his time.
There but for the luck of life go we all.
Love and condolences to family and friends, didn't know the bloke but would have gladly kited with him anytime....

lowkite
WA, 61 posts
23 Sep 2013 7:56AM
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My condolences to the family.Such a sad news on a monday morning,those fronts have been nasty and so powerfull leaving no room for error.please relocate to Leighton on strong westerlies as beach is wider and fences further away from shore.RIP and enjoy the warm water and warm tradewinds up there.Take care

thorn
WA, 172 posts
23 Sep 2013 8:18AM
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He was a friend of mine. He had an amazing zest for life and a great passion for kiting. My thoughts go out to his family. You will be missed mate, RIP.

eppo
WA, 9579 posts
23 Sep 2013 9:23AM
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So sorry to hear that Thorn. Yeh spoke to streety last night and he was one of crew going up to exmouth with him, he only had dinner with him thursday, he's in a bit of shock.

While I didn't know him I have to admit chaps I found it hard to get to sleep last night, replaying the incident over in my head. Been in a similar situation before but didn't get knocked out in the fall and was able to turn and release. Could have happened to anyone. Lying next to my wife with my kids asleep in their bedrooms I put kept putting myself in this poor blokes shoes, then imagining the impact on my family. Devastating.

I went down the beach three times yesterday and reading the charts and looking at the horizon and watching the wind, three times I drove back home. Horrible winds that one kite size could not hope to cover.

That being said we did a dawn raid I think tuesday, put up 11m in marginal winds only to be hit by a near 30 gale, maybe a bit more and there wasn't any balck clouds, infact the sky was relatively clear except on the horizon. For the first time in a long time I was in some serious trouble. Luckily i was out at sea and so was my bro, and the other guy was as well (he was getting lofted out of the water on a 9m! and I'm 10kg lighter than this guy.

I'm certain if i was on riding in the shallows something terrible could have happened. Infact only the day before I went face up in the shallows exactly the same way but the winds were not strong enough to cause an issue.

Please be careful everyone, saying 'let's charge it' aka my brother ( I had to literally stop him three times yesterday) needs to be met with some reasonable justification.

I am definetly in a state of detached mourning as I never knew the guy, so those that did, talk to someone please.

eppo

Dave Whettingsteel
WA, 1397 posts
23 Sep 2013 9:42AM
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How tragic, my thoughts go out to his family and friends. When it is not so raw, it would be good if an experienced kiter could offer us some lessons to learn from this awful situation.

JohnnoKeys
WA, 551 posts
23 Sep 2013 9:43AM
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Sad, sad news about our - "super stocked mate" who had that great smile and energy for life and loved his kiting as much as any. Will miss seeing him on the water on his race-board hooting with joy as he speed past you. A blessing to him, his family & friends.

We will see you again mate at the L2L in December the race you wanted to kick my arse in - you will be watching over us all with your eternal smile & positive energy. See you up there one day mate. Johnnokeys & the racing crew.

Plummet
4862 posts
23 Sep 2013 10:18AM
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Jesus what a nightmare. Very sad indeed. Sounds like he was almost saved before getting lofted a second time.

Yes it will be good to have a discussion when the time is right to learn from this tragedy. There is only one positive that can arise from such a pointless waist of life and that is that we learn from what went wrong and potentially save more lives in the future.

Sadly the course of events in this tragedy are not too dissimilar to other kiting deaths that have occured over the years.

Saffer
VIC, 4501 posts
23 Sep 2013 12:32PM
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Very sad occurance and my condolences to the family. I'm sure it will be traumatic for all those involved in the rescue and aftermath.

I think those who got to him initially before he was taken over the dunes are going to have a toughest time with the questions they will be asking themselves about the "what if's/what if they got to him quicker/What if they reacted quicker/what could they have done differently etc" which is typical of what happens after these situations. Everyone will normally accept they have tried their best but people always are hardest on themselves and I think it's going to be important for friends and family to support them and reinforce for them that they tried their best and it's unlikely that anything different could have been done under the stress of the situation.

dalestanton
WA, 272 posts
23 Sep 2013 10:47AM
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Condolences to the family. Champion effort to those involved on the day, you did everything possible to help. Please support those involved, a very traumatic experience.

Top bloke, always would help everyone out on the beach, always smiling and loving life.

See you at the finish line mate.

Puetz
NT, 2183 posts
23 Sep 2013 12:21PM
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... so sorry to read this thread, sincere condolences to his family and friends and I hope we all can learn some thing from this terrible tragedy!

Kraut
WA, 542 posts
23 Sep 2013 10:52AM
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My deepest condolences to the family and those close to him.

I agree those who tried to help should maybe get supported morally, I am sure they did whatever was possible.

Obviously in this situation there were people trying to help which is great. But let's learn from it a little bit (in addition to the obvious westerlies onshore risks). Even as experienced kiter I ask people to launch and land my kite and offer the same to others. I am getting heaps of confused looks and "no thanks" responses but I don't care. Let's help each other no matter what skills level we are at, let's engage the safety even though we might have been ok without releasing. Those few minutes or seconds of putting it back together or even redoing lines are well worth it. Finally, trying to avoid kites actually getting tangled due to not following the most obvious rules of keeping distance, keeping the kites low/high, and maybe even remembering way of right rules, and limiting the time on the beach as this is where most accidents happen.
Sorry, probably this is for another post and not for here and now.

Intheozone
WA, 247 posts
23 Sep 2013 11:22AM
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I just don't know what to say! I am shocked this happened. I am shocked that I knew him.

These things just take a fraction of a second to happen. My thoughts go out to his family and massive respect to those who helped at the scene.

Tragic day.

ADS
WA, 365 posts
23 Sep 2013 11:30AM
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Haven't posted before now because I am still so shocked at what we witnessed yesterday afternoon. I went down to Cott just to check it out but without any great desire to get wet. JG and Phil were down on the beach chatting while Phil pumped up his kite. .... was the only kiter out at the time.
He came into the beach and was having a friendly chat with us and mentioned that that he'd been out for a good while. He also said that he had to come in an hour before due to the presence of an large shark.
The wind conditions were almost but not quite directly onshore and only about 6-14 knots. We could see some rain coming but no sign of those. low black clouds.

Without going into detail. He was really powered as the wind picked up ahead of the rain and ran out of water before trying to jump out of his TT and run it off on the sand. He got lofted and was unconscious on the beach before we got to him. There were several huge gusts at the worst possible time seconds later and we were unable to get to the kite or hold onto him, the power of the wind was so great.

I have played the scene in my head over and over trying to figure out what could have been done to save him. I have no answers. The sport we all love is risky and can hand you a thrashing at any time...

Sincere condolences to his family and friends especially his mates from the kite racing fraternity.
Hopefully with time we can all have a chat about how to prevent tragedies like this from happening again.

graceful
WA, 773 posts
23 Sep 2013 11:31AM
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Very sad news. Thoughts are with family and friends ... Rip

NickT
WA, 1094 posts
23 Sep 2013 11:45AM
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Select to expand quote
eppo said..
While I didn't know him I have to admit chaps I found it hard to get to sleep last night, replaying the incident over in my head.


same thing here, had a major scare about two weeks ago myself and keep thinking how easily things may have ended worse.

Condolences to the family and people involved, sounds like a series of very unfortunate events with some very unpredictable weather.

RMS
WA, 22 posts
23 Sep 2013 11:46AM
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Horrible news. Sad to hear a gust snatched him from the rescuers grip. I wish his family and friends strength and courage at this most difficult time.
Reinforces the notion that -whether it is a gust, equipment failure or some other unpredictable factor- kiting can go terribly, terribly, wrong in barely an instant. Perhaps unlike obviously dangerous activities like climbing and BASE jumping (where there is a constant background of fear), with kiting the pendulum can swing rapidly and somewhat unexpectedly from seemingly carefree bliss to full-on tragedy.

puppetonastring
WA, 3619 posts
23 Sep 2013 11:50AM
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Select to expand quote
Slack said..

I was kiting at the same time today as that poor guy. I was on a surfboard just in front of Iso???s and I dropped my kite in the water just where all the weed gathers. I ditched the kite and swam in as best I could through the surf and weed and while trying to get my kite into shore. I see some guy has come in, self landed his kite, runs along the beach and saved my board from the rocks. Then if that???s not enough he wades out and passes me to retrieve my bar and lines from the weed and reef. I thank him hugely on the beach and he said well we have to look out for each other which I agreed.

I get a call from a mate this evening that was on the scene telling me of the incident and it was the guy that helped me so much today. I didn???t know the guy but I am sure he will be sorely missed by many.


So sad!
From Slacks post its clear we have not just lost a kiter but a kiter totally commited to the amazing community values which makes our sport an absolute standout. A sport that offers much more value than just the pleasure it delivers while we are on the water.
What a huge legacy to leave behind. His last act before being taken out was to go to all this trouble to help out a fellow kiter he didnt even know.
As a tribute to the one we have lost lets all rekindle that 'All-4-One & One-for-All' community spirit of kiting.
It would be a damn shame if we were ever to loose a value which just emerged as the natural way of things from the earliest days onwards.

Lets all mark this tragedy as a reminder to his last act being one of helping out a another kiter.
Lets all 'Pay-it Forward' as a tribute to a kiter who was obviously a maximum value member of our community.

SeanW
WA, 27 posts
23 Sep 2013 11:52AM
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I called past Cott this morning to lay flowers at the scene. Quite upsetting seeing a vehicle left there and knowing he will never be back to check his phone...go home and catch up with family. My heartfelt condolences to those who were closest to this man!

gokid
QLD, 491 posts
23 Sep 2013 2:03PM
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very sad post,condolies to his family

dusta
WA, 2940 posts
23 Sep 2013 12:12PM
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coldshot was a very good friend of mine . He has gone through some very tough times lately and kiting was his outlet to escape his darker moments . He leaves behind a beautiful 3 year old son .

I knew something was up yesterday when he wasn't answering his phone but i refused to believe it was him but as people posted more info it was becoming clearer it was probably him . It was confirmed this morning and i am absolutely gutted . He was a larger than life person always helping people in his unique way and always loved going flat out be it on a raceboard, sector or twin tip . He was in my eyes a crazy ****er at times but i loved being out on the water with him .

In some ways i am glad i didn't go down to cott yesterday as i don't think i could have witnessed a very good mate from having his life taken away . C


Coldie mate i am still not accepting it was you , i am going to miss you badly mate , even though you really aggrivated me alot of the time :)

I've come home and given my family a big hug . Love ya buddy

laurie
WA, 3853 posts
23 Sep 2013 12:13PM
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Sad news. We've all had our fair share of near misses, and this is a real tragedy. Condolences to all.

Freddofrog
WA, 522 posts
23 Sep 2013 12:15PM
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Absolutely tragic for all concerned....

JBFletch
QLD, 1287 posts
23 Sep 2013 2:22PM
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Condolences to his family and friends.

Giving me goose bumps reading all the messages.
Great to know as a whole theres is such a caring and great group of people that kite and that putting aside the online banter, deep down all care about each other.

take care out there.

thoughts being from the East coast.

sebol
WA, 753 posts
23 Sep 2013 12:32PM
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Horrible news, thoughts for the family and anyone involved in this tragic accident.

Saffer
VIC, 4501 posts
23 Sep 2013 2:43PM
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Any chance we can setup a fund for the family. As someone who has a 3 year old, I know it's going to be tough for his wife and little one after this and I for one would be happy to contribute something for them.

eppo
WA, 9579 posts
23 Sep 2013 12:51PM
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Select to expand quote
dusta said..

He leaves behind a beautiful 3 year old son .










aaaah fck!

lachiem
WA, 1 posts
23 Sep 2013 1:04PM
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I didn't know him personally, but have shared the water with him often, have launched his kite and he mine.

I was at the top of the stairs when it happened. Like a You Tube video gone horribly wrong.

We did everything we could to revive and stabilise him and I don't believe that he would have survived even had the accident happened in Victoria Square outside RPH ED. He had unsurvivable chest , head and neck injuries. Many thanks to the amazing team we had working on him. It is the best out of hospital resuscitation that I have been involved in and I could sleep last night knowing that we hadn't left anything out there.

Obviously we need to learn from this accident. I, for one, won't be going out without a helmet any more. Having seen the incident from start to finish, the only thing I think that could have made a difference was if he had been wearing a helmet and had not been knocked unconscious by the first bump. Seeing him lying on the sand and the guys jump on him and being unable to disengage his safety line before his kite powered up again makes me think that if he had been conscious he may have been able to save himself. We wear helmets riding bikes and canoeing, and even surfing. Even if it only saves the life of one of us, once a year, it's worth us wearing them. The only other thing I can think of is that the companies streamline their chickenloop release mechanisms. Even when he came to a stop at the top of the hill against the posts, it took me a few seconds to get his kite off - I couldn't figure out how to disengage it and had to unclip his harness - merely because I am unfamiliar with the brand as it is different from mine. If he had the same release mechanism, then perhaps the guys down on the beach could have pulled the quick release in time.

Unfortunately, he has paid the ultimate price doing something he loves and if we can learn from it then some good will come of the situation. My thoughts go to his partner, family and friends.

Perhaps the kitesurfing community should organise a service or something at the scene sometime in the coming weeks so we can remember him for the guy that he was.

See you out there soon. Kite safely.

alverstone
WA, 533 posts
23 Sep 2013 1:08PM
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He loved his kiting. Adored it. You knew it was a real release for him. On the water you could hear his whoops and yells. Sort of annoying sometimes though!
More importantly, he would keep an eye out for others and many, many times it would be his shouting that altered the shore crew, in their own little worlds, to someone about to hit a tree at Peli or in some other strife at any of the spots.
About a month ago he got everyone's attention when someone swamped their kite at Isolators, so the description earlier in this thread of him rescuing before the tragic event yesterday is so true.
We must all take leaf out of that book ...

A big thanks to the docs and paramedics and their skills yesterday, and if you were a witness to this event and are struggling, seek professional help. That's what they are there for.

(PS. I drove past Dutchies about 2pm yesterday. Too wild. Too weedy. On the way to kite Freo SLSC/south end of Leighton I had to help a bloke, alone, who had swamped his kite at the South Cott dog beach. No comment. South Leighton is a wide, soft beach, without shore obstacles and weed, and with shallow water and sand underfoot. However, there are rips with lots of water moving down from the north end where it's very dumpy. Keep that in mind.)

lynxmo0
WA, 57 posts
23 Sep 2013 1:25PM
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This is really sad and tragic. Condolences to the family an friends ...

dusta
WA, 2940 posts
23 Sep 2013 1:29PM
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Select to expand quote
Saffer said..

Any chance we can setup a fund for the family. As someone who has a 3 year old, I know it's going to be tough for his wife and little one after this and I for one would be happy to contribute something for them.


saffer give me a few days . Trying to get in contact with his partner but i don't have her direct number . I will get an account setup in the next few days once i get my head around this tragedy and will let people know the details .

Alverstone you so so right about the wooping and yelling , your post made me laugh so thankyou :)



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"very serious accident phone box cott" started by bolgo