Due to the NW winds that are forecast for tomorrow, we will be holding the demo day at Kurnell.
We will be setting up at the Catamaran area, towards the end of Silver Beach Rd Kurnell.
We will be easy to see, Slingy Van and KP 4WD will be there from around 11am'ish
NSWKBA Tent and BBQ happening again too, free BBQ and drinks.
More details on www.kitepower.com.au
We had a good turnout today but the wind never really did it, plus what wind we did get was lowered by the ingoing tide, still many riders got to test the bottom end of the 14M T3, 13M Rev, 13M CB IDS, 14M Light, and all the big light wind boards.
Cya and
Goodwinds
Steve
A very big thankyou to all the crew who helped us put on a great show yesterday,
Wind is already in the green arrows at Kurnell, so maybe today we can get some watertime on the smaller sizes, looking good now.
So see you at Kurnell,
Cya and
Goodwinds
Steve
Steve I would set up at the end of Kurnel past the locked gate on the grass then launch and walk the kiters across the road to the beach. Other wise it going to be a dogs dinner down at the yacht club
Today turned ugly very quickly with the stiff North Westerly swinging South and intensifying within seconds (as predicted). Many kite surfers and windsurfers found themself in a lot of trouble being swept across the bay towards the airport without the ability to self rescue or return to shore. Furthermore, kite surfers were not wearing PDFs which are mandatory in NSW and the organisers did not have any support vessels on hand.
Support was left up to Kurnell Cat Club, a Kite Surfer who had a jet ski at home and MSB with the Coast Guard and Water Police tied up with other duties. Response time was very slow with MSB some distance away, The jet skier having to go home to get his jet ski and Kurnell Cat Club with their power boats locked away. The Cat Club did not race because they knew what was coming through.
Today, somebody could have died very easily and the repercussions could have been huge. Bullet dodged and hopefully all will learn a big lesson from this, have support vessels on hand during an organised event, perhaps sign on and off sheets and educate people in the importance of wearing PDFs
Cheers and safe kiting to you.
what an epic day
I think that alot of people are very happy that it turned out alright.
That southerly no body could have judged it was just unlucky
i was so deep in it and quite a while out. i got smashed i was on an 11 rev gusts reading up to 40 knots. i had no choice but to eject
i believe that 5 kites were abandoned due to life thretning conditions.
Big thanks to KP and everyone that helped out. That jet ski saved my life.
And im quite happy that the kites were all ok.
Personal Floatation Device.
or are they personal device floatations
to quote the immortal words from Jurassic Park,
"at first it's all..OOOHHH and Ahhhhh....then there's screaming and running"
I find it hard to believe that a professional outfit like Kitepower would have a free for all demo event without a support boat!
WTF ?
Dodgy kiters at dodgy Kurnell in a dodgy Nor'wester with a dodgy forecast and an even dodgier Southerly buster .
Pretty dodgy if you ask me !
I guess PDFs would not be so helpfull out there..... Get a little water loged
Those who helped out did so as swift as they could and a big thanks to them, particularly the Coast Guard who got on the phone and rang around the Water Police and MSB. Their boat was 2 hours away up the Georges river.
FYI at the Cat club we regularly check forcasts and observations on the BOM site and Sydney Airport. Keep an eye on the Observations from stations South when a Southerly Buster is coming up.
crazy stuff
i drove past the airport to go 4x4ing and at the novotel it was a nice warn NW and by the time I hit the bridge over the georges river it was a full blown southerly! fastest swing ive ever seen for sure. its probably a good thing that it happened and no one was hurt because now people wont expect the wind to die from one direction before changing...
Sydney Airport
Even just looking at this site you could see it hit ulladulla, point perp, kiama, then belambi - no suprises - it was even on the forecast yesterday.
Isnt Kurnell pretty much dead offshore in a southerly?
Am I the only one amazed that anyone was stupid enough to kite there given the forecast?
No one bothered to check the forecast? even the news said 20-30kts NW and strong southerly change. Seabreeze picked it from thursday I think.
What a pain for the rescuers. Maybe the next demo day should be at manly in a nice July westerly.
It was an excellent morning. Fun had by all. Most were out of the water before the southerly hit. People were warned to get out of the water.
Unfortunately the southerly (as they do) hit like a brick and a few got caught.
People kite when ever where ever. KP can't be held responsible.
That said if I had product out on the water, I would have my boat close at hand to make sure it all came home safe and sound.
I wonder did anyone end up kiting to Brighton as it was nigh impossible to get back to kurnell?
Marathon body-drag award goes to Aya (about 50-something kg on 7m kite) who was caught out when the southerly hit and had to ditch her board and body drag to Brighton in order to miss being blown directly onto the runway at Sydney Airport. Total transit distance according to my Google Earth calculations: 5.8km! Luckily, all ended OK and she was rescued by one of the guys from the Demo Day...
Wow! Just looked at the graphs, there was such a sudden change in wind, its not even as if it went westerly and swung around... its just BAM huge southerly! After last week randomly gusting to 40 knots from sub 20 in the space of a minute (thankfully onshore). Kurnell is so temperamental!
On behalf of Coast Guard thank you for the donation
Neil & Carol
a loose kite near the runway? It would have been better if the guy stayed attached to it and kept it in the drink.
Sounds like it was lucky that there WAS a demo day on!
Otherwise there would still have been a lot of kiters at Kurnell for the NW,but no support.
Could have been real ugly.
NEVER trust the wind when its really hot.
funny that a victorian is commenting on a area he probably has`nt kited before and dos`nt actualy know how far the airport is from kurnell.
sounds to me that everything that needed to be done was.we love a sport that is potentually dangerous with the power that drives us being a vertualy invisable one.
life is like a box of chocolates.
Aya's body drag has to be a world record! 5.8km! Good hear she made it across and is safe and dry again, albeit a bit knackered I'll bet! That's a LONG way!
Well done everyone yesterday. That's one of the great things about the kiting community-- nice to see how everyone pulls together to help out when needed.
Cheers,
Rob
Not A kiter (windsurfer).
Hats of to you guys (demo organisers) - running up the beach announcing the change was strong and imminent, went into rescue mode real quick for the poeple stuck out - lots and lots of people in the water to rescue, plucking out kiters and windsurfers left right and centre. Nobody hurt from what I could tell (other than some bruised egos) . Gave me a warm fuzzy feeling for us Wind/Water worshipers.
Can't praise you enough.
I hope all are well after yesterday's little puff from the south. I also hope that Steve (Kitepower) and Dave (Slingshot) didn't suffer too much damage to your demo gear. My gear suffered some minor damage to a few kites, and many tangled lines, but also 1 board missing. I have placed a add in Lost and Found, but if anyone knows any info regarding a Naish 2009 Thorn 132 that went sailing by itself on Sunday, it would be appreciated.
A side from all that, a great day!
regards,
JB
