Stranded kiters: are you competent at self-rescue?

At 6:40PM last night, a stranded kiter was in need of assistance after he inverted his kite 600m off-shore at Pinnaroo Point (Perth, WA). Wind was cross-shore and blowing around 25 knots. Lucky he's been spotted as it was getting dark and his black kite was barely noticeable so far from the shore at sunset. After waiting 10 minutes I noticed he wasn't self-rescuing so decided to kite back out to teach him how to do it on the spot.

In the past we used to take out the rescue boat but realized the same people needed to be rescued again as they still weren't competent at self-rescue, hence why we decided to take on a more pro-active approach teaching people to self-rescue ''live'' whenever possible.

After making sure he had a decent sail going, I got back to shore and waited around to make sure he got back to land safely. Shortly after he came back, the police came down as they've received a call and were looking for the kiter and were just about to deploy a sea rescue operation in the dark. I assured them the kiter was back on shore and they called off the search.

Unfortunately, such scenarios are becoming more frequent and it becomes clear that a vast majority of kiters we helped rescue over the years simply weren't competent at self-rescuing even if most of them actually had taken multiple lessons in known school organizations (including last night's kiter).

Kite Schools:

School operators and instructors are the ones responsible for how independent and safe each student is trained to become. We all know international teaching standards are, to some extent, left to individual interpretation and ultimately the instructor chooses what to teach and how to teach.

Talking to the many kiters we helped rescue over the years, we realized that some instructors didn't even teach self-rescue at all during their lessons and others simply gave a demonstration or assisted their students in the process without ultimately letting the student practice the self-rescue on their own in deep(er) waters.

Understandably, many schools operate in shallow waters where the instructor may not see the need in spending much time teaching the self-rescue. As instructors, we have to remember that all students will, sooner rather than later, end up in deep waters and odds are that they will all one day have to self-rescue.

Students can only be deemed competent at self-rescuing once you've seen them successfully complete at least one self-rescue without any assistance (verbal or physical) and without touching the bottom (if done in shallower waters). This exercise often has to be repeated for the student to become truly competent and feel independent.

If as instructors we continue to cut corners and put half efforts in teaching self-rescue, this will inevitably continue to produce poor results once the student is confronted with real life scenarios.


Kiters:

All kiters who venture out in deep waters must ensure they are truly competent at self-rescuing. Remember that just like any other kiter you can easily get in trouble and if you're not competent at self-rescuing you may be forcing other people to come help you and in some cases have a sea rescue operation deployed to come get you.

When getting lessons, you must ensure that you are asked to perform a self-rescue on your own and if necessary are asked to repeat the process until you feel competent and independent in doing so.

Avoid making the mistake of assuming you are competent at self-rescuing if you've never had a chance to practice it in a ''real life'' scenario without assistance. A self-rescue demonstration from your instructor on the beach or an assisted self-rescue practice in shallow waters simply isn't enough.

When choosing to go out kiting later in the day (One hour or less before sunset), please ensure you are staying within 200 meters to the shore. This way, if you get in trouble you will be able to reach the shore much quicker without raising the alarm. You will also be easier to see. Also remember that in Perth, before sunset, the wind sometimes starts to turn slightly off-shore!

These are concerns that have been brought to us in our recent collaborations with Sea Rescue and Water Police. Please respect this basic rule in the last hour of daylight and remember that if you get in trouble you may become someone else's problem, especially if it's during sunset, especially if you can't self-rescue.

Thanks,

Christian

Private pilot -aircraft
30 years of windsurfing -- ocean
Learned to kite through schools
8 hrs coaching --good schools
Have had to self rescue at least 12 times in ocean in the early days
4years later
Reasonably confident now but realise that the only way is experience,experience,experience
Every time is different
Never overestimate you ability
When down
Think
Listen to good advice
Hope this helps

I can honestly say I have NEVER seen a kite school teaching self recovery etc.... In the field so to speak...

I would be interested to know how many new kiters who have had lessons in the last 2-3 years where actually taught and practiced a self recovery during their lessons

I'm sure some kite schools do but I bet most dont... Like to hear from student not schools.... In fact im going to mount my high horse and start a new topic