I saw a kiter lose his kite in a strong gust at Wello today. So a 'kind' windsurfer loaned him his board to paddle out to retrieve it, but wind was too strong. Never recovered it. Last seen heading towards Stradbroke Is.
You can see kiter heading towards the kite, but didn't make it. I think he would have had problems getting back against the wind anyway.
Is it going to take a tragedy for people to stop making ridiculous stupid decisions??
WHY would you even consider going out in these conditions (only talking about kiter's here) let alone trying to paddle after a kite that's being blown out to sea by OFFSHORE winds??
12.30 looked awesome..........a 28knt gust down to a 10knt lull
Is ur life worth only a few thousand dollars?
Is ur life worth 1-2 hours of uncomfortable, sometimes unbearable kiting?
U know, there are two things that are infinite in this world.......
1. Is the universe
2. Is man's stupidity
and the first one..........we are not sure about!
I was there that day (that guy who lost his kite is a friend), hesitating whether i should launch or not...
Truth is that there was another kitesurfer doing well, with a way bigger kite than my friend's one. Furthermore I've been kiting in Wello point with westerlies that where almost as strong as that day. When my friend realized gusts were making the wind strongly on and off, he decided to go back. And on his way back, guess what happened... Strong gust, twisted the kite, had to unhook everything.
He didn't put his life in danger though as he unhooked and didn't try to get the kite back when he realized he couldn't. It might seem irresponsible but you know... It's not always easy to evaluate danger. It's not as if he hadn't been thinking about it. Anyway, he (And I) has learned from it, without getting anyone or himself injured at least.