Kitesurfer injured at Marlo

A kitesurfer was injured on 19 December at Marlo.  Reports indicate his leg was impaled on a large piece of wood that was in the water while he was travelling at speed and possibly jumping.

Stay safe while kitesurfing.

Kite surfer thought he would die after impaling leg in high-speed crash, 7 News

Gusty and gale force winds can make kitesurfing dangerous

It seems obvious doesn't it?  A forecast of gusty and gale force winds indicates you should very carefully consider whether to kitesurfing or not.

Check out this wind graph for Wednesday 25th November.  The forecast was for gale force winds. Some kitesurfers were at Brighton when one of the massive gusts came in, one with a large kite up close to shore.  They were very lucky to avoid a serious injury.  The maximum gust was 54 knots!

On Monday 30 November you might have been tempted to go out with a small kite around 4 p.m. but look at the 40 knot gust the ripped through after 7 p.m!

Today it was gusty again but manageable with a small kite (e.g. 7 metres)

Be careful, check forecasts carefully, and if in doubt don't go out!

This article has more advice on this topic: Kitesurfing storm fronts (Kitesurfing Handbook)

Winter winds and epic storms have arrived, be careful kitesurfing

We have had some epic storms in Melbourne during the last 2 weeks of June, including winds of over 50 knots.  Such winds whip up huge waves in Port Phillip Bay, as you can see from the photo at Mornington Pier below.

Mornington pier in 50 knot winds

Brighton car park in 50 knot winds.

Check out the wind graphs for Tuesday 24 June, the same day the above photos were taken:

If you are experienced, it is possible to get some kitesurfing in before or after big storm fronts, but over 40 knots (even with a small kite) can be very dangerous.

For information and tips on staying safe see:  Kitesurfing storm fronts (Kitesurfing Handbook)

The most dangerous place when kitesurfing is on the beach

There has been two bad kitesurfing accidents in Australia this week.  In Brisbane, a novice flying a full size kite on the beach at Redcliffe was lofted and impacted hard into a retaining wall suffering major head and chest injuries.  He was taken to hospital. Tragically, he died soon after.

On Wednesday 7 March a kitesurfer at Altona, Melbourne was lofted close to shore and impacted the beach head first.  He also suffered very serious injuries was taken to the Alfred Hospital in a critical condition.

For those starting out and new to kitesurfing:

The beach is the most dangerous place when kitesurfing. If anything goes wrong you can be dragged or lofted to impact solid objects with a high risk of injury and even death.

The only kite you should fly on a beach for any length of time is a trainer kite.

Get professional lessons to learn the basics, including all safety drills.

On your first solo outings, get out into the water as far as you can when learning to water start and get up and going.

From my Kitesurfing Handbook see also:

• Safety and rules
• Progression and skills

Safe kitesurfing is happy kitesurfing.

Christmas greetings and safe kiting

In the lead up to the "silly season" I wish a merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year.

Some tips for kitesurfing over the summer holidays here in Australia (via the AKSA) are:

• Check your gear thoroughly before heading out, especially it hasn’t been used for a few months
• Avoid crowded beaches, there will be a lot more people using the beach and water
• Do not kite after drinking, save it till afterwards
• Keep clear of flagged swim zones, they extend 500m from shore
• Keep clear of no boating zones - designated by yellow buoys.

Its vitally important that we do everything we can to keep kitesurfing safe for ourselves and for others.

In previous years, a couple of incidents resulted in injuries to non kiters, we must avoid anything like that happening again. Specifically:

• Avoid flying your kite on the beach near other beach users, they do not understand kites and may walk into your kite or lines, or grab hold of them. 
• When doing downwinders or kiting in the surf zone pay attention to any surfers or swimmers, they may be under the surface or behind whitewash and not visible initially. 
• It is best to either avoid known swimming/surfing spots, or do a slow approach to carefully check if anyone is in the water before entering the surf zone at each beach you pass.

In Western Australia and Victoria there have been recent incidents involved a loose kite flying into power lines and cutting off power to 4000 homes for 8 hrs.  While these kites may not have belonged to an AKSA member, the local community does not make that distinction and we could all be banned from these locations.

It was very lucky that no one else was injured during these incidents, so remember to:

• land your kite in a safe location
• secure your kite once landed
• use a kite leash that disarms the kite so it does not fly away. 

Distance is the best insurance, if you don’t get close to other beach/water users or dangerous objects then they can’t hurt you or you hurt them.

If you have not yet renewed your membership with your local kitesurfing association, remember that you have to be a paid up to be covered by the their public liability insurance policy

Have a safe Christmas with lots of great wind and time on the water.

External links

• Safety and rules - Kitesurfing Handbook 
• Kite rips down power lines - Kitesurfing - Seabreeze Forums 

Self rescue

Hi, my name is Stuart Webb - I've shared some great adventures with Peter over the last year or so, and thought I'd share some tips that have helped me out.

I've been kiting for about 6 years and last week I had a bit of a disaster. One of the pulleys on my Switchblade (IDS 10m) broke on one of the leading edge lines. The wind was about 25 knots and the kite just kept on picking up and spinning around. It took me some time to figure out which line had been broken, by which time the lines had become very tangled and I was unsure as to the best way to handle the situation.

After a forum discussion, the consensus for self rescue procedure is

Self Rescue Procedure

1. Depower
   Get as much depower as possible. This will typically involve taking all the tension out of the back two brake lines. If you have a switchblade, use the absolute depower.
2. Regain your bar
   Depowering typically involves letting go of your bar or activating a depower mechanism. You must swim up to the bar to regain it.
3. Tidy up loose lines
   To be sure that tension remains out of the back brake lines, wind in the middle leading edge lines onto the bar.
4. Secure your board (Optional)
   Remove the board from your feet and secure it to your body to leave you free in the water. You can use your safety leash by detaching it, threading it through your board and reattaching. Or carry another leash. This step could be done prior to step 1 depending upon personal preference.
5. Regain your kite
   Wind in all remaining lines onto your bar, exactly as if you are packing up at the end of a session. This will take you up to the kite.
6. Ride the kite into shore

Self Rescue Procedure (Switchblade)

In my instance, I have a 2009 Cabrinha Switchblade IDS. The pulley broke. Apparently these pulleys have known issues - so my advice is to replace all your pulleys with the warranty Cabrinha pulley replacement. Apparently for some extra cash you can replace these pulleys with an Aluminium slider (which comes as standard with the 2010 model) - reducing the chance of failure and wear on the lines.

Safe riding,

Stuart