antlanglands said..Absolutbeginer said..
Signal to noise ratio on this thread has gone through the roof.
Will the racists clowns please just put a sock in it, there are lessons to be learned here.
As a beginner, If I was Geili and found myself in his lines, regardless of how this came about, I would have ditched my kite and concentrated on getting out of the lines without the pull of my own kite to hinder me.
Does that sound a reasonable thing to do?
Or would releasing my kite just add to the clusterfruck of line in the water?
What would be the best tactic to try and establish how I was tangled and how to resolve it?
How hard would it be to identify the front lines on the kite I was tangled in and pull them in to kill it before it powered up?
Would it be possible to pull myself all the way up to Simon's kite and just ignore all the extra lines around me knowing that as long as the kite is made safe it doesn't matter how many lines are around me, it can be sorted in safety??
In retrospect, it seems that if somebody had of jumped on Simon's kite or deflated it, then all danger would have been diffused and the lines could have been sorted with time and no danger present?
Gilly3, did the thought of deflating either one or both kites ever cross your mind?
You seemed to be quite able to zip around the scene at will in the video, or would you be concerned about getting yourself caught up in a kite if you stopped to try?
Or did you think that Simon's kite would not power up as you took the time to retrieve the board?
I am now paranoid about ever getting caught in another's lines and would do anything to avoid it.
At least if it is my own lines I could follow them and pull them in to kill the kite.
Anybody chime in here with suggestions so I can run them through in my head as a thought experiment so my brain is at least primed to think of them should the situation ever occur.
Don't want to hear about how it got to this situation, that's a different story, just want to hear how I might get out of it should it ever happen to me or what I might be able to do as bystander
How nice would it be to have a small box with a switch on it attached to your harness that when activated released the air from the leading edge?
Yeah your pretty much on it m8 , Its a "every situation is different" thing , so over time ... include here experience ... you can see whos lines are above whos .
And if one kiters lines are slack and in the water , know who needs help first.
As far as getting to your kite . Hold your legs up and touching together ( like as in the top of a breathstroke kick) , grab a center line and go hand over hand down that line just using the hand over hand motion to move you to the kite ,stay hooked in if you can or fire your QR if you must to give your self some time, do not wrap lines around your hands , And if the kite becomes powered let the line slide back out though your hands .. dont fight it.
This is the method you use to self rescue in the surf and is the best way to avoid lines being tangled around you.
Once you get to the kite you can back wrap your lines.
Its a different story if your on a deserted beach with no other kiters around .
However if you introduce a dangerous piece of a equipment into a environment with others in the area , you need to remain responsible and in control of that equipment.
By releasing it you have lost control and the ability to reduce the risk to others in the area and therefore breached a duty of care.
Also you are 100% correct in thinking that definitely had someone jumped on the looping kite , and a chance always presents itself to do so ... sometimes you have to wait for a couple of loops till it settles .... the whole situation would have never of escalated
Ok, finally some constructive positive discussion here.....hopefully it can continue
Firstly, I am not an instructor nor do I profess to be an expert...just a competent kiter enjoying the stoke I get from this awesome sport!
I am fairly pro active at my local with trying to keep newbies safe by offering advice, retrieving the odd board (but only if they have no chance of getting back to it, as we all know body dragging is a fundamental skill to master) and generally helping out where I can, just paying it back after receiving the same when I first started.
I also do not want to see our local spots closed down from too many unfortunate incidents.
Ant, are u suggesting that someone with a kite attached to them, jump on a looping kite?
My thoughts were to body drag her in closer to shore as the kite would have reached the beach before us, i had noticed at least a half dozen kiters running down the beach who would have more than likely grabbed the kite. I also had to contend with another beginner kiter, between us and the beach, thinking that he could help.
As I said, I had assessed the downwind area and found it to be clear. This formed part of my decision to urge them to release.
Does anyone think that Geili should have stayed attached to her kite whilst being tangled in someone elses lines?
I also believed that removing Simon and her board from the equation (clearing the area) would not only make it safer for myself, but easier to try and rescue only one person. You can probably see in the video that they were only approx. 50-60m from shore.
Absolut, there is no way I was going to try and deflate a kite without ending up in the sh!t myself, nice idea at the end of ur post though.....maybe a small dart
Terminal, u suggest I may have made a mistake....yet u don't offer any alternative solutions?
Pleeeeeeeeease, constructive discussion only!
