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mergaTroy said...

KP is a professional outfit, they had a boat and a Jetski>>>>>>>>Get your story straight!

and here i was scheming to ways to get discounts for playing rescue ski. Dammit, back to the drawing board!

Many thanks to all who were involved in the rescue. I was lucky and close to shore when it hit and managed to get in unassisted. It was great to see that nodody left the beach until all were accounted for.

Please make a donation to the Volunteer Coastal Patrol.

Big thanks to every one that helped out the stricken kiters, espcially the guys in the boats and on the jet ski's who scoured the bay for people, kites and boards. When I left the beach it seemed that not only was everyone acounted for but all the gear had been fished out as well which was a massive effort.

Brings the theory to light of don't go further offshore than your willing to swim.

Was good to see everyone get together and ensure everyone got back to the beach. Gears replaceable people are not

nothing like a good slap in the face to wake everyone up.

Good work all. I was having a Latte on the Northern Beaches with my feet up at the time, just like Obe-one, I felt a disturbance in the force like 15 little voices screaming out for help. I promptly ordered another latte as I kinda liked the company in my head.[}:)]

A- (you would have all got an A+ but it was on the wrong side of the bridge)

I also heard that Aya had an actual arrival time on the screen at Sydney International T1 for a short period, it went to delayed and then to not arriving. Well done Ay.

What, so you show up and use someone else's gear for half an hour and that abrogates your own personal responsibility to read a forecast? Telling KP they should supply people with PFD's and supply a fleet of rescue craft just because they are having an event seems silly.

Like others have pointed out - the southerly was on the charts, and on the move. Seems like KP told people to get out of the water before it hit, but they shouldn't have to.

If you're the cautious kind, you could even calculate the southerly's speed by seeing how long it took to get from station to station.

My personal opinion is that this is the kind of thing that gets kiting banned - when someone gets lost or drowns or a kite cheerfully slips into the turbine of a 737.

And in case someone wants to tell me I am not from Sydney - I have kited at both Dolls, Brighton, Kurnell and Towra many times. I'm also not given to being precious about safety - I never thought I would be the one to ever EVER post on this forum about people not being safe enough.

Hey guys how good was the weekend?
I was there for slingshot and had an absolute ball both days.
I was amazed how fast the wind changed direction was all of 1 min of the breeze dieing before it changed south..
The hole community was awesome and I was amazed at the speed and support you guys when the wind hit..
Most everyone was at the beach till all was recovered and the gear was all sorted as well.
Thanks for having me and slingshot there and I look forward to the next time.
Dave :-)

FAIL...

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TornadoALIVE said...

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.

FAIL...

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User said...


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 !

FAIL...

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andrewm said...


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.


Pretty dodgy if you ask me !

Hey Steve,
Hope you get this message before it breakes the Galah record of the longest thread in the entire world... I saw some dude taking photies from the Kitepower boat on Saturday, not sure about Sunday, would you be able to post some when you have time, it was such a beautifull day (on both days) and I'm sure there will be some nice photies to start the season and get the kite gibberinos flowing.

Cheers mate and thanks for organising a good w/e.

Cheers for all the positive replies.
I don't think anyone in this thread is really being negative though, we all value our sport too much and our mates even more so.
I've never seen such mateship in action in very testing conditions.

interesting that all the more experienced kiters were able to keep a cool head and ride back upwind, most of the less experienced got flogged and lost this kites and boards
I' would like to help those guys deconstruct events and learn from the experience so call me anytime to discuss what could have been done better.

All lost gear is at Kitepower, please call to pick it up. I'm jammed for room, container arrives this week!!

Also Eclipse kites arrived this morning and so did Nobile boards and kites, so the demo continues at Dolls this arvo!! :-)

Cya and

goodwinds

Steve

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user said...

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.

Agreed.

Until we all have 3G mobiles and can track the front coming up the coast, we're at the mercy of the BOM forecast.

I left home at 7am that morning, was on the water at 8. The forecast was for "late southerly change". The 2pm front was a lot earlier than I was expecting. Driving home at 3:30 (over an hour after the front hit) I heard on the news the the weather currently Strong NW with a late S change.

Very good lesson for all of us.

At the end of the day, I think it is quite lucky that the gust came from the South and not from the North... better to be smashed hard against water and have to swim/body drag to closest shore rather than getting smashed hard against land and not being able to survive!

Very glad no one got injured, and respect to Aya, this is a bloody big effort you did!

Next time, if it happens outside a Demo day and there is no rescue boat... what do you guys suggest we do to help out the unlucky ones in trouble??

cheers
Jacques

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shear tip said...
Driving home at 3:30 (over an hour after the front hit) I heard on the news the the weather currently Strong NW with a late S change.

I had a chuckle when I heard that weather report too! - Man stick your head out the window!

There was a very clear and accurate forecast for Sunday and the weather did exactly what the BOM told us it would - NW turning westerly, then s'westerly "freshening".

Each kiter has to take responsibility for themselves and any one who continued to kite after the wind turned westerly yesterday..........the word "fool" comes to mind.

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Kitepower Australia said...

.
I don't think anyone in this thread is really being negative though, we all value our sport too much and our mates even more so.

Cya and

goodwinds

Steve

I was! just not about you (KP). But I was being mean about the people who were too silly to read/heed weather report. And I still think they were silly.

Actually, lots of people are being negative on this thread. It's a great big negative nelly knees- up. I'm totally bummed out right now. Woah.

its over.. forget about it, move on and go kite!

I think its pretty safe to say, that we have all gone out in slightly risky conditions when we are desperate for a kite, so good to here that everyone had a good time and all ended well. However, I don't think the organisers of the demo day are setting a very good example, for newbie riders that may not have gone out if they had seen the forecast, but thought it was safe because all the local advanced riders where out demoing new kit. All riders should have been warned of the imminent southerly that was well forecast and easy to track on Bom and seabreeze. If I am at my local, and a novice turns up when I know a southerly buster is forecast for later that day I will advised them NOT to kite, so a huge rescue operation will not be needed. Would all of those novices needed rescuing if you were not there? who knows?

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peanuticus said...

its over.. forget about it, move on and go kite!

not quite,, another weekend still to come hopefully i can make it to this one. Last weekend was a freak occurance and from what iv heard it was a geat effort by all involved including KP to ensure everyone was safe.

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Jacques said...


Next time, if it happens outside a Demo day and there is no rescue boat... what do you guys suggest we do to help out the unlucky ones in trouble??

Don't kite further than your willing to swim.

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lex123 said...

Last weekend was a freak occurance and from what iv heard

In all my time on the water I've never seen a front move in that fast with that little warning. Reminded me a bit of a prairie storm that you'd see in the middle of the US or Canada (flat lands) but they come with a big wall of purple clouds (and a really cool to watch but not to be in), pretty impresive really what mother nature can do when she feels like it.

By the way was any one up for sunrise in Sydney and was the sky red?

Red Sky at night sailors Delight, red sky in morning sailors heed warning, amazing how true it usually is!

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cRAZY Canuk said...Don't kite further than your willing to swim.

agree with you, but it can happen to any of us to get caught and be taken far from shore in no time... Do you think you can be stronger than your kite if 40 knots soundainly come out of nowhere? It is up to you to try and help the unfortunate ones... or not.

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cRAZY Canuk said...
In all my time on the water I've never seen a front move in that fast with that little warning. Reminded me a bit of a prairie storm that you'd see in the middle of the US or Canada (flat lands) but they come with a big wall of purple clouds (and a really cool to watch but not to be in), pretty impresive really what mother nature can do when she feels like it.

It happens sometimes. I have experienced the exact same thing (sometimes between last November and January) while surfing at shelly beach next to The Entrance: crazy stuff, in 10 seconds the beach turned from very croweded to empty (beach towels, balloons and other beach gear all blown away!!), funny event to experience, as long as you are just surfing (with no kite!). If I recall well it was a big blue sky and hot day like last Sunday. There were quite a lot of insects carried by the first gust, it was coming from the South as well.

We all need to be ready for next time it happens and we are out...

Kite Surfing is Dangerous!Accidents can and will happen! Glad to hear no one was seriously hurt or worse!

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Paul1 said...

Would all of those novices needed rescuing if you were not there? who knows?

Hey Paul1,
Kurnell is the only place to kite in Westerly wind. Everyone in Sydney knows this and even if it is one of the worst places to kite, after a cold winter people are desperate.

I was in the shop on Sunday and had people calling up asking about the wind and i advised at least 10 people not to make the drive out to Kurnell. Some probably still did.

So to answer your question, Yes. There would have still been people out riding and caught in the Southerly needing to be rescued. It was lucky that the KP guys, local kurnell crew and many others where standing on the shore and could account for all the kiters either riding their way back upwind to the beach, sitting out there with dropped kites and little Aya going on her massive body drag to brighton. Thanks to Jonesy for driving around to pick her up.
A lot of coordination was needed and at the end of the day it ended up being a pretty smooth rescue.

Imagine if there was one guy on the beach, 10 kiters out, southerly change Big call to make for the 1 bloke standing on the beach. What to do?

Anyways these things happen, everybody is safe. Massive thanks to everyone that helped out with the rescue efforts. Im sure there is some beer owing

Also, just so everyone knows. All its gonna take is 1 kite to end up on the runway and kiting WILL be banned in Botany Bay. To know how to self rescue is key, if you ditch the kite its like ditching your life raft. Practice makes perfect, id rather untangle some lines from a self rescue than have my kite end up on the runway and ruin kiting for everyone in Botany Bay.
If anyone ever see's a loose kite in the bay please inform Kitepower, the coast guard or water police ASAP.

Goodwinds, Matt.

p.s. Big Col was out on his 12.5 Ion 2 and managed to truck back upwind in 30-40 knots to Kurnell. Good effort mate.

The best thing that can come out of this is for people to learn from what happened. These blue sky Southerly Busters do come through and perhaps people will be a little more aware of them / reminded about them including myself, sail boarders and sailors.

Any experienced Sailor, Kiter, Windsurfer have been caught out in something simular in the past and learn from it. Our cat club and sailing community have experience simular in the past and have incorporated safety procedures from lesson learned by us or others before us.

A positive with the kite surfers on Botany is they tend to kite in groups. If anybody gets into trouble, someone is normally there to take action.

If any person / company organises an event and or their equipment is being used, they are responsible for the safety off all involved in such an event. KP would be aware of this and I am sure they had systems and procedures in place. If KP warned people on the beach about the approaching Southerly, then perhaps some people need to take greater notice. (I should have taken notice from our club also and left the board in the shed)



A few things we do at the club may be of benefit to organised kiting events (if they do not do them already).

1) Have an emergency plan in place with specific people nominated to perform certain tasks. (We also have a hooter and flood lights to warn people to get off the water)

2) Have a general and weather briefing before anyone takes to the water.

3) Constantly listen to marine updates and communicate with Sydney Airport regularly if suspect weather is forecast.

4) Sign on and sign off sheets. Sign on before you hit the water and sign off when you step back on land.

5) Have a support vessel at close hand to render assistance as with trained first aid officers.

6) Ensure all participants are wearing approved Safety equipment.

I will try and find the new regulations governing PFDs but as far as I know, they must be used in all waterways. I also believe PFD type 2 is now the minimum requirement. If there is any grey area to this, I would rather enforce it then to argue it out in court after someone drowns.

Cheers and bring on those stiff North Easters.

Stephen

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... and little Aya going on her massive body drag to brighton. Thanks to Jonesy for driving around to pick her up.

It'd be interesting to know when she got to Brighton what she did to land the kite in that wind .. pretty hairy I'd say heading towards land at a great rate on knots ... cheers

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mergaTroy said...

user said...

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 ?


Pretty dodgy if you ask me !

KP is a professional outfit, they had a boat and a Jetski>>>>>>>>Get your story straight!

I was only commenting on the report from Tornado.

This was all cleared up several posts back.

read all the posts before you post !

I did not see the KP boat on the water and the jet skier went home to get his jet ski. I was beside him when he said he was going home to grab it. Hence my report.

All is now good, nobody hurt and many wiser for the experience.

I think something to bear in mind is that with this southerly at least, it was only 35knots for 10mins (with 40 gusts). It quickly settled back down to 20-25 after the front, which was what we were sailing in before it hit. I think the point is DONT PANIC and tire yourself out and let the full force of the front pass for a few minutes.

edit: image updated to monday

I'd like to see some other graphs of fronts and see if it's worth waiting a bit before trying to launch again.

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I will try and find the new regulations governing PFDs but as far as I know, they must be used in all waterways. I also believe PFD type 2 is now the minimum requirement. If there is any grey area to this, I would rather enforce it then to argue it out in court after someone drowns.

Is that the same rulings that the 18ft Skiffs use, none of those guys wear PFD's as they are more dangerous when upside down still clipped in.

Law or not, I'd doubt you'd get many of the hard core botany bay guys wearing them simply because they are too hard and PFD's look ghay on the water when posing for photos. Helmets for example are a good idea, you don't see many people wearing them.

I think we all learnt a great deal from this. Stephen from the Cat Club has some good advice regarding organised events, many of which are already in place when state and national competitions are run. We were fortunate that the demo day was being run so that a coordinated rescue happened so quickly.

On the day, the people who ditched there kites were the less exprienced. As Matt said "self rescue is key, if you ditch the kite its like ditching your life raft".

I think we need to put safety firmly on the agenda in the coming months with information/training days obviously needed. The only way you will find out about safety/advanced training days, events, weekends away is through AKSA/NSWKBA or other state equivalents. So join up and get on the mailing list. Renewals are now due. Also, state committees please think about running safety training days at your local beach. It seems that once people have had their initial couple of lessons they quickly forget self rescue. I have over the years helped out many people on the water who had no clue regarding self rescue.

Dont' forget your AKSA membership also gives you third party insurance if you or your kite damages people or property, such as aircraft!

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Dont' forget your AKSA membership also gives you third party insurance if you or your kite damages people or property, such as aircraft!

Hang on a sec .If you go out on a day when it is clear that there is going to be a wind shift that potentially puts you and your kite on the runway of an extremely busy airport ,don't think that membership of an organisation or insurance of any type will get you off the hook .There is still such a thing as personal responsibility and duty of care .

I'm not saying that your comment is suggesting this but i think that there is potentially alot of danger in people thinking that because they are insured they can go out there and do whatever they like and all will be well .