Im not a Kiter myself but Im very saddened to hear of a death here in Sydney of a Kiter. My condolences to your community.
Cheers Pete.

I was lead to believe he was in an induced coma at this stage after hitting a boatramp on Thursday.

Hope he recovers, never good hearing of a tradgedy like this. When it could impact our sport in many negative ways, it's even worse.
At the same time though, even if you are advanced enough to kite in the crazy wind storm fronts, wouldn't you notice something that size making its way towards you? They say temperature dropped 15 degrees in 12 minutes. A front big enough to do that would have been visible from miles away. If I see even a small rain squall heading towards me I get to shallow water, put my kite on the water at 3 or 9 o'clock and stand there with my hand on the safety. Even the little isolated squalls can pack a punch and have winds from different directions.
Common sense isn't it?

Winds were predicted to get very nasty in nsw, check it out before going out

I'm struggling to understand how someone could go out kiting in drummoyne? I've sailed around cockatoo Island for over 8 years, it's one of the more gusty winds in Sydney no matter what direction. I cannot think of a place to launch?? Sheer madness.

Plummet said..

Gateman said..
If I see even a small rain squall heading towards me I get to shallow water, put my kite on the water at 3 or 9 o'clock and stand there with my hand on the safety.

This is absolutely the wrong advise.

If you see a squall coming you do one of 2 things.

1) Land your kite immediately and secure it from blowing away.

2) Go deep, park the kite or ride it out.

Never be standing In the shallows or on the beach with a launched kite when a squall hits.

Agree, head out away from the shore. Distance will be your friend.

Plummet said..

Gateman said..
If I see even a small rain squall heading towards me I get to shallow water, put my kite on the water at 3 or 9 o'clock and stand there with my hand on the safety.

This is absolutely the wrong advise.

If you see a squall coming you do one of 2 things.

1) Land your kite immediately and secure it from blowing away.

2) Go deep, park the kite or ride it out.

Never be standing In the shallows or on the beach with a launched kite when a squall hits.

Yes, you are right Plummet, my bad, I should have specified the circumstances. My advice above is a poor choice for most situations and should not be taken.
If there is a safe place or open beach to land the kite, this is my preference. If in a down winder and there is nowhere to land, heading further out is the next best choice. Unfortunately, more than half the time though, I'm kiting on a lake with trees lining the shoreline, we drift launch and pull safety to land because there is no alternative. When however there is a small squall coming through and I can see it'll only last a couple minutes, I'd be in thigh deep water and 200+ meters from the closest tree or shore.
If it's a significant storm however, dark clouds etc, I do not hesitate to land my kite and secure it as quickly as possible.

csjena said..
Uhh not good, I hope he recovers.

Just a question, I thought you are not allowed kite surfing anywhere within the Sydney Harbour?

You are right, kiting is illegal on Sydney Harbour anywhere. Tragic accident, but can't imagine kiting in that location, and especially with a storm coming.

tommyboy22 said..
I can confirm that he is recovering in hospital. He suffered a broken ankle, fractured ribs and scapula.
He was placed into an induced coma at the scene to prevent any further injuries from occurring due to movement.

Wow that's great news! What terrible reporting from the news station/s! I heard on one of the 7 or 9 news updates that he had died...

Munga said..
Glad to hear this guy is OK. I learnt to windsurf back in the day at Rodd Point, with the jelly fish and the shopping trolleys, great days they were!! So you aren't allowed to kite in there?

Bahaha it's so gusty and too many wind shadows. Kite surfing is banned in Sydney Harbour

Glad, the poor guy is recovering. Obviously as mentioned already there are some no go zones for kiteboarding. Sydney Harbour is one of those. Are there formal documents outlining where kitesurfing is banned in certain parts of Australia? I've heard a lot of talk concerning supposed banned areas and common sense works for most people but where are the written policies?

There is nowhere in Drummoyne thats suitable for kiting in any winds, let alone a 45 knot southerly buster.

IanR said..
Hi tommyboy22
I hope your mate is recovering well and has not sustained any life changing injuries.
Could you please keep us keep us aware of his condition
I would be very interested to hear his story as I think many could benefit from hearing it
I am really struggling to understand why any one would try and fly a kite in that area and those winds

Technically Drummoyne is not on Sydney Habour and not covered as part KA NSW no go zone.
It is though part of Port Jackson which covers all tidal waters of North Habour, Middle Habour, The Lane Cove, Sydney Habour and the Parramatta River.

Personally I would never kite any where on Port Jackson. Not just because it is part of a No Go Zone but having sailed most of that area in skiffs and keel boats I know how turbulent the wnd is in there.

I think that KA NSW should deem the whole of Port Jackson a No Kiting Zone.

www.rms.nsw.gov.au/maritime/safety-rules/other-boating/sailboarding-kitesurfing.html#No-go/cautionareas

"No-go/caution areas:Sydney Harbour is a no-go zone for kiteboarding and many areas within the harbour are restricted when sailboarding."

"Sydney Harbour"in the context of kiteboarding is anything inside the Heads. You're right -- technically, it should say "Port Jackson" to be inclusive of all areas inside the heads.

When these maps were made up (12 years ago) none of us ever imagined that anyone would even contemplate kiting East of the Harbour bridge, the same way we never imagined that anyone would think of kiting East of the Pacific Highway, so there was no need to extend the red zone beyond that.

Perhaps KBNSW needs to update those maps, change "Sydney Harbour" to "Port Jackson"and extend the red zone all the way to the Blue Mountains...

I've already emailed the President of KBNSW with this suggestion. Others may wish to do the same.

Notwithstanding, anyone kiting inside the heads is subject to fines and potentially arrest by RMS Water Police.

AUS126 said..
I feel for this poor bastard but are not going to have a go at him for kiting in a stupid location as those above. I look at all dams, rivers, lakes and bays from the point of view of whether they are kitable or not. There are plenty of inland waterways where a consistent enough wind funnels down valleys. Personally I've been kiting on Narrabeen Lake and Pittwater (when it's not crowded) for 13 years without incident. NSW kiteboarding shows these locations as no go zones. Kiting is dangerous and risks need to be minimised but lets keep the dream alive and not put red asterixes over every waterway that is a little bit hazardous. We have enough rules already. There are plenty of mid week times when the above locations are deserted and 'kiting at your own risk' seems like a pretty good adage to me.

No-one above is having a go at the poor guy from what I can see, but we would all like to know what happened and what led to his decision to go kiting in this most unsuitable location in well-forecasted extreme conditions. We would all like to see the guy recover fully I'm sure.
If you want to take the risk to kite in the cesspool known as Narrabeen lake go for it, just don't publicly recommend it to others please. As for Pittwater, again go for it, but its never going to be publicly recommended until about a million people stop living on its shores. Gusty locations like these with swirling winds will cause your kite to crash or for you to completely lose control, get lofted or dragged, and if the kite is in the water with the amount of boat traffic in the Pittwater its just sheer luck if you come away from each session unscathed.

Any have an update on this chap?

Underoath said..
I watched the news report a few days ago. There was a quick snippet of the kite and bar. If my memory serves me correctly it was a North Rebel, 2010.

I couldn't imagine an experienced rider using this gear given the age. Condolences.

Underoath --

As a newbie can you tell me what is wrong with this bar? It looks almost identical to the one I have! Am I taking some kind of risk I shouldn't?

thanks!

Bryan.