Extend my sincere gratitude to Rob Flood and the members of the Marcoola Surf Life Saving Club who were instrumental in ensuring my safely to the incident that occurred on Saturday afternoon.

I was half way through completing a down-winder from Cotton Tree to Point Arkwright when returning back out to sea. Simultaneously I snapped my center line, de-power rope and safety line.

I clearly remember the powered line snapping and the kite folding in on itself. I then remember falling into the water.

I came up out of the water with lines all around me. I started to panic as I was wearing binding and was unable to free myself from the situation. The kite was then hit by a decent size wave and due to panic grabbed my lines- the force causing the lines to slice my fingers. The time between realizing the trouble I was in and the wave hitting the kite might have been 2 seconds at most.

The moment the lines were free from my hands, both lines wrapped around my neck (or were there to begin with) - I was getting dragged underwater, upside down unable to breathe. Unable to get my head above water, unable to grab my knife.

I was trying to get my fingers under the lines around my neck, thinking I was about to choke to death. My board/bindings acted as a break/resistance with the full tension on my neck.. The feeling was horrific and the most frighted I have ever felt in my life.

I thought it was the end. When getting closer to shore the kite was no longer getting dragged by the waves and I was able to get my head above water, yelling help help.

Rob Flood who was kiting behind me, thought I had broken my legs and came to help , quickly coming to my aid just as I was getting dragged to shore. Rob ran down my kite and stropped it from moving, this allowed me to remove the two lines from my neck.

The Marcoola SLSC (about 300m North of the incident) were also on the scene by the time I made it to shore. If Rob wasn’t there the Clubbies would have been there for me as well.

Once I was on the beach I got quite emotional knowing that could have been the end.

Thank you Gentlemen.

Jeeze mate that is a very scary story. Great that it didn't end up worse.

Any clues as to how those line failures all happened together?

JZ Glad you're OK mate..............hopefully you'll get over the shock and be out on the water again soon.

Holy smokes!! Scary and good to hear you are ok. Good on you Rob and Clubbies.

Holysh1t !!!! - glad your OK mate.

There were some big sets coming through there yesterday, we did the same run to Yaroomba about 2pm.

Good work Rob, that would have been pretty intense.

nasty
great to hear you're safe

Hope this doesn't ruin it for you.
Get back on the horse

Good to see ya ok mate, life's a lot safer sitting on the lounge but where's the fun in that, keep at it
Also good to see ya mates looking after each other

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Dave Whettingsteel said...

Any clues as to how those line failures all happened together?

The bar I was using was a 2012 model. The depower rope was replaced 6 months ago.

But I have been keeping my gear in my car of late and I'm thinking that the possible heat in the car could be detierating the quality of my lines.

Heavy... glad you're alright.

Another good reason why you should always kite with a buddy!

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sir ROWDY said...
Heavy... glad you're alright.

Another good reason why you should always kite with a buddy!

And another good reason to support/not piss off the Clubbies.

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Jono77 said..

sir ROWDY said...
Heavy... glad you're alright.

Another good reason why you should always kite with a buddy!

And another good reason to support/not piss off the Clubbies.

True.

That's just full on bro just read it scared me just reading it so glad turned out ok good to see people kite in groups we do need to keep an eye out for each other,only thing I think might have helped is I now carry a parrot cutter a safety knife just in case but again good to hear your ok

Glad your safe and with mates who could help.

I have often thought about bindings in the surf and being stuck in a board while getting dumped at sea with waves never sounded safe to me, I haven't tried bindings, so just assuming, if you have bindings and your stuck on your board while getting dumped in the surf to me this sounds like more chances for things to go wrong and a lot less safe than straps or strapless? Cant use legs to swim, cant use legs to get a grip on the sand, harder to stay afloat, harder to turn your body around under water, harder to get out of tangles.

So just asking, is bindings in the surf a less safe idea? I haven't tried bindings in the surf, so just asking.

I have had to dump my board a number of times quickly in the surf and near reefs, I think having bindings on would have made it a lot less safe during my dumpings and reef wash overs.

Glad your ok :)

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KiteDesigner said..
I have often thought about bindings in the surf and being stuck in a board while getting dumped at sea with waves never sounded safe to me, I haven't tried bindings, so just assuming, if you have bindings and your stuck on your board while getting dumped in the surf to me this sounds like more chances for things to go wrong and a lot less safe than straps or strapless? Cant use legs to swim, cant use legs to get a grip on the sand, harder to stay afloat, harder to turn your body around under water, harder to get out of tangles.

So just asking, is bindings in the surf a less safe idea? I haven't tried bindings in the surf, so just asking.

I have had to dump my board a number of times quickly in the surf and near reefs, I think having bindings on would have made it a lot less safe during my dumpings and reef wash overs.

You mean footstraps? Or boots/bindings?

I think having boots on is definitely more dangerous than not having them on, however if you are aware of what you are doing and understand what may happen then you should be prepared and be ok if something does happen.

These guys don't have a kite to help - and they seem to be ok.

I've only had one sketchy situation where I was dumped to the bottom and got stuck there for a while in my boots. I guess it could be one reason to have System bindings, as they are quite quick and easy to release from if you had to.

Wow, what a hairy story! It all happens so fast doesn't it? Glad you are okay, and hopefully you can shake it off, learn from it, and get back out there and rip. I too wonder about boots in the surf, it seems so easy for something to go wrong. Having line wraps is what keeps most people away from ever wanting to kite. I myself nearly lost my pointer finger due to a wrap, tore my rotater cuff as well. My finger required four surgeries, first one was 7.5 hours, and 11 days in hospital. Also, have had my surfboard leash get stuck on a reef on a big day and keep me under for several waves. Pull was so great I could not get to the leash to get it off. Luckily it washed off on the third wave of the set. All of these things happen quickly, and the advice it always kite with a buddy is the best. We all have to look out for one another. I am sooooooooo stoked that this is a good ending story, not like some of the others we have heard in the past. Heal up and get back out there and do your usual shredding.

... man, what a kitemare! Luckily scars will heal

I got lucky once too. Doing Mach 9, 25 to 30 knots, minding my own business, a kite was punched out up wind of me. Guy accidently let the whole kite go,,,, bloody 2004 safety systems!!! Kite is now run away and flying high out of control. I don't see it coming and it landed right in front of me then tumbles and lifts up again,,,,, I hear, "ZZZZZZZZZZ"!!!!

Took me seconds to realize the zzzzz noise was 3 lines one side of my neck, with 4th line other side. I see the kite tumble and lift again and I realize "oh sh!t,,,the bar".

I tilt my head forward a mere split second before an almighty CRACK!!!!! when the bar hits me bouncing off the back of my helmet. I was too slow to even realize, you just had a bar and lines around your neck buddy, imagine if one of the lines got snagged, run away kite pulling one way and my own kite pulling me the other way.

Grateful nothing worse happened,

Robbie

Fark! Sounds like a very close one.

Holy crap, that would have been terrifying!!
This has made me realise that I have never even taken the knife out of my harness.
I better check it.
Glad that you are ok, go and hug your family a little tighter tonight

dude, heavy!

still trying to figure this one out...

thanks for posting

kudos to you, your mate and the clubbies

Scary situation, had a similar thing happen once, glad you are ok!

Glad you're ok and awesome that help was available. Damn line tangles are certainly one of the scariest scenarios. No knife, safety, quick release harness or anything are of use when your hands are tied up. Boots or no boots doesn't matter much, but certainly doesn't help in such situation. How are your fingers, luckily not cut in half? Speedy recovery!

sounds like you need to takup a low risk alternative like kite racing Jase. :)



glad you're ok though mate

Glad you are Okay dude, that is well heavy! Gave me a shudder just reading that! Props to those who went to help you.

I echo KiteDesigner, I have always looked at guys riding boots in waves and thought I would hate to get cleaned up by a large set with them on. Also I have never really seen the point of them in waves, surely they just make wave riding harder?

Mate you are one lucky son of a .... That could have ended so much worse having seen people de-glove fingers and receive deep line cuts in arms and legs Etc...

While you eventually had help, you may not realise it or accept it but you probably played the biggest role in surviving a really crappy situation...

Holy moly!!! That sounds scary as!! Glad you got through the experience and had a fellow kiter there to support you. That's scary ****. Power on and get back out there. I'm currently sitting in a hospital bed recovering from a kitemare, waiting for surgery but I don't feel my experience was as scary as yours.
All the best and happy that you are safe! Rock on!! :)

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junglist said..
I echo KiteDesigner, I have always looked at guys riding boots in waves and thought I would hate to get cleaned up by a large set with them on. Also I have never really seen the point of them in waves, surely they just make wave riding harder?

I could be wrong but I don't think that most people Kiting are trying to ride the waves with boots, most people these days are trying to use the waves as ramps on the way out. They still have the same problems I guess, however I don't think they are usually out in massive surf.

Also strapless surfboards are so much fun!!! When I'm not kitemaring myself on flatwater I'm trying to ride waves, is a massive buzz and a sense of freedom being able to jump around free on ure surfboard with a wave kite. My favourite words this week are have a Speedy Recovery!!!

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sir ROWDY said..

junglist said..
I echo KiteDesigner, I have always looked at guys riding boots in waves and thought I would hate to get cleaned up by a large set with them on. Also I have never really seen the point of them in waves, surely they just make wave riding harder?

I could be wrong but I don't think that most people Kiting are trying to ride the waves with boots, most people these days are trying to use the waves as ramps on the way out. They still have the same problems I guess, however I don't think they are usually out in massive surf.

Yeah true. Most have swapped to directional by that point.

Sad old unfashionable git I am as the only one left out on a twin tip in big surf.

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junglist said..

sir ROWDY said..

junglist said..
I echo KiteDesigner, I have always looked at guys riding boots in waves and thought I would hate to get cleaned up by a large set with them on. Also I have never really seen the point of them in waves, surely they just make wave riding harder?

I could be wrong but I don't think that most people Kiting are trying to ride the waves with boots, most people these days are trying to use the waves as ramps on the way out. They still have the same problems I guess, however I don't think they are usually out in massive surf.

Yeah true. Most have swapped to directional by that point.

Sad old unfashionable git I am as the only one left out on a twin tip in big surf.

All good man as long as you're having fun .

what type of bar and lines ?

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suniboy21 said...
what type of bar and lines ?

Compstick Bar and lines. Can't blame the brand tho, as the build quality is top notch.

The bar was a few years old. I'm leaning more towards wear and tear/ possible UV damage.....