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WORST / BEST / SCARIEST / FUNNIEST KITESURFING EXP

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Created by nugs > 9 months ago, 9 May 2013
nugs
NSW, 79 posts
9 May 2013 3:50AM
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Not sure if this is been covered but let's hear all the good / bad kitesurfing experiences that you've experienced.

Here's mine....

WORST EXPERIENCE
It actually happened on the beach not on the water. I had just arrived at the beach and was pumping up my kite. Next minute I got taken out from behind from what literally felt like I got hit by a car. Then I was dragged down the beach for about 20 meters. It was another kiter who lost control of his kite on the beach. After we somehow separated, he continued down the beach out of control and took out another 2 kites in the sky. He hit me directly in the mid/lower spine. I got hurt pretty bad. Luckily I was wearing my harness otherwise I would probably be in a wheelchair now. The harness shielded the impact and protected my spine. The impact was so hard that still caused damage though.

SCARIEST / FUNNIEST
I was kiting towards the beach in a nor'easter. I saw a power boat approaching perpendicular to me and travelling pretty quick. There were about 5 guys in the boat and from their looks you wouldn't want to mess with them. There was no chance of collision as they were travelling too quickly. As the boat was nearly in front of me I saw the guy on the front left passenger side pull out what looked like a real gun and point it at me. I was about 25 meter away from the line the boat was travelling. My heart dropped. Without thinking too much I dropped my kite down towards their heads. I still remember their faces when they looked up...Priceless!!!! They sh** bricks. The guy dropped the gun and the others nearly fell out of the boat.

TroyCon
QLD, 1 posts
9 May 2013 8:39AM
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Without thinking too much I dropped my kite down towards their heads. I still remember their faces when they looked up...Priceless!!!! They sh** bricks.


was that at botany?


had a similar thing happen to me, dic*heads were racing back and forth through all the kiters with their little power boat coming within meters of us,think the shi@heads were trying to clean us up with the wake, so done a 30 ft jump as they were coming at me and looped the kite straight at their boat on the landing, the guys ** so bad they almost fell out the boat as the driver suddenly turned so hard to try and avoid my kite diving straight at them,
needless to say they piss@d off and didn't come back

eppo
WA, 9762 posts
9 May 2013 8:00AM
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Scariest

Teaching my brother to kite.

Funniest

Teaching my brother to kite.

seb2
VIC, 231 posts
9 May 2013 1:34PM
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WORST EXPERIENCE
Australind WA. goo.gl/maps/RwxBG

picture this: Highway, 50m grassy area before Breakwater rocks then water.
Kiting was fine, wind was dropping and sun setting, eventually it was pretty dark and wind was about 12knots so was struggling to return to departure point, i ended up a couple of hundred meters down wind form where i launched. Little did i know that by then the highway had converged to run parallel to water about 5 meters from the boulders.

I kited up to boulders, stood on them and started self landing, kite about 6 meters off ground when i saw in my peripheral vision a truck hurtling toward me, i was like, "that trucks going to hit my kite, i could die"-

The Wind was too light to get the kite in back in the air, I pulled QR and luckily that day my secondary safety was attached to spreader bar so was easy to access. As I released secondary safety the pin was pulled out of my hand at about 80km /hr, a bruising palm was all that happened.

I remember my kite bouncing on top of the truck as it slowed down, the driver behind thought it would be a good idea to pull over , lower his window and yell "your a bloody idiot". Well i guess two of us came to that conclusion.

Fumiest is my mate flying a kite and me getting a free ride tandem style holding onto his harness.




dafrog
321 posts
9 May 2013 11:39AM
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Scariest:

Cape town, 3 to 4 metre waves 500M offshore, very sharky waters on a 10M ~25 knots, in a wave with kite too low, kite gets caught by previous wave and breaks on it, me getting flown off the board, kite all messed up impossible to relaunch, waves pulling me under every 5 seconds, release safety but stuck in the lines somehow, kite starts loops of death. sending me flying off the waves towards the shore, too strong and too often for me to release the kite completely and water is full off sharks... kite bringing me back to the beach like a rag doll... kite crashes on the beach and stays there! hallelujah ****ing lucky I managed to walk to it and secure it, just a few rips in the canopy...

Perth: bridle breaks near the light at pinnas on first tack... swim back to shore in a bout two hours end up on whitfords beach just after the firsts shark attacks of last year...

Funniest:

As an instructor, watching your newbies messing it up and getting airtime, scary but yeah funny too...

Puetz
NT, 2186 posts
9 May 2013 3:44PM
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Scarey:

... 3 km off shore in croc country when leading edge popped and went down.


Funny:

... watching people learn to kite at Point Walter in Perth, sheer funny mayhem!


Dumbest:

... kiting in a cyclone (only cat one mind you).


Biggest Grin:

... kiting Hells Gates in 30 knots on a 12m with 2m waves and surviving

Nicko82
WA, 54 posts
9 May 2013 3:40PM
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Scariest:

seeing the guy with the 2 broken ankles at Quinns Rocks. Those pics still shock me.

GalahOnTheBay
NSW, 4188 posts
9 May 2013 5:55PM
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Ah memories... so many memories...

I can feel a new sticky topic coming on

Scary:

- 4km body drag self rescue in VERY deep water
- swimming in from behind the break at Cronulla in double overhead+ conditions without a kite but trying to hold on to my board (tip: ditch the board, in that surf it will try to kill you)
- 20 to 40 knot gusty westerlies at Kurnell
- Breaking a steering line 25 foot up in the air
- trying to jump a double overhead wave and eating the the lip full force
- jelly fish stings inside my boardshorts
- all the nasty stuff, including fish hooks embedded in places you don't want them and Kurnell Rick after his accident
- any time I get in a buggy with a kite (always ends in tears)

Funny:

- all the hours spent sitting around spinning yarns with other kiters when there was no wind
- watching people mess up but not get hurt
- trying "secret spots"

Dumbest:

- setting up a kite safety incorrectly, and ending up with an unintended death leash while overpowered and out of control
- various "urban kite surfing" experiments.

Biggest Grin:

- dropping in to the pit of double overhead monsters at Cronulla in 35 knots
- 25 knot NEr at Fingal Bay with 1m clean south swell
- Towra point at very low tide in 30 knots, blazing through flat water and sea grass
- riding Botany Bay in the deep dark ages of mega kites, racing along with not a whitecap on the water
- whenever I'm in strife out the back and another kiter comes over and offers a helping hand

airjunkie
WA, 142 posts
9 May 2013 4:37PM
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Funny

not kitesurfing but landboarding in London

my main land kiting location was frequented by Pikeys on trail bikes one of there favorite tricks was ragging it through the setting up area and as a result destroying the grass surface, sets of lines and tearing out bridal points etc . . . .time and time again
these guys were world class f**k heads

anyway it was blowing about 20 knots or so and one of the flyers was landing his frenzy and securing it to the goal post as he usually did . . .
One of these regular knobs came out of the trees ripping accross the setting up area on his trail bike, my mate pulled on the centre lines of the frenzy launching the kite with the chicken loop still attached to the goal post
the bike rider must have been doing about 60kph when he hit the lines at chest height and was ripped clean off the bike . . .

was so funny to watch . . . and they steered clear of our lines from that point on

Plummet
4862 posts
9 May 2013 6:24PM
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There has been so many.

Silliest.
solo 40 knots double to triple head on rocks and boulders inshore. had to body drag for 30m mins to get my board back through 6ft high white wash amongst the boulders. Very stupid.

lofted into a fence post landboard. kite powered up snapped the post clean off and center punched me straight in the head. had a helmet on but still split my head option. But wait theres more. it was an electric fence. yep I was also being electrocuted while blood spirted out my head like a splatter movie.

most memorable and also very silly.
24hr landboard distance world record. done in a 30-40 knot storm.... that was simply insane. insane....

40km down winder in 5m swell + 25-30 knots. massive waves, epic epic day.

various big boosting sessions aahhhhhh. gliding!

boosting off sand dune.

A long session in the waves. head to double head perfect walls. boost on the way out rip up the wave on the way in epic stuff.

Funniest?
hands down. tennis ball tag landboarding and buggying. stupidly fun.

zarb
NSW, 696 posts
9 May 2013 9:59PM
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Plummet said..

There has been so many.

Silliest.
solo 40 knots double to triple head on rocks and boulders inshore. had to body drag for 30m mins to get my board back through 6ft high white wash amongst the boulders. Very stupid.

lofted into a fence post landboard. kite powered up snapped the post clean off and center punched me straight in the head. had a helmet on but still split my head option. But wait theres more. it was an electric fence. yep I was also being electrocuted while blood spirted out my head like a splatter movie.

most memorable and also very silly.
24hr landboard distance world record. done in a 30-40 knot storm.... that was simply insane. insane....

40km down winder in 5m swell + 25-30 knots. massive waves, epic epic day.

various big boosting sessions aahhhhhh. gliding!

boosting off sand dune.

A long session in the waves. head to double head perfect walls. boost on the way out rip up the wave on the way in epic stuff.

Funniest?
hands down. tennis ball tag landboarding and buggying. stupidly fun.


Jeeze Plummet you don't do anything in halves...

theDoctor
NSW, 5786 posts
10 May 2013 1:43AM
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watching a once a year trip to the beach family mad panic and totally sh!t themselves at the sight of the shadow of my kite move toward them across the water..

Plummet
4862 posts
10 May 2013 1:17AM
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Select to expand quote
zarb said..



Jeeze Plummet you don't do anything in halves...


been at it since 05 so had sine time to amass some silliness!.

pueter66
QLD, 205 posts
10 May 2013 6:57AM
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Getting Arse dragged along the sand, recovering, feeling pretty good about it, hang on is that a breeze and realing that my boardshorts are gone completely at the back and my front is like tarzans front flap

Stig31
ACT, 20 posts
11 May 2013 10:35AM
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my all time funniest moment landing my first kiteloop in Ecuador and on the beach im riding parallel with all the girls are waving. feeling very pleased till I look down and see my boardshort are round my knees and the water is not that warm ;-(

iandvnt
QLD, 581 posts
11 May 2013 1:37PM
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My friend was kiting in Noumea with a c quad in the very early day - everyone was watching because few had see kiting before- he slammed hard and his shorts got ripped off and could not find them for ages - had to walk up the beach stark bollock naked trying but failing to use the c quad for clothes in front of everyone, until a very camp man literally skipped down the beach and proceeded to "hug wrap" him in a towel! He probably gonna read this here lol



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"WORST / BEST / SCARIEST / FUNNIEST KITESURFING EXP" started by nugs