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tomme said..
interested to see thoughts of how people would have reacted in same situation., getting rid of floatation is an interesting choice, sitting of the board and trying to sort it out has worked better for me but looked pretty messy
I like to think of it this way : '' there is no right or wrong, only consequences''
This was proper tangle where one kite flew
in between the lines of the other (plus board leash tangle in the lines!)
This sort of kite tangle is rare (and probably the most dangerous), usually lines just overlap on top of one other and it's often relatively easy to just fly out of it and avoid further problems.
The guy with the camera is obviously very experienced and doing a good (but risky) job trying to sort out what seems like an impossible tangle, something I think very few people would attempt in such a tangle situation. I think they got lucky and that it ended quite well, as this could've easily ended up in a death loop with 2 kites which I have witnessed a few times before in stronger winds: not pretty.
The other kiter was close and could've easily got dragged with his kite in the power zone and hit the other kiter, and tangle him at the same time....basically it could've gone wrong in so many ways, but it didn't.
I believe a safer course of action here would've been for both of them to release the chicken loop at the same time, retrieve their kites without wrapping the lines and tandem rescue (sail back) to the shore. The problem with a rescue situation like this is both need to be on the same page and perform the same maneuvers. at the same time. I've seen guys trying to wrap their lines while still tangled with another kite....not good
Of course there are waves (and perhaps side-off shore winds?) which add to the danger and difficulty of self-rescuing, which make me think perhaps the safest course of action here would've been to release both kites completely and paddle back to the shore on their board and/or get towed in by other kiters (seems to be plenty of other kiters around).
Something I can't help but notice is how much people value their equipment over their own personal safety, and in this video even arguing over a low cost rescue... If you're gonna kite in conditions like those and if this was really side-off shore wind, you have to be willing to ditch and loose your kite.
Also, like any kite tangle they are always preventable by looking around, knowing the right of way rules and keeping your distance. Even if I'm pretty sure the guy with the camera had right of way he was obviously more focused on getting a good gopro shot rather than looking around and because of this he never saw the other guy coming.
As far as relaunching the kite towards the end of the video, that would've been impossible given the amount of sea weed in the lines...
Christian
Peahi
> 9 months ago, 6 Jun 2016
