Any update on how the elderly kiter is doing who fell badly and was taken off to hospital yesterday at the Mandurah Estuary near the Cut?

Hoping that he's all good...

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azymuth said...
Any update on how the elderly kiter is doing who fell badly and was taken off to hospital yesterday at the Mandurah Estuary near the Cut?

Hoping that he's all good...

Was it eppo

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cauncy said..

azymuth said...
Any update on how the elderly kiter is doing who fell badly and was taken off to hospital yesterday at the Mandurah Estuary near the Cut?

Hoping that he's all good...

Was it eppo

An American sounding bloke, about 70 years old. Didn't catch his name.

Just hoping he's OK.

Waveslave???

I know you're just joking about eppo cauncy, but in actual fact, he was involved with the rescue. Credit to him, he was very passionate about the guy's welfare.

I'll let him tell the story and give any updates if he wants to.

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RPM said..
Waveslave???

Sorry, hate to disappoint you.

lol.

By the way, I don't do flatwater.

But I was there watching the carnage.

Get well real quick, Ian.

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Subculture said...
I know you're just joking about eppo cauncy, but in actual fact, he was involved with the rescue. Credit to him, he was very passionate about the guy's welfare.

I'll let him tell the story and give any updates if he wants to.

Yeh , just pulling his leg, hope the old fellas ok, don't bounce that good off stuff as you get older

The 'older' gentlemen in question is well know for essentially dropping his kite in the water and a lot of times walking back in, end of session. Only yesterday I tuned his 2012 lines for him and they were horribly out of whack and yet he had no idea this was the case (could easily see this in the kite behaviour).

Anyhow kite in water as usual, but this time (I was downwind) it looked different, submerging slightly. I followed back the lines and saw the gentleman face down. It happens my bro saw it at the same time, was upwind, so cranked downwind and turned the gentlemen over. Matt (BWS) ran through the water (he was monitoring his young son) and between them held him in a supportive recovery position, established he had a pulse. Board was swam out, ambulance called, ambulance came ..hospital. Credit to eppo Jnr as he had already been submerged for a while and I believe any longer and it would have been goodbye. And credit to Matt for coordinating it all. I took the role of looking after his son as it was a pretty gusty wind at this stage until someone came down to get him.

Anyhow Craig and fozz (both firefighters) took his gear and car to his apartment and have sent me this update so far...




Small jump out of control then a loop landed on head back side down and got dragged ended up side down. Limited control of limbs. Since improved to normal with some tingles in hands.

..... Has tingles in finger tips that typically relates to disc C7. Other than tingles looks and feels ok. So a M.R.I this morning will reveale more .he is in good spirits and wishes to thank wannanup crew for their help.

....and just now...he has disc damage and swelling in the c section (top third) of his spinal chord, will be transferred to ..... For further assessment from the specialist.


so good team effort all round, and as Matt said "we need to look out for each other".

Honestly it it was playing out like so many death from kiting scenarios.

My thesis, and it is only a thesis...they have made kites so much more stable and friendly now a lot of 'new crew' probaBly don't get that even a modern, "safe" kite will kill you. I suppose in the early days we knew the kite was trying to kill us From the word go!

And more controversially... I'm just wondering if too many people who are not 'athletic' enough are taking it up, becuase these kites are so much more stable and "safe".....who knows, all I know is, this was not the only eye brow raiser during the day...and infact on a daily basis.

If I'm dead honest with you all it actually makes me fcking furious sometimes what I see...but hey, each to their own and all that crap...






Sent from my iPhone

Eppo had the 70 yo guy been kiting long do you think? As a 55 I reckon got a good 20 years left in me at least for all sports. But I reckon building the skills would be harder at 70.

Screwed up up a big jump today at Horrocks and landed flat on my back with kite and board gone feral. Hurt but no damage. Reckon As you get older you've to give the body some decent knocks to not go sooky sooky lala.

3 yrs apparently and yes much harder at 70. My comments at the end were not directed purely at this guy Dave. You've been a water baby for years, understand the power of a sail and understand the consequences.

I'm also talking about for instance one bloke explaining to another how to set up a kite, then low and behold the guy that was getting this explained to has a 7.5m rabbit in the air all of a sudden in near 30 knots...just one example. there are many on a daily basis....or worse the cocks standing on the beach kite out to the water chatting with friends in near 30 knots, while crew coming in trying to jump etc...just no idea.. Oh and only the other day someone body dragging, yes body dragging right through the line up, which. Consisted of 80 percent of kiters with their kites dropped in the water with no kite control...it's getting worse...

think I need to just let it go and let nature do it's work...

Eppo and the guys that helped him on the day, you are all legends. Could have been a very different outcome had you guys not been so observant and acted so quickly.

The kiter in question here was fully aware of the power of the kite and consequences should sh$t hit the fan. Have kited with him quite a bit over the last couple of years and there were numerous occasions when he was aware that conditions were too much for his skill level. Can't comment on conditions on the day though as I wasn't there.
He is a sensible bloke with no attitude or ego and always listened to what those around him had to say re conditions hints and tips.

Really hoping he has a speedy recovery.

Must agree with other comments above too though. Lots of foolishness being observed at our local lately. It's getting a worry.

Simon.

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simstat said...
Eppo and the guys that helped him on the day, you are all legends. Could have been a very different outcome had you guys not been so observant and acted so quickly.

The kiter in question here was fully aware of the power of the kite and consequences should sh$t hit the fan. Have kited with him quite a bit over the last couple of years and there were numerous occasions when he was aware that conditions were too much for his skill level. Can't comment on conditions on the day though as I wasn't there.
He is a sensible bloke with no attitude or ego and always listened to what those around him had to say re conditions hints and tips.

Really hoping he has a speedy recovery.

Must agree with other comments above too though. Lots of foolishness being observed at our local lately. It's getting a worry.

Simon.

Doesn't hurt IMHO to give helpfull but forceful advice , especially beginners , and especially if they are going to be at your local,, I've given 100s of hours to locals and visitors unpaid, always happy to give a hand to keep our local spot cool

Yeah well done guys, sounds like you saved his life. great work.

Just spoke with him. Humble as ever but he is in good spirits and recovering. Will be a while till he is back on the water though.
He sends a big thanks to those guys that saved his life. The telling of what it was like from his perspective was chilling and it was so close to a different outcome.
He is so lucky that such a switched on crew were there that day.

Be careful out there all and get well soon Ian. Looking forward to seeing that impeccable vintage Merc of yours back in the carpark soon.

Simon.

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cauncy said..

simstat said...
Eppo and the guys that helped him on the day, you are all legends. Could have been a very different outcome had you guys not been so observant and acted so quickly.

The kiter in question here was fully aware of the power of the kite and consequences should sh$t hit the fan. Have kited with him quite a bit over the last couple of years and there were numerous occasions when he was aware that conditions were too much for his skill level. Can't comment on conditions on the day though as I wasn't there.
He is a sensible bloke with no attitude or ego and always listened to what those around him had to say re conditions hints and tips.

Really hoping he has a speedy recovery.

Must agree with other comments above too though. Lots of foolishness being observed at our local lately. It's getting a worry.

Simon.

Doesn't hurt IMHO to give helpfull but forceful advice , especially beginners , and especially if they are going to be at your local,, I've given 100s of hours to locals and visitors unpaid, always happy to give a hand to keep our local spot cool

Different situation mick, very limited space relative to your neck of the woods, inundated now by euros pumping up their kites and leaving them pumped up in this limited space all day grrrrrrrr, then add in the Perth crew that venture down (that's cool) plus the known locals...it's not long before I may lose my sh1t soon though...

but I agree with your sentiment.

Ian is indeed a lovely guy and is very open to adviCe. I just can't work out why his kite control is so poor after three years, but yes learning a new skill at that age must be difficult. And that lack of kite control I want to separate from the incident, because we've all been there with a hard looped uncontrolled crash, it's just his general kite skills all round. If and when I see him next on the water I'm gonna help him sort this once and for all. He's at that age that a crash that most of us would have got up a bit dazed, caused a serious incident and quite frankly near death.

Overall their is a great vibe with great people, but just too many intermediates who think they know more than they do (the most dangerous territory in my opinion).

So if ya reading this...if you are learning get the Fck out of the line up and go downwind. Don't stand there with your buddy in the middle of it all and for god sake don't body drag through it. launch your kite and get the fck out in the water, you wanna chat BS to your mates, do it downwind and out of the way. And...if you can't jump, do a trick etc then also go either well upwind or downwind cause your fcking up the rotation (you don't go downwind on the trick or jump, just turn around and head back out and presto theirs a go at full speed waiting to land on top of your kite).

anyhow who gives a Fck really, do what ya gonna do but be prepared for some Cauncy type advice...

A local just just got back to me with this...

Just spoke with Ian. He told me what it was like laying face down in the water but not able to move. You guys were just in time. He actually felt himself drowning. He is very thankful. Surgery in the next 24 hours to fuse a couple of vertebrae, but looks like no paralysis.


SO, pleas be careful down there crew, know your limits and don't for one minute think those kites won't kill you if you give them enough of a chance.

Good job Eppo and crew. Did he crash in the shallows? He seems like a nice guy and the one time I saw him he was riding a bit further north on the little spit with Simon, away from the crowd. I hope he will recover quickly.
Eppo I hear you. But I think this is probably a separate discussion. The Pond is 100 times worse than your local. Overcrowded and bad etiquette by more and more kiters. Not only beginners, intermediates, wannabe pros, semi pros and pros. Overseas visitors (I assume that is what you refer to as Euros?) but also folks from anywhere in and around Perth. My opinion is that kiting has become so popular and easy to access including kites behaving so user friendly that the ability to at least mow the lawn is developed very quickly. People skip the basics like perfect kite control, relaunch, board control in any conditions, way of right, using the safety system, being able to understand how to avoid coming to close to each other, short tacking, and uncontrollably hammering upwind like there is no tomorrow as a result of permanently being overpowered, and heaps more.
Not sure what the solution is here. Perhaps higher teaching standards, common sense, talking to each other and learning from other more experienced riders?

Learners and even intermediates shouldn't attempt to go out in more than 25 knots maximum. When it's 7m weather i see so many dodgy actions by people who have no commonsense or skills.

Also IMHO schools should stop teaching when it hits 25knots. The other day I saw a certain kite school at Woodmans point instructing 4 kids together all under 13yo in over 25knots. They were getting dragged all over the place and that beach in over 25knts is onshore and can get ugly if it goes pear shaped.

The danger level multiplies considerably and there is no room for error when it starts pumping harder than 25knts.

This could be a case of one-kite syndrome.

I know Ian mainly flies a 12 metre.

The wind was nuking on that day ...

if you want to play golf,,, you need all the sticks in the bag to pick from.

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waveslave said..
This could be a case of one-kite syndrome.

I know Ian mainly flies a 12 metre.

The wind was nuking on that day ...

if you want to play golf,,, you need all the sticks in the bag to pick from.

also some ****ty advice, had a tourist last year pumping up a 12 when I was lit on my 7, I tacked upwind to give him some friendly advice, he said his school that sold him said that its a good size for wa, wasn't impressed with the model of kite sold to him as a fresh beginner, spoke with tom from Exmouth kite centre last week , hes had to cancel lessons due to strong winds, a method all schools should employ

Working with a bloke on site this week who said his old boss gave hime 2 ozone kites in lieu of pay,no board or harness ( WTF ) I asked where he kited / had his lessons,
I haven't he said, his boss said just go down the beach and someone will help you. OMG

Good effort gents.
Hope it all ends well.

Just letting you know Ian will have a couple of vertebrae fused and should make a full recovery. Ian called my brother the other day (the guy that turned him over and essentially saved his life). He said to my bro he was laying there fully conscious and was essentially drowning, not able to move, was just starting to take in water and was moments away from blacking out when turned over and into rescue/ recovery position. Scary scary sh1t, be careful please. Know your limits, but. Then again don't be limited by them.

Happy to hear he's going to be ok.

Well done fellas !!