Anyone see first hand or hear about a swimmer being hit (run over while in the water) by a windsurfer around 5:45 pm on Friday at Watermans in WA ?

Kev

pweedas said...

A sliced and diced kid in the water will result in some very severe restricions being placed on winsurfing in some areas.

And...prob not good for the kid either.

Well of course it does. Slice and dice all you like if there is a sign up.
I mean that's what the sign is for isn't it?

I'm talking about if there is NO sign.
i.e a "STRICTLY NO SLICING AND DICING" zone.

WindWarrior said...

Anyone see first hand or hear about a swimmer being hit (run over while in the water) by a windsurfer around 5:45 pm on Friday at Watermans in WA ?

Kev

As long as the swimmer was swimming to try and catch his kite then it is OK

Well hard to say Kev. If he was the only swimmer and it was seriously windy with obstructed vision due to waves / wind spray, and the swimmer entered the water 200m away and swam towards the windsurefers, then if the swimmer sued the windsurfer there would be a good defence that he did not reasonably expect a swimmer to be there.

If however there was 100 swimmers there on a nice day for swimming (ie not windy) and one lone windsurfer entered the water on his formula gear in the middle of them, and starts planing around thru the swimmers and even worse showing off / spraying them ....... (I'd call that "kite style") ....... then different story

not that am proud ofjavascript:insertsmilie('')i scraped one 2yrs back i jumped into the water and lifted the kid out of the water lucky no dices..that really scared the crap out of me..now if there are a bunch of kids swimming i make sure of distance and no one's bobbing beneath

Mark _australia said...

pweedas said...

No. But geez they are hard to see when coming into the shore late in the afternoon and looking into the sun.

Dude, do you live in a different WA that is on the east coast or something???

Nah, just late sailing at Pelli can point.
Coming in to the take off area with a SSW wind on sunset means you are straight into the sun. I have been surprised a few times by kids that "materialise" out of the glare.
Dogs too, but dogs not quite so critical.
But you're right. It must be a bigger problem on the east coast.

As long as the swimmer was swimming to try and catch his kite then it is OK

classic-love it

Hope he/she's a Windsurfing Australia member with liability cover.

crazyjockey said...

WindWarrior said...
Potential legal action implied by swimmer.

I wonder if you could lie on a highway at night wearing black clothing and sue for resulting damages?

ya can't sue if ya dead! dont try this one at home kids!

crazyjockey said...

WindWarrior said...
Potential legal action implied by swimmer.

I wonder if you could lie on a highway at night wearing black clothing and sue for resulting damages?

Yep. Happened in Albany about 8 years ago to a truck driver! First attempt to sue failed because it preceded the traffic charge outcome, but he was found guity so 2nd attempt to sue resulted in a win. I was a truck driver at the time and it came out as a company bulletin

Also happened in Kalgoorlie about 3 years ago. Guy in a 4 wheel drive ran over the head of a guy sleeping on the road. He didn't know he had done it but his mate was following and saw it. Police didn't charge him but recommended he leave town. He did.

Blokes got a right to bob about in the ocean without getting run over.

We need a technical solution - forward scanning passive sonar that will not only warn us about miscellaneous blokes bobbing about in the ocean and turtles but will also tell us when its too shallow for our fins. You know it makes sense.

NotWal said...

Was the victim seriously hurt?

I was told he was in a lot of pain, had mark on back where he had been hit. Suspected bruised / cracked rib. He was having trouble breathing but managed to drive home. Evidentally he is a regular swimmer there but just strayed into the area that sailors tend to come in / out. Hopefully he will recover but Im sure he is/was in a lot of pain. The sailor wasnt one of the regulars there which might not have helped.

I always keep an eye out for swimmers etc... but dont tend to come in close that often. At watermans on Weds and surfers were pushing right up into south side where sailors have to go but at least you can see them.