Be careful guys and girls when launching in certain onshore wind directions ... Yesterday an unfortunate incident happened to a fellow kitesurfer, at the launch area leaving him seriously injured and hospitalised. Two eye witness accounts confirm he lost control on the grass shortly after launching, and was catapulted straight towards the car park. He slammed into one of the concrete posts that separate the launch area from the car park, and then instantly got lofted into the car park and smashed into the back of my van, only to be lofted again into the van a second time, ultimately being thrown over the tailgate onto the ground. I received a message last night confirming he has multiple broken bones including 7 broken ribs, a broken nose and smashed out teeth. This is a perfect example of how quickly things can go horribly wrong in our sport. PLEASE take extra care when launching your kite, ESPECIALLY when you have objects downwind of you, if you are unsure, walk your kite down into the water and launch where it is much safer to do so. I wish the guy a speedy recovery and hope to see him back out on the water in the near future. If any kitesurfers would like to discuss safe methods of of walking equipment down into the water and launching, Chairman of the local kitesurfing club, Marcus Gay, would be happy to oblige. MAKE SURE you have a VALID PERMIT and VALID INSURANCE, as the injured guy has. Thanks for reading. Al.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 06:45:56 +0000
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