This lake is a fairly technical launch and riding area. Frequent gusty and light winds can make staying upwind and off the sand beach difficult. Immediately trying to stay upwind and if not returning to the beach makes sense. Walking on land with a flying kite particularly off the beach increases the rider hazard substantially. If it is unavoidable, walking with the kite unhooked might improve the odds a bit. Practice just letting go of the bar in an emergency. Some people hang on to the bar even though they are unhooked. Inland riding can be more demanding the coastal kiteboarding. Some more ideas about riding in inland areas appear at:
http://www.kiteforum.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2297514
This sad fatality was caused by winds of about 15 knots.
Riders frequently are not particularly careful about standing upwind of hard objects, bystanders, cars, powerlines, etc. with kites flying or riding nearshore in various parts of the world.
Much of the time nothing happens, just not ALL of the time.
This is the second recent fatality caused in fairly light wind with the other happening in 12 kts.
In kiteboarding, Distance Is Your Friend. Use it, always. We don't have control over the wind, it controls us instead.
A helmet might have saved this rider's life. His friends intend to wear helmets in the future. A lot can ride on your decision to use safety gear. Also, regularly physically and mentally rehearse activating your quick release and dropping your bar. Such practice may make a critical difference someday if things go wrong.
Always check the weather before going to the launch to ride and continuously check the sky, water, trees, for evidence of changes. React well in advance of strong gusts. There was some heavy weather moving through the area that day. This sad accident was caused by a fairly minor gust. However much stronger gusts happened in the surrounding area at about the same time between 5 and 6 pm (e.g. gusts to 20, 30 and 40 mph at various anenometer stations). Watch out for and avoid storms. More about weather planning at:
http://fksa.org/viewtopic.php?t=579
and
http://fksa.org/viewforum.php?f=25