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Old 12-26-2014, 10:20 AM
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Default Two Fatalities In France

Bad news from France, two kiter fatalities on Dec. 23, 2014. What horrible news, my sincere regrets go out to the families and friends of the two men. I hope they can find comfort with loved ones and friends at his harsh time.

"Distance is your friend" in kiting to allow for time to react. From what has been related so far, it looks like both men might have been spared these awful accidents if they had been able to have a larger buffer. One involved a well experienced kiter launching close to a wall instead of waiting for a lower tide. The wind sounded quite uneven, the kite may have stalled, fallen into the power zone and relaunched dragging the kiter into the wall.

The other case involved a kiter who "couldn't avoid" a collision with a 15 ft. Hobie-Cat like sailboat, a Dart 15. Not sure if the boat came up from behind or what exactly happened at this point. His kite and lines caught in the rigging, the boat capsized and the kiter tangled and was apparently drowned.

Bad things will happen part of the time but not always which can make us complacent. I have to fight it myself at times and most of us are careless on occasion. It is best to stay on your guard particularly in keeping a safe distance from hard objects, more so in gusty winds and around moving objects. It is less clear what happened in the sailboat accident, as it was said the kiter was unable to avoid the collision?

More information will be shared once it becomes available on these tragic accidents. Lots of folks are on kiting vacations now, think about things and take care.

http://bit.ly/1AaZOAI
http://bit.ly/1CMlPbc
http://www.kiteforum.com/viewtopic.p...869591#p869591
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