As always, thanks again Rick. You do so much for the safety of our sport and it is well appreciated across the country. Whenever I read of these tragic events I try to ensure that my common kiting practices would have prevented them and if not, I try to add something that would have. Most of them are from reading and collecting information from sources such as Rick.
For the benefit of others and for any criticism, a list for similar circumstance is below:
1. Do not kite in typhoon conditions of when radar map looks like that.
2. If winds came up like that while riding, I would flag kite on line and self rescue out on the water. This is a pain, but in my opinion you do not want to be on land in high gusty winds...very dangerous.
3. If on land when wind comes up, depower kite as much as possible and keep it very low, keep one hand on emergency release. It seems a lot of people consider 12:00 the safest position, I'm not sure why, maybe that gets to be where you put kite when you get going too fast while riding. Wind is lower close to ground and drag is easier to hold. Put kite as low as possible with as much depower as possible. The only advantage I can think of with the kite at 12 is that it may be less likely that you would send the kite. With the kite low, if you make a mistake or for some other reason, the kite can go rapidly to 12 or through the window causing more problems (curious what others have to say about this) Also, usually one side is safer than the other, toward the water. Be prepared to release. Try to avoid this as much as possible through weather prediction and by putting kite down in water. An alternative plan in this case of the wind getting too high while ridingis prepare to flag the kite as soon as it is over land. In this case I would have leash attached to flagging line and pull chickenloop release as soon as kite is over the beach.
4. Things happened very fast in that video, it looks like he would have only had time to release during the first lofting. After he touches the sand, there is almost no time for him to react.
5. Kites are not expensive (relative to you). You need to forgot about how much you paid....easier said then done, right? You need to be more than willing to release the kite if everything goes wrong.
I'll also add these other things I do which I think help me, once again any added thoughts are helpful
:
1. Try to get muscle memory of grabbing your release
2. Try to set up mental danger lines at your spot and what you will do at each. I think this is very important, it creates clear instructions in your mind as what to do and when. Also, by deciding ahead of time when you are not in a dangerous situation your judgement will also be much better. Give youself enough space for whatever your plan is. Below is an example of a spot I frequent:
Where the water meets the coast, there are trees and rocks. About 3 kitelines lengths out there are buoys that mark an area that power boats are supposed to stay out of. I typically ride well past that. In my mind, if I lose control and can not regain it by the time I get to the buoys, my plan is to flag the kite and self rescue. This will put my kite on the water about 2 kitelines length from shore, which should be enough to self rescue without any danger of the kite getting to the rocks/trees. If I can not flag the kite immediately after passing the buoys, I will pull the safety release. If that doesn't stop my drag, I will immediately then pull leash release. I try to practice this plan mentally. From what I gather, you can easily go 1-2 kitelines lengths before you can react, with 3 I hope that is enough. If conditions are sketchy or become sketchy, I would add more space, but I also would not be out if they are sketchy.
I travel a lot to kite, partly from my job, so I always survey the spot and try to find the line I don't want to cross. On the ocean, I want to make sure I'm fully in control before the surf. If I have to put my kite down, I would want to do it about 2 kitelines length from the surf. If I get to the surf out of control, I'm pulling all my releases.
I have been lucky so far and have never had to execute the above plans, but I feel that by having them pre-programmed in my mind it will help if they are needed. A lot of kiters typically ride past the lines where I will start to try to react, which I consider an unneeded risk. I have seen them crash and dragged on the beach/rocks while I grabbed their kites to help them. Also, I'm only saying to react if you are out of control. Obviously I come through this zone when I come in and out, I'm just on high alert when I'm in that area. If I were to lose control in that area, I would also pull releases, first chickenloop and if no effect than leash.
Also, Rick has a lot of good weather related information, but a simplified checklist that I follow right before I go is below:
1. Check buoys/windspeed
-is wind steady? watch out for gusty conditions
-any recent change in speed/direction? watch out if speed or direction recently changed
2. Check wind forecast
-is wind supposed to go up/down and when? I try to find time and speed and correlate when I'm kiting. If wind is 10 knots and supposed to go up to 25-30, I know that it is only going to keep going up. conversly, if it is 20 and supposed to go to 0 knots, I know to make sure I can get back in before it dies.
-is wind following forecast? if not, something weird may be happening
3. Check air pressure
-if air pressure is rapidly changing, watch out, something is probably going to change
4. Check radar map, watch out for anything coming in...
Sorry about the length, but I hope someone finds this helpful...
|