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Old 02-20-2012, 06:38 AM
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Default Kiter Collides with House in Palm Beach!

Kite surfer hospitalized after accident

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story...Florida-021912

Updated Feb 20, 2012 3:17 AM ET






A kite surfer was hospitalized Sunday after losing control in the air and colliding with a building in Palm Beach, Fla.
The surfer, who has not been identified, was swept into the lakeside one-story building as strong winds gusting as high as 31 mph buffeted the area, The Palm Beach Post reported.
A West Palm Beach police spokeswoman said the surfer was taken to nearby St. Mary's Medical Center after complaining of pain.
There was no damage to the building, the spokeswoman added.
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Old 02-20-2012, 06:47 AM
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FYI, the lake, where this happened, is where many East coasters goto when the wind is outta the west like yesterday
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Last edited by ricki; 02-20-2012 at 09:05 AM.
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Old 02-20-2012, 08:48 AM
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For windsurfing maybe but for kiting, this lake is small and particularly gusty. I would rather not use the name of the lake here. The wind is particularly uneven out of the SW. You would do much better at Sebastian Inlet Park to the north or Key Biscayne (sea taxi) to the south for kiting. The building the guy was lofted into is quite close to the water.

Apparently, the kiter never hit the building only his kite did. Here is an eye witness account from a kiter.

"The kiter was launching a 13 Waroo (I've never flown them, and know nothing about this model, but some of the guys who have flown them in the past were telling me that this particular model year was know for being unstable during gusts). Most others were on 11 or 12. I work with the kiter, and another friend of ours was meeting us out at the lake that day. I was coming in to land my kite as this all happened. The other friend launched the kite and despite being lined up properly for a launch, some turbulence immediately took the kite towards a tree. Experience is surely a factor in what followed, but there was an overcorrection when steering the kite away from the tree that initiated a down loop of the kite to the right away from the trees and buildings. The kiter began getting pulled violently, and the other friend ran to try to get a hand on his harness and help him regain control. He was only able to get the pilot turned around a bit before he was dragged violently into a 2' tall knee wall, striking with his right hip/back. The kite crashed onto the top of the building described in the article, but the kiter did not strike the building at all. There was probably 20 feet or so between the knee wall and the rear wall of the building. There have been a number of break-in's at the building in question, and the police were responding to an alarm that was set off when the kite struck the building. They were the ones quoted in the story as saying the kiter struck the building, however, only the kite struck the building and set off the alarm.

We followed the kiter to the hospital a short while later, and were relieved to learn that there are no broken bones. Some serious bruising and swelling, but nothing requiring surgery. This is the scariest thing I have ever seen kiting, and I am thankful that the individual who launched the kite was able to get the pilot turned around before he struck the wall. When he first got pulled, he was going head first. This was my first time ever kiting in *Nameless Lake*, and I don't think I had a real appreciation for how quickly things can go wrong in that environment."
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Last edited by ricki; 02-20-2012 at 09:06 AM.
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