|
|
|
|
#1
02-27-2008, 01:42 PM
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
Also, the cabrinha leashes with the little red saucer quick release thingy at the end are very very good and extremely easy to activate. People should all throw away their leashes into the garbage if they do not have a QR system on them
__________________
__________________ ___________________________________ You don't direct ostriches, you herd them |
|
#2
02-27-2008, 01:50 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Raul...thanks for your post. Listen, that little saucer deal was COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY UNACCESSIBLE. When you get out of the hook, that thing goes with it due to it's location. With a leash stretched to it's maximum tension (and more, as its' stretched out from riding/crashing unhooked and reeling the kite back in), it's about four feet long. With the kite pulling that hard, the leash stretched out that far and being out of the hook/CL, it was way too far away to even reach or activate. I am a big guy, 6'3" with a long reach and even as long as my arms are, and as strong as I am, I couldn't climb up the leash while being worked to get to that release to break the kite away. NO chance. I was trying like hell. WITHOUT A DOUBT, THE LEASE SYSTEMS THAT HAVE RELEASE MECHANISMS (LIKE THE BEST AND SOME OF THE OLD SS WITH THAT RED SLEEVE AND PIN HOOK), ARE THE ONLY WAY TO GO. I had no way of getting the kite off of me other than trying to get out of my entire harness in this situation. And believe me, I tried. Too much tension to even budge the straps to release myself from the harness. And as far as a knife - - no time. I hadn't even given the knife a thought, as I was going so fast and I would have HAD TO CUT THROUGH THE LEASH. I couldn't even find the red loop safety release on the mystic harness, let alone think about using the knife. I was trying to grab the leash and hang on it to slam the kite into the water harder, hoping it would blow up. It was like being pulled behind your truck at 25mph, knowing I wasn't going to stop UNTIL YOU DID.
|
|
#3
02-27-2008, 01:58 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Glad you are okay Bill, definitely a wakeup call for me.
I wanted to make sure that your Doyle lived for you to kite another day with it! That was one of the scariest things I have ever seen. Like others have said, just knowing that you are helpless and can't come to your bro's aid is the worst feeling in the world. I am changing my NSI leash out for a flexi right now. 
__________________
http://www.airtimekite.com/map_tw.html |
|
#4
02-27-2008, 02:05 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Thanks for sharing your story. Sounds like a scary scenario to be in. Glad things worked out for you and you're still alive. Get well soon!
__________________
Feel Wind, Feel Free! What others are trying to merge, we're helping define. |
|
#5
02-27-2008, 02:07 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Hey Bill, you were using a cabrinha kite but not a cabrinha leash.
The cabrinha leashes come with that little saucer deal which hooks up right next to your harness so that is is always accessible and you don't have to grab a bar that is impossibly out of reach. Basically the complete cabby system gives you TWO QR's Glad you are OK, sounds scary mary
__________________
__________________ ___________________________________ You don't direct ostriches, you herd them |
|
#6
02-27-2008, 02:15 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
What was interesting about this situation relative to most kitemares is just how much time Bill had. I would say 12 to 15 seconds. Most kitemares are 2 seconds or shorter in duration, then someone hits something and it's over.
So, given Bill's take on (no) time, I think the lesson here is that safety stuff should be very easily accessible and easy to trigger (quickly). Most of it is neither, unfortunately. Distance definitely bought Bill a ton of time. As it turned out, it didn't matter much on the gear he had. A full two minutes wouldn't have mattered, I don't think. 
|
|
#7
02-27-2008, 02:40 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
one lesson to take away from this...
it is highly recomended that in higher wind to always be leashed to an outside line, or a single front line (like the new SS i think), if anything goes wrong and your kite starts looping, as long as you can hit the release before to many loops you will flag the kite out to one line (preferable an outside line.....) i assume you were leashed to both front lines?
__________________
handle passes are easy...  at least i think they were.. been so long i cant remember
|
|
#8
02-27-2008, 02:43 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Glad you came through OK. Gear needs regular and careful inspection, PM and even replacement. Just put an article up that goes into some of these aspects at: http://fksa.org/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=5871
__________________
FKA, Inc. transcribed by: Rick Iossi |
|
#9
02-27-2008, 02:57 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Scary to even imagine going through that...
Hey I just wanted to chime in as well to say im glad your ok... relatively speaking...
 Also happy to hear their was people there to help you out... hope u heal good and fast.... -Jason |
 |
|
|
Hybrid Mode
