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Old 08-28-2015, 11:51 AM
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ricki ricki is offline
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Default TS Erika - Have A Care


Tropical Storm Fay on August 18, 2008 as it slowly moved on to Florida.

History can repeat itself, particularly when we help it along
by ignoring painful lessons of the past. There have been numerous kiteboarders
lofted worldwide in squalls over the years to support this sad conclusion. It does look like more kiters are aware of this threat and take it more
seriously these days on the positive side of things. Still, some guys don't seem to have gotten word that a fun session can descend into Hell
in very short order, if you set yourself up for it by ignoring good practice and common sense.



So, let's take a quick look at Tropical Storm Fay which creeped over Florida for a seven day period from August 18–24, 2008. During this time
eleven people died and thousands of homes, numerous buildings and roads were damaged. Winds were recorded up to 60 mph, higher in tornados
with up to 25 inches of rain in areas and flood waters up to 5 ft. deep.



How many will forget these images from the news video that flashed around the world? People worldwide concluded we, kiters collectively,
were twits with a death wish. This may not have bothered you but it bothered the hell out of me. Avoidable accidents are just that.
Violent squalls were obvious on the radar and in the sky. They were moving very fast, with very small, too small, holes between
squalls to allow reasonably safe kiting. Guys were out anyway, not all were hurt. Only two that I heard about, one broke his neck
and the other could have easily been killed as well but was merely severely mutilated by multiple impacts against a bunch of stuff.



https://vimeo.com/10551394
Here is a TV segment which provided an video overview of things, interviews, accident footage, etc. at that time.


Here is the post that went up about the accident in 2008, http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=7046

It is worth reading over to hang on to some of the hard won nuggets of knowledge to help preserve the fun and keep the ER at bay.
Another kiteboarder broke his neck when he was lofted around the same time, in the same squall line about 30 miles south.


Some ideas for kiting weather planning and monitoring are in the top three sticky posts at:
http://fksa.org/forumdisplay.php?f=29




Getting lined up in the sights.


Some sayings from over the years ...
Stay away from squalls, they can move a mile a minute and be on you before you know it
Land & secure before wind speed temp. or direction change
If in doubt, don't go out
Live to kite another day
No session is worth the rest of your life



.
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Last edited by ricki; 08-28-2015 at 01:31 PM.
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Old 08-28-2015, 01:45 PM
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ricki ricki is offline
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It has been a long dry spell for good wind but don't fall for the first promise of wind. I fell for that very thing myself after weeks of zip
and got blown about 170 ft. into a house by another TS for my choice long ago. Clean frontal winds are coming with the fall and who knows,
there may even been some clean (squall free) winds well away from Erika and the feeder bands in some areas. Plan your sessions,
gear and locations carefully guys and don't take a bum bet in haste.
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Old 08-28-2015, 03:47 PM
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There will always be some kook who will go out in extreme conditions after being warned and get injured or killed. They are competing for the Darwin awards.
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Old 08-28-2015, 11:25 PM
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Unfortunately, I think you are right, there will always be a few folks that fly into the face of things because ... not really sure why. Still, a reminder does some of us some good, the ones that will listen to reason backed up by a good hammering on someone.

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Originally Posted by Jake View Post
There will always be some kook who will go out in extreme conditions after being warned and get injured or killed. They are competing for the Darwin awards.
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