*** Hurricane Riding, the Real Deal ***

[Kiting cutie]

Guys, I am a good friend of Kevin on and off the water, and care about him deeply. Can we please not argue about who was wrong or right about this decision and remember that he is critically injured.

I do not know if he will be awake tomorrow, but when I go and see him I will bring him well wishes from anyone who wants to wish him well. Please leave your messages for him on the forum or via private message. I will print them out and give them to him. Make sure to leave a name if you want him to know who you are.

[OttoNP]

Wishing him well. No one deserves that...

Hope we all can learn from it. Brazil and now this, a sad day for kiters everywhere.

[oc xrated]

Originally Posted by Steve-O

Sorry, I disagree completely. A family that gets whacked doesn't have a choice. Kevin did have a choice. That video is all over the news, all over Florida, and I wouldn't be surprised if all over the country by tomorrow. Completely avoidable.

I do sympathize for his family very much!!!!

People that ride motorcross put themselves in danger everytime they ride. It is a given that you are going to get hurt riding motorcycles. The public accepts it, and for that reason, alot of people stay away from it. A few weeks ago we have images of Damien showing the beauty of the sport on S. Beach to the world. Today, we have a complete nightmare that IMO didn't have to happen. Rick has been putting up the warnings.

Bottom line, our sport took a hit today.

Was anyone surprised that an event like this was going to happen?

True, mate. The sport did take a hit.

[ricki]

An accident with a lot of similarities happened many years in the past in another Tropical System, in another squall from another feeder band resulting in another severe lofting and building impact. If we can't learn from the past, what will it take?

http://www.fksa.org/showthread.php?p=35936#post35936

That rider was extremely lucky to have survived and fully recovered. I wish the same for Kevin. Does anyone know how he is doing? I would say, attack the behavior if you must (others may plan on repeating that same behavior today) but lets take it easy on the man. He is in the throes of dealing with the aftermath of that decision and fighting to recover. Let's support Kevin in his recovery. At the same time why not direct additional energy to redouble efforts to change the behavior among kiters that resulted in his and so many other accidents over the years in violent, unstable weather.


btw, it is fairly EASY to avoid accidents like these. Such accidents are NOT inevidable,
we just need to use good procedures and judgment. Many kitesurfers do so all the time.
We need to remember that and work to expand the trend.

[Cborges]

I was sick to my stomach after watching this on the news this morning as I was scrambling around getting my gear dialed in, ready to possibly ride the winds of Fay. It saddens me to see any other rider get hurt. We all have this fever to ride and get our session in...unfortunate for Kevin's to end this way. My heart goes out to him and his family.
Here is wishing you a speedy recovery Kevin.


CJ

St. Pete Florida

[John-]

This made the news up here in RI/MA, i hope the guy recovers. Man that video just throttled me. Really sorry to see this

CJ, please be carefull!

[ricki]

I've just received a full report of what happened. I will be working on a write up of the events and hope to put it up later on today.

In the meantime, avoid squalls and keep Kevin in your thoughts.

[Kiting cutie]

Out of request, I will not be saying much. All i can really say is that he

needs our thoughts and well wishes as he is still in the ICU. Thank you for

thinking of him

[illibilli]

I live in Lauderdale and have had so many family and friends calling me today hoping that it wasn't me or one of my sons in that video. I was on the beach about 1/2mile south when this squall hit. I was shocked at how fast it hit us...watched it on radar coming in (they said band was moving toward us at 37mph....I am sure the squall was in the 50's)) and walked down to beach to experience it firsthand (I live on beach). It was coming in faster than I bet ANYONE realized...
Our sport is somewhat controversial and when this happens and the news media gets hold of it.....well it becomes a big deal. My prayers and thoughts to Kevin and his family. We have all done some stupid stuff and got lucky without learning a hard lesson like Kevin did. I almost lost my youngest son in a winter squall incident when we first started kiting 4 years ago...I'll never forget and thank God for our 400' of beach and that the wind wasn't as hard as what Kevin hit....a miracle that my sons kite hit a tree before he hit the building.
my prayers and support to Kevin and his family.....this is so tragic and I hope he will recover and kite again..He has a story to tell and I sure hope it will do our sport some good....Safety is so huge..
I am going to practice blowing out of my leash more....I would never want to not know what to do instantly...
Kevin...may fair winds forever blow your way!!

[ricki]

A detailed summary with some analysis of this tragic accident appears

HERE


Please talk to your kiteboarding friends about this. No session is worth this kind of trauma, either personal our to our sport. We need to turn a corner on this problem, now.