Bit of an incident last Sunday at Shearwater, with someone being dragged about 500m by a kite in a death loop. Being involved (my kite!) I'm venting to get this out of my system, and hopefully make a few locals think.

I first started/tried the sport less than a month ago, and have been out with the kite 4 times prior in total. Still very much a beginner - I'm at the stage where I can usually get up on the board, but will only last for up to 15 seconds before coming off, sometimes with the kite ending in the water. I always end up downwind - had already done the walk of shame up the beach about 5 times that day. I am very familiar with the safety systems of my kite/bar, when they should be used, and had practised them several times.

Anyway, I'm up on the board for a little but end up getting too much speed. I bail from the board and get dragged a bit before ending up with myself, my kite and my lines in the drink. Yep, I did say I was a beginner.... Not far behind me and a little downwind a gal realises she is about to cross where my lines must be, so bails also. Ends up in the water in front of me. I can't see my lines which are still in the choppy water, but after a few seconds it is clear they are tangled in some way so I pull my safety release. A nearby bloke boards past calling out to pull our saftey release. I already had, but my bar hadn't moved out far like expected - already tangled.

The gal was trying to release herself. My kite was starting to get some more air in it, so at the urging of the nearby bloke I completely disconnected. She continued to get pulled downwind, while I swam to shore. My kite starts doing loops just out of the water. She gets dragged through the water at high speed. All 4 of the lines to her kite snap, even though its mine doing most of the dragging. I'm on the beach by now with other people trying to see her in the distance - the canals stop us following more closely. Down near some boats we finally spot her swimming to shore.

I'm completely shaken/shocked myself at what is going on (I know what its like to get dragged just a short distance), but take the car to see what I can find. Can't find anyone or anything, but then my wife calls to tell me someone else had pickup her and the two kites and was back there.

My first thing when back is to check with the gal, and thankfully she is unhurt. Very shocked/shaken, having thought she was going to drown. Then turned to the gear which was an absolute tangled mess. The gals partner is furious (his gear) and just wants to throw it all in the bin. So my father and I spend 20-30 minutes untangling it all ourselves - their stuff and mine. Their 4 lines are snapped. My bar is damaged in several ways, and plastic tubing wrecked.

He says it's all my fault and wants me to replace his lines and bar. Tells me the lines can't be replace by themselves - its all one thing, which I know is garbage. I'm not sure that I am responsible for what happened, but I feel bad for the girl and offer to replace his lines only. That's not good enough for him though. There are thinly veiled threats of physical violence against me (I'm very pissed, really really angry that you did this - you are lucky your family is here etc).

A couple of guys come over, one a local instructor (surf fx?), and whilst polite they tell me the etiquette is that I replace his lines. Which I had already agreed to do early on.... He seems to accept their advice, and settles a little, so we exchange phone numbers.

I still didn't really understand why I had to pay for their repairs (and my damage as well) given she didn't pull her safety release (or it failed), but felt bad about what she went through so Monday (next day) I end up giving my credit card details to a reputable shop to cover almost a few hundred bucks worth of equipment. Afterwards the shop guys asks what happened, and I explained, to which he responded that beginners have right of way over experienced riders (she'd been kiting for 2-3 years)!

I was considering if I'd even continue participating in a sport where usual beginner mistakes can end with you 'owing' heaps to others. It has been a relief to know that I was not at fault, and I don't know why this was not mentioned by anyone else. It would have been plain obvious to everyone watching that I was a beginner.

I've learnt that kite lines are bloody expensive, and that I should listen to my instinct more and stand up for myself. Hopefully the girl has lean't more about her safety systems. So I will be returning there (it is the closest/best spot for me to learn) and whilst I will take all reasonable care (don't want another incident), you might want to keep well clear of me as I certainly won't be replacing anyones equipment if things go pear shaped again. Most of the locals there are friendly people - they have helped a couple of times with pointing where my board is when I'm recovering it, and even recovering it for me once - however the clear and unambiguous message directed at me was simply incorrect. Hopefully they can learn something out of this too.