Hiya noobs Im featuring as the main character Noob so no tryin to cut my grass

Once upon a time on a kiteing adventure yesterday at Woodies perth...

Driving there we stopped at lights, Squall blasts thru, FWD shakin like crazy cant see out window because of rain - looked at each other must be a sign

Got to the beach - woohooo got wind

Set up my 9m c kite on middle beach, sanded it to death because of breeze connected lines then went back to the bar to double check ! A squall rocks through but no nasty looking storm cloud attached to it, the suns out, clouds in the distance...

I'll wait till it passes and double check bar & lines laid out 90deg to wind.
On bending down to check the quick release works - the bar on the sand is now accelerating away from me, WTF, I look at the kite, the squall had shaken all of the 'wet' sand off it and was now barrelling up over the sand dunes, flys up over a kiteniverous bush and stops safely on the other side, about 60m away in all.

An important lesson here

Though the kite was Wet sanded to death & leading edge had no gaps - I was extremely lucky not to have been walking my lines out ( standing inside as you do ) or things may have gone tragically [}:)] pearshaped In future high winds I will now be standing on the windward side of my lines to double check them

The fun continues..

Alls good, 3 of us with some cheering Poleys gather up the kite & walk back to beach - me mate looks at me n says must be a message in this somewhere ?
I say grinning Hmmm could be - though we'll wait for one more sign..

It starts Hailling -Doh!

Anyway, we went out had a ball for an hour or so, then put the kites down & sat out another squall. Finally had enough fun for one day, another squall chasing me in to the beach ' just one more run ' and ill land the kite was my plan.

A minute too late (the one more run got me [}:)] ) just off the beach, full depower, squall hits - landing not an option now as kite drag from wind force is too strong to attempt putting any power into it for lowering and its pulling me downwind bar pushed out and board against water...

Quick Release time no worries - though i double checked it, first pull doesnt work second pull does it flags to a rear line & starts spiralling
now im being dragged thru the water with a flagged kite 4 kiters hauling ass to stop it (cheers guys ) up onto the sand - now im barefoot sand skiing because of the wind drag on a downed kite! ( maybe not enough Cookies )

My hand is now on the scondary release - but still im not worried as my kite has proven earlier that it can go flying off on little adventures by itself and be ok
The guys get to it first, alls good

An Important second lesson

When the winds that powerfull in a squall, you may get hauled down wind from a flagged out kite ! check both releases every session - dont take it for granted that they will work and give yourself enough time to go for a second or third pull.

Lastly - I was on a point that had lots of sand and dunes, no houses roads cars walls cliffs or bust your ass trees. What if there had been ????

I learnt something about Powerfull squalls yesterday - I hope from this you have too..

Thats why Im the feature noob in this story, so no cuttin my grass

Cheersz - SkyPirates ARRRRRR

PFD, Helmet etc aint the things that keep you alive.
Avoiding kiting during squalls, knowing your gears limitations and common sense keeps you alive.
Imagine if you'd been knocked unconcious out there kite looping uncontrollably etc etc etc
LOL

PS Those big blck masses of evil will kill you, no sh!t

SammyJ said...

WTF are you doing out there with 9m kites

Agreed! You're asking for trouble with a 9m, especially a 9m C. I'm sure its fine and all in the normal wind, but holding onto a 9m in squally weather is a recipe for disaster.

Also, I wouldn't rely on being able to release your kite. Yes, its a must do in an emergency, but a runaway kite can be more dangerous to anyone downwind. Releasing a kite should be a LAST RESORT only, not a "backup plan".

SaveTheWhales said...


No reason not to be on a 9m, if you dont have a 6 or 7m kite.

Maybe, but I would rather be on a fully powered 6 than a heavily depowered 9.
(even before the squalls hit)

There was no signs of squalls for the first 2 hours and wind was about 25 knots which is good for a 9m kite (jump on every single wave) but as I mentioned the squall hits for about 4 minutes and If I haven't jumped I would have passed it safe and easy.
6m would be fun though.

AND

If I didn't have my PFD on I would have increase my chance to end up unconscious.

mattyjee said...
I'd call myself experienced, and if i didn't have my 7m on saturday, i would have stayed at home.

This ^^
I'm 90kg was on a 7m rigged for high wind fully trimmed in

Why would you risk beach access, other kiters, people on the beach and your own life to go out in conditions that were (at leighton at least) less than ideal on equipment just not suited to the conditions.
Who would have fetched you if you were knocked unconscious?
What if that squall had lofted you?

Hopefully you learn from this, though i doubt it.

Nothing to do with your name according to your profile its Alex.
Its your whole approach.
Your a kn disaster waiting to happen and unless you pull your head in your gonna get seriously spanked.

Had a sick session on an 11m in a steady seabreeze yesterday at Newcastle!

SaveTheWhales said...No reason not to be on a 9m, if you dont have a 6 or 7m kite. Tuning & experience being the key words here!

This may sound condescending, But I think when Laurie places green arrows up around the 30+ knot mark, then thats a GOOD REASON to not be on a 9m. No matter how fat or experienced you are.

Also your comments suggest your experienced I may be a gumby in comparison so don't take offence. BUT WTF, I thought tuning is what you do when the wind might be fluctuating 5-10 knots. It's not a countermeasure to survive fkn winter Squals

I guess your story does send a message though for NoObS, it kind of say's don't get to carried away with your ability and eagerness, as mother nature will give you a spanking the minute you let your guard down through complaceancy

Glad your both OK.

I cant say i'm experienced with 2yrs, but there is nothing I hate more than "repeat saving" .
I havent got a scott-free record (who has), but I think the idiots are the ones who set up big kites, and then dont stick the squall out in deep water and try to land. Only for it to take 3+ people to hold down a kite and rider... what's really annoying is when they are repeat offenders... Wake up guys-someone is not always going to be able to save you. (or one of those people is going to get hurt on ur kite strings trying to help!!) Why fly a big kite?? A smaller one is way more fun as they move quicker!!!
I was the first one out at woodies on sat, nice lil 5m, but i still cut it quick smart back to shore before the front of a storm cloud hit. I kno my limit and my 60kg's still goes flying on that little "toy" in those winds, I'm happy to sit it out for those 5mins. Open your eyes-it's not hard to miss the squalls!!
Jessie
p.s. experience or no, if its really windy or gusty is it that hard to launch and land towards the water. Its so much safer for you and the launchee, and i don't understand why many people dont??

Saffer said...

Darwin is there to ensure people like that don't get to breed.

That was brilliant

Gorgo said...


Unless you set yourself up as the beach policeman all you can really do is politely suggest and advise. Unless someone is a total and obvious dork you can't really give them a massive lecture about why their plan is wrong (Excuse me. I know everything there is to know about kiting and you know nothing. Put your kite back in the bag.)

i did this once at my local, everyone was powered on small kites (which means a lot for me )and ol mate was pumping up his 12. it was time for a break anyway, so i went in and spoke to him. I was polite and nice and suggested that it was probabily not a good idea in on shore conditions with the road near by to be on such a large kite.. he then explained that he was just learning and wasnt sure if he should go out. so he eventually agreed and packed his kite up and went home.

Months later during summer seabreeze time ol mate is back, walking up the beach, through flags then kite downwind about 5-10 meters out all the way back through swimmers and the flags and another set of flags... i saw him and had to say something.. sure enough he agreed again and went to st kilda as that would be bettere to learn at....

I guess he is one of the reasons that it is now (or going to be very shortly) not allowed virtually anywhere in Vic

Ooooh - cat amongst the pigeons

Great way for everyone whos curious - to learn the Pros & cons of 'actions' they will ultimately decide on for themselves... regardless of what we say !

In regards to 'my' short story & 9m comment only. I will clarify my statement a little further than I personally thought would be necessary, to cheer up the cherubs who are confused

Experience.... an OdD thing for it means many different things to many people.

We'll start with the short story shall we

In my 'short' story, I purposely omitted huuuuge amounts of detail because it started with " Once upon a time " and it had a simple real life message in it, with some humour, of events that actually occured - instead of 'Dont Speed its the Law' !

Safety Comes First - Period

Fact 1 The story took place at the Woodies Point with side shore winds on the North & south where I was kiteing + the usaull wind shifts variations and would not have been kiting 'anywhere' else otherwise in these conditions !

Fact 2 If youve ever seen me sand a kite in strong winds - youd think I was trying to bury it and also put it along the leading edge so wind cant get under it. It got blown off the beach into a risk free sand dune reserve because of a 'clear sky squall' in the time it took me to walk 20m to the bar for double safety checks on the chicken loop release & Line attachments. Had I noticed the flattened out white capping coming towards me, I would have also sat on the kite till it passed also - a 6m wouldnt have been any different.

Fact 3 Not one person has commented 'noob or experienced' on the couple of hours of complete controlled fun doing loops & trick stuff and when we all ' sat ' out the squalls as they neared ???? Oh thats right WTF were we doin on 9's again !

Fact 4 It was litterally 1 minute too late in landing my kite. As I came in to the beach I fully depowered the kite! but did not attempt it out of concern for other kiters on beach, opting to head back out a little to clear them & give myself more room & time to pull the safety in case it didnt work 1st 2nd or 3rd time at which point I would have steered myself back out to try again with more room. It was all a well rehearsed procedure that I followed which is why i wasnt fazed by it - and if that didnt work, my razor sharp diving knife would, no stress.

Fact 5 The quick release worked obviously, and the guys who jumped on it were a little suprised by it too. Secondary Release was at the ready - just in case, no stress but was amused at the bit of sand skiing. Once again, no public at risk of a runaway kite on the peninsula. Sanded the kite & went & helped another couple of kiters who pulled the safety as well - but further out on smaller kites !

Fact 6 Whoever thought I was riding a 9m kite overpowered with the depower strap on full has got to have been watching too many Len 10 dvds or old 2 line kiteboarding videos
That aint me - I'm the first person who will pull the safety regardlless of conditions if im out of my comfort zone... I pulled it to land the kite as I was borderlining my comfort zone, I was a minute late but in the safest place possible, with kiters ready Thats EXPERIENCE - nothing to do with kite size !!!


Obviously there are many riding styles & hopefully you now understand ,that there are those of us who can do it top end... and have a ball doin it
Those who know me have always wondered at 75kg - how the hell do i rip it up on a 12m when there barely hangin onto there 9s - so using a 9m maxed out is like a ??? for some others

P.s Being a 100kg only means you eat more cookies than me

Cheerz - kite for fun and safely within your personal limitz

dont take me out context "idiot"!! i said the idiots are the repeat offenders! The ones who basically just don't seem to learn, I dont mind helping out everyone, as we cant see every squall coming, its the guys who dont seems to have any "self preservation"

Idiot,
As i said earlier

poor relative said...
hopefully you learn from this, though i doubt it.

trevor1 said...

Idiot,

I presume your forum name comes from being called "Idiot" on numerous occassions.

I suspect it is being used as an adjective, not as a nickname.

Whereas you were nicked Trevor the revver by your ex cause it only took a couple of pumps?



Can't a diff opinion be offered without sticks n stones entering the equation.

Some things never change in winter.

Know it all heros
Noobs acting like boobs
Wimpy little b!tches hiding behind net forums

repeat..


Did anyone get a decent sesh on the weekend or what??