Was at Cott on saturday, hanging in the carpark overlooking the cliffs and surf. A guy was out and couldn't relaunch his kite after it dropped. After a while he drifted in to the surf impact zone, then he released the kite. The kite got hit by a few waves, then drifted in to the flat water just in front of the rocks ashore and just stayed there cooperatively waiting for him. The kiter then swam in with his board and got up on the rocks, dumped the board and then jumped back in to retrieve the kite.

Here is where it gets interesting .... instead of deflating the leading edge and rolling up the kite (where it could have been handed in a nice neat package to his mate standing on the rocks 3 metres away), he figured it was a better idea to pull the kite to the rocks, climb up and then drag the kite up over jagged rocks where it was totally obliterated in a matter of 1 minute.

Couldn't help but get the camera out of the car (sorry buddy if you're reading this and have to relive the tale). Sorry for your loss, but it could have so easily been avoided !!! cheers

ah dude, that sucks so bad. I'm sorry for your loss.
On the bright side..... New kite time????

Should be repairable - here are a few pics of a mates kite that fell prey on a big day last year. This kite was fully repaired by Moti Levi for a couple hundred bucks.

marno said...



Couldn't help but get the camera out of the car (sorry buddy if you're reading this and have to relive the tale). Sorry for your loss, but it could have so easily been avoided !!! cheers

You're not sorry.
Actually you sound a bit smug.
Maybe if you had put your camera down for a minute....
you could have offered some assistance.
The kite-betty with colour-matching jacket looks a little clueless too.
I'm blaming the kite-betty.
If he had been wetsuited-up, the trashing could have so easily been avoided.
That kite-betty should have got wet.
lol.

well thats what you get for being too lazy to wrap up and do a self rescue!! it always amazes me to see how many people dont do a selfe rescue when they should. situations like this 1 could so easily be avoided if people would just learn to do a simple self rescue.
maybe he should head down to one of kitehards FREE self rescue lesson days.

also it lookes like he is bloody lucky he didnt catch a surfer or a swimer in his lines too



just looking at the photos again that isnt you poor relli is it?? (its hard to see the poor dudes face in the photos)

Hey Marno

I agree with you.
Its a valuable lesson to see and learn from, for the un-informed !

Who ever it was .... Needs some Humble Pie
A picture paints a thousand words !!
Massive stuff up no explanation necessary

It can be repaired easily enough, its part of the funn

Cheersz

sounds awesome matty, just think ill pass

Yep that would be me..... major fark up!!! Ha I didn't realise how photo genic I was, bloody paparazzi can't leave home without getting hassled!! Anyways here's how it all unfolded. Was having a good kite with consistent wind and was well aware of reef and sharp rocks at cove. Unfortunately the wind dropped to nothing, kite dropped into the ocean and conditions changed from 17-20knots to a slight puff in a matter of seconds. So couldn't relaunch not from lack of trying and was drifting into dangerous waters towards cot groin, reef, rocks, surfers and bigger swell. So after much consideration decided to pull the safety and swim it in, unfortunately this is where I had another mishap and my safety snapped sending my kite into rocks and getting smashed by the swell with my handle and lines still attached. So swam in, kite was sliced and diced, lines wrapped around rocks and kite wedged on the rocks in an awkward position. So once I got into shore assessed the situation, I realised the kite was badly damaged. So i timed my jump back into the water to retrieve the gear and dragged the kite in, no time to release the bladder just time enough to get it in before the next bigger set come through.
I want to thank the french guy who came down to help, without him I wouldn't of been able to retrieve the lines and get the kite out. Some people are doer's and some people just take photo's. cheers mate hope I can do the same for someone another time!

fozzy said...

Perhaps the real lesson here is there are always 2 sides to a story.

This ^

dude the 5th line snapped just above the handle bar which was attached to the safety. i pulled the safety when i got in trouble, kite then got pulled towards the shore by the waves thus snapping the 5th line. what's so hard to believe???

I reckon Markass is one of these super rich share trading guys that make so much money they don't really need to give anyone an excuse for a fark up. They just buy another one, or pull another from the boot of the maseratti.

Its probably standard practise to just throw the kite away at the end of each session, Mark you should be congratulated for picking up your rubbish.

I'm in Melbourne, but I miss you guys......

Great read. Anyone who sails the phone box deserves bad karma.

marno said...

markass said...

Yep that would be me..... major fark up!!! Ha I didn't realise how photo genic I was, bloody paparazzi can't leave home without getting hassled!! Anyways here's how it all unfolded. Was having a good kite with consistent wind and was well aware of reef and sharp rocks at cove. Unfortunately the wind dropped to nothing, kite dropped into the ocean and conditions changed from 17-20knots to a slight puff in a matter of seconds. So couldn't relaunch not from lack of trying and was drifting into dangerous waters towards cot groin, reef, rocks, surfers and bigger swell. So after much consideration decided to pull the safety and swim it in, unfortunately this is where I had another mishap and my safety snapped sending my kite into rocks and getting smashed by the swell with my handle and lines still attached. So swam in, kite was sliced and diced, lines wrapped around rocks and kite wedged on the rocks in an awkward position. So once I got into shore assessed the situation, I realised the kite was badly damaged. So i timed my jump back into the water to retrieve the gear and dragged the kite in, no time to release the bladder just time enough to get it in before the next bigger set come through.
I want to thank the french guy who came down to help, without him I wouldn't of been able to retrieve the lines and get the kite out. Some people are doer's and some people just take photo's. cheers mate hope I can do the same for someone another time!

Sorry dude, I think that might be a slight twist on what happened here ((""sending my kite into rocks")). I and a mate, and a nanna and grandpa watched the whole thing unfold and were all of the same opinion. After being pushed a bit by the waves, the kite was sitting in the calm waters of the lagoon and had not touch the rocks until you got there. We were all thinking thinking how lucky you were that it had stopped about 5 metres short (a fair distance) of the rocks, and that you'd easily be able to rescue it undamaged. It didn't look like it had touched the rocks until you dragged it up over them. I am sure remembering it differently makes it easier to deal with though, I'd probably be the same!! Cheers

.... just re-read your post Markass. Come on mate, you said "no time to release the bladder before the next bigger set came through". Your kite was floating in a bloody lagoon. Water was splashing up on the rocks, but there certainly were no waves or surge of any kind, and your kite was sitting still a good 5 metres in front of the rocks. You can say "some are doers" etc, but like I said, I only got the camera out of the car after you trashed your kite because what you did was so unbeliveable. Apologies I didn't rush down there to give you advice or help, but it looked like such an easy save (in still water, little wind and waste deep water) I thought you would have had it in the bag. Give him your number Darren. Sorry mate, wouldn't have pulled the trigger on this burning, but geez you don't help yourself!

dude steady, leave the poor bloke alone just bad day, hwo does bitching about what happened and whos telling the real story bring the blokes kite back, just let the bloke drink his sorrows away and look forward to buying a new blade!

I have long held the view that kiters will evolve to be worse than those whinging moaning know it alls we good heartedly call poleys.

And I think we have proof of it above.

I kind of regret the old days when people who kited were just all super stoked about the sport and always trying to help each other, and everyone knew that they didn't know everything and everyone made mistakes, often costly financially and physically.

New easy to fly kites have opened the doors to tossers, braggers and old women.

The guy trashed his kite, leave him alone......unless he set up at phone box, in which case no sympathy.

I'll have to leave you guys too it, bitching and moaning you would have thought i sunk the titanic. anyways just get out and enjoy your kiting and if one thing has come out of it, it's that there are def some minority w#nker kiters out there.