Johnno keys was involved in an accident at Melville beach around 2:30pm. What happened is cloudy as no-one saw it but he is currently in rph with multiple injuries. He is stable but suffering many breaks. This is a reminder that anything can happen to even the most experienced kiters in any conditions,even sub 15 knots. Johnno was lucky to not loose his life on Sunday. If you want any more details pm myself or scuba Steve
Damn that sucks, one of the most experienced kiters in Perth.
Get well soon Johno.
Just awful to hear this - best wishes for your recovery Johnno.
Stay Safe everyone - be super careful with onshore winds.
wow, that sucks. And yes, even the most experienced person can run into trouble. Would really love to know what happened from an educational point of view. Early on when I was learning I watched every kitemare I could so I could learn. Accidents happen so fast and it's only muscle memory reactions that stop the escalation. Lets hope for a speedy recovery. Best wishes from me.
Select to expand quotetightlines said...
Damn that sucks, one of the most experienced kiters in Perth.
Get well soon Johno.
Doesn't matter how experienced the guy is... Melville is a ****ty place to kite...
Select to expand quoteRPM said..tightlines said...
Damn that sucks, one of the most experienced kiters in Perth.
Get well soon Johno.
Doesn't matter how experienced the guy is... Melville is a ****ty place to kite...
I don't suppose anyone has ever pointed out that you lack social skill and empathy, have they?
Hope you get well soon JK.
an update on some of the event
He was at Melville in about 10 to 12 knots, almost direct onshore. Having just launched his 19m foil kite, he was preparing to grab his board and head out. What happened next is unclear but part of his depower system appears to have broken and he he been lofted up, not sure how far. There was a few freak gusts coming through at about 15 knots. If you can believe the words of a man in shock, he steered his kite towards the tree rather than the road and released his safety just before hitting the tree. He ended up at the base of the tree in a bit of a mess
I saw this on the evening news and was wondering when it would pop up on here.
Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
It does look like the clam cleat on the ozone race bar has let go, please check your bar for cracks or wear.
What a lucky man !
It could have been a lot worse if he wasn't wearing his helmet & impact vest.
The vest had a whole gouged out of it, lucky not to have been impaled.
Long road to recovery.
Better than the alternative.!
Be safe people
Get trained in first aid , you never no when you will need it.
Better to have it & not use it, than need it & not have it.
I have just taken my own advice and checked my clamcleat........it has a crack in the centre of the pic
Hope for a speedy recovery. That's a mad accident.
The gear still looks in very good condition. I'm not familiar with race gear. How would a damaged cleat have contributed to cause this incident?
A damaged cleat if anything would depower the kite- as your depower rope would exstend. It would also
have had no impact on steering. All lines are still the same length.
Could this damage have simply been a result of hitting the tree?
Ouch. Get well soon Johnno.
What are the injuries from? dropping out of the sky from a height? being impacted in the tree?
The gust surely must have been higher than 15 knots? Just can't see that a 15 knot gust would loft you. Even on a 18m.
Does someone have a photo of the location? is it real tight from beach to tree's?
How could the broken cleat depower the kite?
Do race kites work in reverse of normal?
Sounds to me like the cleat broke, kite powers up, fan gets hit with excrement.
Select to expand quoteUnderoath said...
A damaged cleat if anything would depower the kite- as your depower rope would exstend.
Not quite right. It would extend, letting more wind into the kite, but still, in those wind strengths, something else may have happened.
Get well soon Johnno and hope you get back on the water soon
Sh!t, get well man
I am sure you will give us an excellent write up as usual when you on the mend.
Timely reminder to think more about pulling the safety so when that once in a life time event happens you prepared and react very quickly
Select to expand quoteUnderoath said..
Hope for a speedy recovery. That's a mad accident.
The gear still looks in very good condition. I'm not familiar with race gear. How would a damaged cleat have contributed to cause this incident?
A damaged cleat if anything would depower the kite- as your depower rope would exstend. It would also
have had no impact on steering. All lines are still the same length.
Could this damage have simply been a result of hitting the tree?
A broken cleat would usually end up in a extended trim (the trim rope that goes through a pulley or ring and come back within the cleat). This mean longer front line that back line by a descent amount (maybe 20cm depending on bar).
Considering he was racing on a high performance foil kite (most likely 17 or 19m), the broken cleat would have given a massive lift. The lift on a foil race kite is not comparable to anything on inflatable kite... It's definitely closer to a paraglide.
Plus adding a bad gust lifting along the tree line ...
Fortunately Jonno is fine. Best recovery.
Stay safe!
Johnno sorry to read about your Kitemare.
Hope you make full and fast recovery.
All the best Jon.
Hi Dafish
My bar is around 4months old.
I have sailed probably an average of around 4 times a week, maybe 1hr at a time.
A fare few jumps and crashes.
Everything has a life span in hours, probably good practice to check these things every time we sail?.
Select to expand quotePlummet said..
Ouch. Get well soon Johnno.
What are the injuries from? dropping out of the sky from a height? being impacted in the tree?
The gust surely must have been higher than 15 knots? Just can't see that a 15 knot gust would loft you. Even on a 18m.
Does someone have a photo of the location? is it real tight from beach to tree's?
I've never kited there Plums but the location and Johnno's kite they showed on the news was a beach barely a few metres wide before there trees and road. From every other thread I've seen about Melville Beach its a challenging spot, you have to head out into the water to launch, either stand in the water with the kite on the beach, or kite and rider out in the water for a drift launch.
Do a Google Earth search for Melville Beach Road, Attadale, Western Australia, in the overheads you can see kites on the water and on the beach/grass. Street view gives another perspective. Can't say for sure but it sounds like along here?
I just checked my newish (2 months) bar and it has the same as Steve's bar above - what looks like a crack in the plastic, it also looks like it might have something to do with moulding - like the plastic flows together at this point.
I also checked an older bar 2013ish and the plastic moulding is different - it doesn't have the little hole on the top and it is fine. Maybe somebody changed something and didn't tell anyone...
Being a strong guy we all know he'll recover and be back on the podium many times again.
Select to expand quotedusta said..
If you can believe the words of a man in shock, he steered his kite towards the tree rather than the road and released his safety just before hitting the tree.
He should have let go of the bar totally ... not steered the kite anywhere.
But he knows that.
Mend up quick and get back on the horse.
Very sorry to hear about Jonno's accident. Wishing you a speedy recovery. Sounds like a nightmarish situation. I remember pull on old 12m fly surfer warrior foil kite. A 19m foil is like a 24m c kite. The pull and power 
is very scary in anything above 12 knots. Add broken cleat and yes just freakish accident. Get well soon.
Select to expand quotePhezulu1 said..
I just checked my newish (2 months) bar and it has the same as Steve's bar above - what looks like a crack in the plastic, it also looks like it might have something to do with moulding - like the plastic flows together at this point.
I also checked an older bar 2013ish and the plastic moulding is different - it doesn't have the little hole on the top and it is fine. Maybe somebody changed something and didn't tell anyone...
Ok. I get it now. The location has buildings and trees directly down wind. They can be provide a bit of ridge lift. The broken clean provides and instant power up and loft. The ridge lift gives exact loft closer to the trees and buildings. The Chrono also likes bar out during flight or it can drop you fast. So broken cleat would give the lofting then also stall the kite for a fast decent and hard landing. Ouch.
