People are idiots

Bom radar showing hectic storm coming in. You could see it moving over the water, in fact, it was so obvious that even a blind leprechaun could have seen it. The warning signs are there and yet when the storm hits you suddenly see a couple of people desperately trying to get people to land their kites in 45 knots of wind as if they suddenly realise "wow, so that's what that black cloud was moving with white mist on the water was"

Is that extra 5 minutes of kiting that important?

Yes this is how most improve their jumping skills... [}:)]

picturing you at a desk looking with puppy eyes out the window, hearing the wind moaning and calling your name... well it will be summer soon!

Spot on saffer. Was considering going for a kite until I checked out the massive front this morning. We all agreed that there are better days- storm fronts like this must be avoided. Better to go out after it's settled in - ie Sunday.
Great opportunity to build up kiting credits.

I'm not saying don't go out, I'm saying don't stay out when you can see a squall line moving towards you. There is a fine line between bravery and stupidity, staying out till a squall hits is the latter.

These are the conditions where things go wrong. The one thing I noticed about other extreme sports is they seem to attract a far more intelligent participant. Ever noticed how base jumpers, hangliders, etc are very selective about the conditions they go out in? They value their lives. Kiters don't seem to have the same appreciate for mother nature.

Happy to go out in windy conditions, I just don't pick the days where you can see squalls moving in and you know 50 knot gusts are headed your way.

I'm with you! I was building Shilds and swords for the kids.
Got 2 sets done and was always looking at the wind! NIce ,hmmm.
But when you see the kids eyes...priceless...
I probably got some bonus points from the missus...

And than I tought that I should use this skills to build a board...

I hope you guys had a good day out there! Was somebody in Rosebud?
Should be pretty nice till noon....

CU CS

... meh,,,,, some pack up when storms come in,,,,,,,, and some rig up!

... nah, but seriously, don't be stoopid guys, Saffer's right!

And this is what the result is

I've had some of my best days in squally conditions!. rig a kite that can handle the biggest gust of the day or land your kite well before every time a sqaull roles in.

11, but she weights only 28kg!!!!,bought a 5 meter for her last year but she was flying up to the sky in 15 knots while i was holding the harness

I hope that the brand new REO 4 will do the job

It depends on the day and the type of storm. Yep you wont catch me kiting when thunder clouds are rolling in. But i will be kiting on days of microbursts with clear skys.

Storm kiting is exhilerating. there are definately days here that can be predicted and kited in. but you need a fair bit of experience and know when to say when.

General rule of thumb. If the clouds are black and angry. put your kite down.

The storm front itself isn't a problem. The issue I have is when you see a line moving towards you on the water and you know the squall is going to hit and the idiots stay out there until it hits and then try desperately to get their kites down.

I watched the line moving in for about 5 minutes. You could clearly see it moving across the water and you knew it would hit. If you're out kiting storm conditions you know to watch the horizon for any activity.

45knots? pffff, even a person kiting for 2 months could kite in 45... I ride my 10m in 50knots down in Victoria all the time. You guys need to harden up!

I want to know why the guy didn't let go of the bar! That is first instinct when you hit the ground or get spanked on the water. It would have given him time perhaps to hit the safety, although he probably had the wind knocked out of him at that point. Realistically though, he should have flagged the kite just before he hit land and be done with it. Kite would have already been wet anyways....

when **** happens it happens fast!