Safety 1st Beginners and Instructors

Today I saw a beginner who was getting a lesson from someone put a 13 meter 4 line kite up in close to 20kts. Fair enough I thought, although I myself would no way teach any of my friends in that wind on that big a kite, even if it was their only option.

Anyhow to sum up what happened, he turned the kite too much after launch and went too quickly to the top of the window, was picked up and nearly flinished it off with a kiteloop after crashing but was EXTREMELY lucky it (the kite ) hit the water and just managed to stop before looping ( and no doubt he would have ended up on the road or in the trees. ) .........but wait there's more....

then I spotted the fact that he either undid his safety leash himself after this or it just fell off his wrist while he stood there ( still hooked in i believe mind you ) with the kite sitting dead downwind on it's side, just as the instructor got to him, they continued to then relaunch and i believe he did it unhooked this time and to no suprise, as soon as it took off he let go due to too much power and the kite flew off by itself in twenty or so kts towards the happy residents in Applecross. luckily there was no-one in-between him and the tree that it hit!......................................
..........................................but wait there's more

not more than 15 minutes later , same 2 people but this time on a different kite ( probably because the first one got damaged ) trying it all again on about a 12 metre size kite this time with a 5th line system ( im fully ripping on a 10 depowered! and the beginner was about my size ) and somehow EXACTLY THE SAME THING HAPPENS, this time learner starts to throw a loop or mis-control the kite and bails, there's no 5th line activation and AGAIN somehow the safety has come undone, kite flies down the beach, misses the tree it hit last time and this time lands on the middle of Melville Beach Rd.

This message is for both new kiters and people instructing others to kite, if it's windy and you will be powered up then DON'T LET A BEGINNER DO THE TAKEOFF FOR GOD SAKE! unless he can already fly it around, body drag, relaunch and engage his safety automatically with his eyes closed.

There was something wrong with both of those safety leashes and its well worth paying $100 for for a descent safety leash ( non scissor type ) that could save your life, or in this case some1 elses. and obviously if you have a 5th line kite the practice engaging it every time you go out and if you only have a 4 line kite and are a beginner, then either sell it and get a 5th line, or put up with the fact your saftey is going to require a re-rig and swim in!

My 2 cents

At the risk of being a smartarse which I'm not intending, kind of underpins why it's a good idea to know a little about the subtle art of teaching kitesurfing. Instructor training really helps to keep students and everyone around them safe.

We had idiots launching kites that looked far to big 15m from a popular footpath, 50m from a main road with no beach, a fence, pine trees and power lines in onshore conditions. The whole time there's a perfectly good sandbar that gives you 100m of water down wind. When they got out with everyone else one of them tried to do some stupid trick which would have been better to practice in say 15knots or with a kite to match the wind, he downed the kite amongst all the windsurfers and kiter's tangled his lines then drifted in.

I'm certainly no pro, I can go up wind and jump kind of, but will always look for the safest options. These guy's have probably kited for a while, my concern is that people learning may look and think that's how you do it and after getting a few lesson give it a try. I'm amazed at some of the recent stories lately and no one has been seriously injured (sorry IBEZA). They all seem to have a common word in there too LUCKY, one day it will be like the ibeza incident. UNLUCKY

If I wasn't required to leave so soon I would have gone down and politely asked them why they don't walk around 100m to the common launching area. Maybe next time, you just don't know who your dealing with these days.

On a positive note enjoyed today very much, such a nice consistent wind. First time in a long time I haven't had to keep adjusting depower, so much more fun.

Good point gruezi.

This is how I interpreted the 2nd incident down at Melville.

The instructor was hooked in to the kite and had the student launching the kite. Looked a bit dodge already there since the student didn't really know how to get the kite up. Anyways they got the kite up and he walked out in the water getting instructions from the instructor. I guess they were going to have the instructor hand the kite off to him in the water and next thing I see the kite flies away and lands over the road. I don't know but it seamed to me they hadn't put the students leash on the bar before they did the hand-off?!? Otherwise it wouldn't have flown off like that.. Luckily no cars/people were around but only 30 seconds later a guy came down the road on his bicycle. Wouldn't have been fun if he'd been a bit earlier and the kite had hit him.

It's hard to police these things but the way things are going it's only a matter of time before something happens

Melville will be banned. After some great work done by WAKSA, puppetonastring and Greuzi etc. to try and get some safety rules going, alas with the massive traffic and sheer weight of crazies, the neighbours are mounting another campaign.

All these bouys etc dont work, I only have one suggestion but it will piss a lot of people off. WAKSA insured members only...... If WAKSA members continually disregard safety rules and are a clear and present danger to the public, complaints could be made and insurance cancelled....At the moment, how do you really stop 2 guys who think 20-25 knots and gusty is good for a 12m 04-05 C kite.

Again, dont blame euros, blame inexperienced "local" kiters who think they can teach their mates using incorrect teaching methods and poor kite selection.

Dave..... has the right idea
Melville should be WAKSA members only

I went for a walk with the family there the other day, reasonably windy, few people out however we couldnt walk on the beach for fear of being taken out and even walking on the path was a bit of a worry.

No one i saw was paying any heed to the buoys, turning, jumping and doing all sorts of tricks close inshore.

There is also the lack of car parking which would totally piss me off if i had just spent $millions on a place there.

Melville has always been managed well, these days IMO its a terrible accident waiting to happen which is my No 1 reason for not kiting there, despite living 5mins away.

I think the problem is that people think the river is a good spot to teach people. In reality places like Coogee or South Fremantle are a lot better because of less people and a big wide open beach with little traffic. Also these beaches are sheltered from swell which makes other Perth beaches hard to learn on.

I agree with the AKSA tag thing, but having a tag doesn't mean your not going to be a nob, teach a mate and/or cause an accident there. I think that educating begginners and intermediates about more suitable learning beaches is a far better approach. The problem is in the misconception that the river is safe to learn on. It's gusty and if your near the shore there is not much room for error. Another problem is who is going to enforce the tag rule, do we really want to draw negative attention to ourselves?

The same thing for Woodies, after a lot of fuss from locals about kooks heading out on the offshore side, the crowds have gone down a bit and less people causing trouble. Once people know that it is not a good beach for their skill level then hopefully they will move.

Too some degree on the WAKSA site this is already done but a list of all the main perth beaches and the minimal skill level required to ride there.

Newbie- Just learning to fly the kite and body dragging.
Begginer- Starting on the board but not riding upwind
Competent- Able to ride upwind and self rescue.
Intermediate- Able to do a few basic tricks such as back rolls, front rolls etc.
Advanced- Able to do some more advanced manouveres for instance boards offs or unhooked tricks.

So for instance I would say to ride at Melvile you must at least be Competent.
Woodies you must at least be Intermediate.
South Freo and Coogee, Newbies and up.

All valid points Chop and Space.

Space: People are going to go where they see kiting and where it is most convenient for them, that is "their local." Agreed that Melville has high risk near the shore but would have to say that it is excellent for many people just getting in to the sport. Me thinks stuff can go wrong at almost any level through bad luck and/or sheer stupidity.


Chop: I totally agree that there is a big problem with leashes and people not practicing or testing their gear........spot on, and correct about there being no correlation between AKSA membership and broken leashes. However, through ignorance, pure stupidity or freak acts of nature, you will have "rogue" events anywhere. Even if everyone on the River had the correct leash and practiced their releases, accidents will happen..........the point is to minimize them to zero.....we all want that!

Even though it may not have yet been proved that there is a correlation between AKSA membership and accidents, perhaps that needs to be answered...........I bet there is, and a big one at that. Why do we need to be able to read to get a driver's license? Think kiting is on par with diving on a risk basis. You need a license do dive....and here you will most likely only kill yourself.

There is a big positive to joining orgs. such as AKSA/WAKSA which look to protect you and keep location access open. By having to join you "buy in," and are identified. This process will make you more responsible and is AKSA/ WAKSA's big opportunity to pass on usefull safety information.

I also firmly believe that IKO needs to be tightened up as there are people "teaching" who haven't been on the water much, do not know the local conditions enough...and do not know the gear enough....enough...enough...it is tooooooooooo friggen hot. But not hot enough.

The all those people just getting in to the sport, your best value is spent on getting lessons from a local who has loads of teaching experience; and sadly there are only a couple handful in Perth. Gear is cheap these days and people who spend time and money LEARNING will have done the best investment into the sport for themselves and the future of the sport.

I probably spend more time on the water than almost anyone in Perth and do not teach or plan to for now. Taught myself, one family member, and got a mate out on the water but no more. Good instruction it is not that easy and takes time.

Respect, you may be right Slave.........I'm just a big chickenscheit and see this freight train coming........it is a beurocratic disease coming from all over the place....happens with crowding, I hate it too.....move I guess, but I don't want too and will remain positive ....but bluff some more, don't know, doesn't seem right.

Have a good week.

Hey Dachopper,

With the growing number of people getting into the sport and coming down to the beaches to learn with friends (this is the greatest area of the sports expansion now) there will be an increased amount of people unqualified teaching friends in busier locations. Because you can stand a long way out, people like the idea of shallow water and choose to learn at Melville.

I think the license is inevitable, it is only a matter of time. The original hang gliders and divers also never had to worry about licenses and gun licenses back in the day were pieces of paper you could get from the cop shop in about 10 minutes provided you hadn't a criminal record for previous armed holdup.

It is not AKSA's duty to enforce this sort of thing, but it is AKSA's duty to start putting in place planning and infrastructure to implement the license when it finally arrives, to start looking into the relevent authorities, to contact the HGFA and see how they did it and start planning for the inevitable. It was self regulation to keep access to their fave locations. It's simple, you carry a license with you to buy or sell equipment from shops, or produce a license to rangers or police if requested. Simply being an AKSA member does nothing to eliminate the problem, it only covers ones @rse if things go wrong.

It will be forced on us by blanket bans from councils after a high profile 3rd party death. I am all for self regulating the sport and not inviting "the man" to gt involved, but I am also a realist. I am sure the hang gliders and shooters, PADI and pilots remember a day when they too never had a license to worry about. The good old days! I feel they are all but numbered. The death in Spain is just another reminder, luckily it was a kiter and not a member of the public.

Good winds,

its lucky melville is such a good location, no obstacles downwind, nothing to impale yourself on and so many intermediate + riders there i seriously doubt a serious accident will occur...... they usually involve onshore winds or rock groins