According to Swiss newspaper Blick a Russian woman was killed today by Swiss windsurf profi R.D. (Remo Diethelm?)!
www.blick.ch/sport/mehr_sport/drama-auf-gran-canaria-hier-bricht-der-schweizer-surfstar-in-traenen-aus-id3998034.html
The woman was snorkeling of the coast of Gran Canaria when she was hit at the neck with the board. The area where she was snorkeling is accessible to both swimmers as windsurfers but diving is prohibited. The report mentions the woman virtually being decapitated.
The remind me the scene from Rickets Point, Melbourne few years ago. Dad with his son decided to snorkel exactly in the opening in the reef, where all windsurfers constantly get out and in.On my polite advice to the guy that could be unsafe to snorkel here I met angry response that he has rights to dive and snorkel where he wants.
Then a few verbal abuses followed, but fortunately guy didn't beat me with fists , then gone back to his business of diving in this critical spot 
Hi Macro,
Not having a go, but maybe in your example the snorkelers have just as much right to be there ???
Who's to say that the wind powered crew have more rights to the water than the snorkeler ?
If an incident occurred, I think the maritime rules would work in the right of the swimmer over the wind powered craft coming to close to them, even if polers were there first or think they have more rights to own that public space.
Point...im windsurfing up and down sand bank and a fisherman anchors right in path and cast out in front of you.
??????
Have a pick nick at the park in the middle of cricket game.
??????
Start snorkling in front of wwindsurfer passing in and out channel.
??????
Windsurf in an area full of powerboats and yachts?????
Windsurf where people fish?????Select to expand quotelotofwind said..
Hi Macro,
Not having a go, but maybe in your example the snorkelers have just as much right to be there ???
Who's to say that the wind powered crew have more rights to the water than the snorkeler ?
If an incident occurred, I think the maritime rules would work in the right of the swimmer over the wind powered craft coming to close to them, even if polers were there first or think they have more rights to own that public space.
Well said.
I've come within half a second of doing it...
Belting along in the Peel estuary, went downwind slightly to avoid an anchored boat, then about 5 metres in front of me just under the water I see a large pink object (a snorkeller's back). Took emergency evasion and missed the bloke's nose by centimeters... was watching him after I passed and it took a good second or two before he jumped.
Very scary stuff. At that speed if you hit someone in the right spot there would be no second chance.
Select to expand quotenebbian said..
I've come within half a second of doing it...
Belting along in the Peel estuary, went downwind slightly to avoid an anchored boat, then about 5 metres in front of me just under the water I see a large pink object (a snorkeller's back). Took emergency evasion and missed the bloke's nose by centimeters... was watching him after I passed and it took a good second or two before he jumped.
Very scary stuff. At that speed if you hit someone in the right spot there would be no second chance.
That was one of my staff from work.
He came in on the Monday and said "bloody hell I almost got run over by a windsurfer on the weekend"
Told him he was lucky to be alive and to put an f'king dive flag on his boat, which he did after that.
Select to expand quoteelmo said...nebbian said..
I've come within half a second of doing it...
Belting along in the Peel estuary, went downwind slightly to avoid an anchored boat, then about 5 metres in front of me just under the water I see a large pink object (a snorkeller's back). Took emergency evasion and missed the bloke's nose by centimeters... was watching him after I passed and it took a good second or two before he jumped.
Very scary stuff. At that speed if you hit someone in the right spot there would be no second chance.
That was one of my staff from work.
He came in on the Monday and said "bloody hell I almost got run over by a windsurfer on the weekend"
Told him he was lucky to be alive and to put an f'king dive flag on his boat, which he did after that.
Not just a windsurfing issue. A few years ago I took my dad for a fish and approaching the spot in the boat we noticed what looked like an abandoned runabout anchored in the middle of nowhere. We were concerned that someone had fallen overboard so went closer. Seconds later we heard someone shouting abuse and turned to see a diver in our boat wake. Apparently we narrowly missed hitting him! No flag, no buddy and no sign of anyone diving.
I feel for the snorkeler's family and equally for the windsurfer in this case as he would be going through hell after an incident like that and will never be the same again.
Easy solution. Diving flags. Attached to the diver if they don't have a boat. Which I thought was law?
Gees that's terrible news. Can't even imagine how the windsurfer or victims family are feeing right now.
A tragic accident and a timely warning to all of us that like to jibe as close as possible to the beach.
It looks like it happened at the famous speed sailing spot on the island just North of Pozo, called Arinaga.
This is Robby Naish breaking the World Kitesurf Speed Record there in 2003.
www.dailymotion.com/video/xgzs94
I have read that diving is prohibited there and that may be the case because it has been used a lot over many years for speed sailing.
There are rare places that have natural conditions that suit certain sports/activities and maybe many, many spots that suit other activities.
While swimmers are not a risk to others, there are many cases where areas are designated for certain activities and not others. So although on safety grounds there is the argument that swimmers should be allowed to swim anywhere and others have to then leave the place, designated areas are a better way of dealing with some situations.
Terrible accident - last year I was sailing in the middle of the Melbourne Bay and missed a guy training for his long distance open water swimming by about a foot!
No amount of regulations will ever be able to prevent accidents, possible just reduce them
My thoughts are with the family of the victim as well as with the unfortunate windsurfer sailing into her.
Select to expand quoteMacroscien said..
The remind me the scene from Rickets Point, Melbourne few years ago. Dad with his son decided to snorkel exactly in the opening in the reef, where all windsurfers constantly get out and in.On my polite advice to the guy that could be unsafe to snorkel here I met angry response that he has rights to dive and snorkel where he wants.
Then a few verbal abuses followed, but fortunately guy didn't beat me with fists , then gone back to his business of diving in this critical spot
There is a swimmer at Semaphore during the summer. At least once a day when I'm there, he will enter the water 50m of where our line is, swim though the line head down where 10-20 sailors do there inside gybes, then exit 50m north of the line. He is very difficult to see. Proving a point is so important to this guy that he is willing to risk his life. He gave a mouthful to a mate of mine a few years ago for sailing too close to him, and you can see attitude in his face when he is there. So, no hope of a discussion. One season, his daughter waded next to him, presumably because she had a concern that what he was doing was dangerous. She would be nervously looking around at us when wading next to him.
More info, in English.
spanishnewstoday.com/bather-virtually-decapitated-by-windsurfer-in-gran-canaria_21894-a.html#.VbDAsUrXerX
Select to expand quoteslalomfreak said..
A tragic accident and a timely warning to all of us that like to jibe as close as possible to the beach.
It's always risky coming into the beach area where the water is shared with swimmers! like my local spot. I get particularly nervous when the sun is low and in your eyes.
Lets hope we never see anything like this tragic accident again.
Man that sucks big time! I almost did the same 6-8 years ago when kiteboarding. There is a guy who does laps up and down one of our local beaches. One stormy winter session when the beach was deserted with rough, messy shorebreak, I was coming back in. My buddy who was to catch the kite kept giving me hand signals which I didn't grasp. Anyway he caught the kite and was freaking out a bit. Apparently I had skimmed about a foot in front of the swimmers face! The water was so rough that he never noticed, nor did I even see him!
Scary!
Select to expand quote510sub said..
More info, in English.
spanishnewstoday.com/bather-virtually-decapitated-by-windsurfer-in-gran-canaria_21894-a.html#.VbDAsUrXerX
It seems there were signs showing it was an area snorkelers and swimmers should stay out of, but I have seen many times that people don't read signs, and even when areas are marked with buoys, swimmers will swim outside of the swim area. Her partner swimming with her is reportedly a local man, so you would think he would have been aware of the signs. Likewise but much more rarely, I have seen kiters and windsurfers passing through swim zones.
They may mark the zones with buoys, which will help toward avoiding the same thing happening again.
This is not a comment on the circumstances of the above accident, as we don't know who was aware of who and what was said prior to the unfortunate incident.
Having said that, whenever we sail, if we are aware of the presence of swimmers or divers, that we never sail in proximity to them. As we are the dangerous water craft, its our responsibility to avoid contact with swimmers. If we don't self regulate, then councils and other authorities will, and take the decision from our hands and unilaterally restrict the areas where we can sail. Sailors on Port Phillip Bay have just recently negotiated through an attempt of the local authorities to do just that.
Sailing in the ocean is no different, I ran over a Jap surfer who had duck dived under a wave as I was coming in at Narrowneck years ago, had many other near misses as did plenty of other wave sailors all over the Gold Coast.
Select to expand quoteikw777 said..
Man up and sail in the ocean. Problem solved.
If you sailed in the Ocean ie Wavesailing you'd notice there thousands of swimmers & surfers out there you idiot!
You've got to be very careful. Swimmers and snorkelers can be random.
Maybe swing fins should be mandated. Add a bit to the cost of a board, but a fin box that rotated aft with 10 kg of drag at the tip, even with side load, should be possible to design. I'd get one, even if it only ever came into action to reduce the severity of the catapault when you hit something solid in the water.
Select to expand quoteHroar said..
ikw777 said..
Man up and sail in the ocean. Problem solved.
If you sailed in the Ocean ie Wavesailing you'd notice there thousands of swimmers & surfers out there you idiot!
How many swimmers 1km off-shore? That's right, a damn lot less that at the beach. Going even 400 metres out will do it.
if you sail close to beaches and sandbanks you WILL interact with swimmers.
Swimmers and divers also have to accept some level of responsibility for their own actions.
Would you snorkel across the area in front of a power boat launching ramp or marina heads? Those are more extreme examples, but if you can see windsurfers using an area, to go diving in the same place is courting a significant risk to your own health.
If you are going to dive in an area which you can see obviously poses a risk to your own safety (ie, others can't see you), you have a responsibility to at least take the recognized precautions, which is a 'diver below' flag on the surface. This can be as simple as the correct flag attached to a float on a rope tied to the diver.
Seems too obvious really.....
I don't think swimmers have any idea of how sharp the leading edge of a slalom fin is.
You cant blame them either I guess.
Ive often stopped in the shallows near the beach and shown my fin to swimmers that I thought were naive,as a kind of educational exercise, but they never take any notice.
A extremly tragic accident and my sympathy lies with both the deceased family and the sailboarder
I think it is worth noting that in Australia, and NSW inpatrticular we have very specific rules regarding speed and distance off
I recommend that we all read page 85 of the NSW boating handbook
www.rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/maritime/licence/boating-handbook.pdf
For people in other states I recommend have a good look at the relievent Handbook
Select to expand quotelotofwind said...
Hi Macro,
Not having a go, but maybe in your example the snorkelers have just as much right to be there ???
Who's to say that the wind powered crew have more rights to the water than the snorkeler ?
If an incident occurred, I think the maritime rules would work in the right of the swimmer over the wind powered craft coming to close to them, even if polers were there first or think they have more rights to own that public space.
Really?? Even if I was I the right, I personally don't want my head chopped off but feel comfortable that I was in the right!!
Kinda like waiting at the traffic lights to cross the road, green light says walk, big truck is screaming through the intersection, I walk anyway as I have a green light and am in "the right". I might be injured or die but I am so pleased that I had the right of way!!
wow isnt this obvious ... everyone take responsibility for your actions. If you instigate something you are proposing a new situation and therefore are challenging the current state. I understand the premise that everyone always things they do whats right but we are adults. Its old ground but this a serious and unfortunate accident. we should remember that some poor sole lost their life here. Lets keep it respectful
