Hi, any body know any thing about the person that had an accident at ynys las today????
I hope hes allright?!

Should shops be allowed to sell power kites this size to beginers?????!!!!!!!!!!! Especially if they cannot advise properly!!

unfortunately his friend said he wasnt a beginner... he's been flying the kite here for a while, this was the first time on british waters though, he's from russia studying at the uni from what he was saying... but apparently he can kite-surf!

you would think he'd have known better! his friend also said that he's not in as bad a condition as it seemed, the paramedics/coastguard were just following procedures. hopefully thats right, and he's ok though

this chap was gonna let us know how he gets on, i'll keep you posted??

rob

[Edited on 14-3-2004 by rob]

The fact that he apparently can allready kite makes it worse. If things like this happen regulary kite surfing will eventually be banned every where. and we dont want that now, DO WE!!

That being said, get well soon. keep us updated Rob.

So what exactly happened to the guy?? Did he just get lofted and dragged??

Who was there to call the ambulance etc.?

Al.

i didnt see what happened to the chap on the end of the kite, i just run out of the way of the kite heading for me pretty quickly!

i thought perhaps his lines had snapped since the kite spun off into the dunes but when i looked at the beach i couldnt see anybody where they would have been hanging on to the kite - then noticed somebody looking at the floor amongst the long grass - and then i realised what had happened - chap lying there on his back with a bleeding nose, said his back and hips were sore.

speaking to his friend shortly after it seems it just took him up a bit then horizontally about 40ft from the beach (where he was originally standing) then dragged him up the rocks into the dunes where stu (chap from uni), some other kitesurfer and myself finally got hold of the kite.

his mate phoned the ambulance and was on the phone until the ambulance arrived and stu went to the entrance of the car park to show the ambulance where to go.

i made a bodge job of packing up the kite with the chap in the wetsuit (sorry dont know ur name!) and chucking it in the back of his car.

not heard anything about his condition yet but hopefully his mate will let us know today!

rob

Hope he's ok and gets better soon.
Surely 15.5m would of been a bit big yesterday?.
I sailed there late saturday on a 13m , shem on a 12m and whoosh on a 14. Whoosh and I decieded to go home Sunday morning, as he didn't have a small kite and no windsurfing kit with him. I windsurfed on a 4.2 well powered when I got home. Should we have stayed to kite ?.

it was gusting to 31.5mph where he was just after he had the accident - oh and he launched the kite pretty much downwind

Apparently. Graham and Col were out and maxed out with 11m kites. When they spoke to the guy who had the accident they told him he shouldn't launch his 15m as it was too big and also told him he should wear a helmet. He didn't heed their advice.

We all obviously hope the guy is OK as we don't want that to happen to anyone, but from what I've heard the guys are also pretty annoyed that he ignored their advice with the resultant consequences. Luckily he only hurt himself and no innocent bystanders, but even so, ambulances etc were still called out, all of which costs lots of money and could ultimately put others at risk too.

Such incidents only give kiting a bad name, and rightly so. From what I've heard, if he had been more reponsible this accident could easily have been avoided. Everyone else was being sesnible, flying within their limits and even advising him not to launch such a big kite, but as usual it only takes one person to cause a problem. Too many accidents like that and our freedom to kitesurf could well be in jeopardy.

I hope the guy is OK, has learnt his lesson and will soon be back out there enjoying some safe kiting sessions. Things can and do go wrong for various reasons, but often such accidents can be avoided if people are a little more sensible.

Al.

Very well said Al, I think that probably covers what all the ynys las kiters would say. Lets hope he gets well soon, and hope that no one else tries this kind of thing, and if your unsure of any thing to do with kites, JUST ASK, Theres allways some one around on the beach, and always listen to other peoples advice. I got the stats through on kiting injuries last week. I cant remember the exact figures, but about 70% of kiting deaths around the world were caused by head injuries!! WEAR A HELMET!!

I was in Yyslas at that point on Saturday when it happened. My mate Sian (Dereks daughter) said that the guy bashed into the rocks, and that he was using an over-sized kite for the wind that was there at the time. Poor sod, hope he gets better, but he really should have known better though.