Courtesy of Kaito from iKiteboarding.com:

"I was not at the beach at the time the accident happened, but can say the weather conditions were not favorable. Storms, squalls accompanied by VERY strong gusty wind.

The rider was still new to the sport, just getting to the point where he was starting to make headway upwind. According to what I've heard, and believe to be true, is that he lost control in a gust and got lofted at high speed. He then slammed into a concrete sea-wall north of the beach. Appearantly he was alive when he was taken to the hospital, but had lost a lot of blood..Died shortly thereafter..

I am still having a hard time with the situation. I had just seen him, and spoke with him a few weeks ago, not knowing that those would be the last words exchanged...

Our local kiteboarding community will be gathering this Fri for a meeting to discuss the accident, and how we can prevent future accidents from occuring.

I know that many argue that accidents cause 'bans' at beaches, but having a spot banned will be the least of your worries when a fellow kiteboarder dies at your local spot...

Please, anyone who is reading this.. Don't wait till its too late. If there are bad, potentially dangerous habits at your beaches , start talking NOW about how to keep your waters accident-free. Get your shops involved, the instructors involved, anything it takes. Lives are at stake.

Kaito"

Another wake-up call for locals to police beaches for any dangerous kiting of any sort. Stop them dead in their tracks and inform them what they are doing wrong.

Wise words Leo!

leo i wish people understood how dangerous kites can be. especially on the land.

Fully Chris...
4 years ago i was stuffing around on the beach in Cape Town and a gust from hell hit my 13.5m naish kite..the next thing i did an unintentional quadruple flip and i was launched at least 10m up.
Completely disoriented the kite slammed through the powerzone and i hit the sand like a ton of bricks. My neck cracked and i could hardly feel my body or even breathe. I thought i had broken my back and was paralysed, but lucky i escaped any harm. Since then i never jump on the beach, cause i have learnt the hard way what can go wrong could go wrong. Don't mess around, get straight onto the water.