Dave’s Kites

Kiteboarders Louis Tapper and Alistair Quinn are making the first ever bid to cross the notoriously treacherous Cook Strait by kite, and raise money for the Wellington-based Westpac Rescue Helicopter while they’re doing it. Chopper rescue services can mean the difference between life and death for thousands of New Zealanders every year. And you can’t get more deserving than that.

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David Sheridan was out riding the waves on Valla Beach in New South Wales, Australia last month when he had a close encounter with something in the water. But unlike other stories you’ve heard before, this one wasn’t a shark.

Instead, the 42-year-old kite surfing high school teacher ran over a whale that had apparently been submerged right underneath him. He realized he was in trouble when he saw a giant shadow in the water but there was no way he could get out of the way in time.

“At first I thought it was the shadow from my kite,” he remembers. “But I quickly realized it was a whale.  The whale kept coming up. … I did not know what to expect and I went over its back just past its fin.

“Next thing I felt was its tail come up and hit me on the back of the head.”

Sheridan was alone at the time of the incident and feared that the sudden blow would knock him off his perch or leave him unconscious in the open water. Instead, he wound up shaken and dazed but still in possession of his senses.

They told him to get out of there, pronto.

“Soon after the initial impact the tremendous force subsided and I kite-surfed away with my legs shaking, hooting and yelling filled with excitement and relief,” he recalls.

It’s not that unusual for whales to be in the waters off Australia’s east coast at this time of year, since they migrate north from the Antarctic with their offspring. But it’s rare that man and Moby come together in the middle of that sea of blue.

Sheridan has become something of a local celebrity after his whale of a tale, but some people still think his story is kind of fishy.

“It’s unfortunate that my mates weren’t close enough to witness the action,” he laments nearly a month after it happened. “I don’t think they really believed my story at the time.”

Source: CityNews

A French adventurer set sail from San Franciso to Polynesia on Tuesday in a bid to become the first person to make a kite-powered crossing of the Pacific Ocean, her spokeswoman said.

“Anne Quemere left San Francisco at 10:32 am (1732 GMT) under sustained winds,” the spokeswoman said.

Quemere, 42, the only woman to have rowed solo across the Atlantic Ocean in both directions without assistance, was steering “Oceankite” a 5.5-meter (18 foot) vessel some 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles) to French Polynesia.

The voyage to Tahiti is expected to take around three months.

It was her second attempt to set sail. On October 24, she returned to port shortly after sailing as the winds were too weak to impel her out of San Francisco Bay.

In 2002, Quemere set a new record after traversing the South Atlantic in 56 days in a rowing boat. Two years later she took 87 days to row across the North Atlantic.

Quemere, in her record-setting attempt to cross the Pacific, must be at the control of Oceankite’s sail nearly all day, with only a two-hour break for sleep.

Kite surfing is a sport that uses wind power to pull a rider through the water on a small surfboard. Quemere will be using a canopy to power her, but will be in a small vessel rather than on a surfboard.

Source: AFP

Only one day after a kitesurfing tragedy in Malta another kitesurfer has been killed in the States! What is the reason for this? - Lack of training? Over-confidence? Or poor kite design? Here is an extract from the local paper:

A missing kite surfer from Illinois was found dead on the southeast side of Lake Koshkonong early today. Jeffrey S. Meissner, 40, of Huntley, Ill., was pronounced dead at the scene by Jefferson County Coroner Pat Theder. The Rock County Sheriff’s Department described the death as a drowning, but an autopsy is planned. Authorities received a call at 8:12 p.m. Monday reporting Meissner missing. Using coordinates provided by the victim’s cell phone provider, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department found the victim’s vehicle about 30 minutes later. Meissner’s green Saturn was parked near W8717 White Crow Road, east of Caracajou Road, on the north central part of Lake Koshkonong. A witness reported that he last saw the kite surfer on the lake off Carcajou Point about 4:30 p.m., according to the Rock County Sheriff’s Department. The Lake Mills, Fort Atkinson and Milton fire departments responded with boats, equipment and search teams. The Jefferson County and Rock County boat patrols were also activated. At 11:15 p.m., teams using thermal imaging devices and spotlights began searching the lake. At 1:25 a.m., they found the sail and board on the southeast side of the lake. Meissner’s body was found an estimated 30 minutes later in the water near Koshkonong Mounds Golf Course.

Source: Janesville Gazette

After yesterdays post where I said we need to be more careful to protect the public it looks that this is a sad reminder that some of us need protecting from ourselves!

A 29-year-old man was killed in an unfortunate kite surfing accident in a bay near Torri l-Abjad in Armier yesterday.

Police said the man, a Bulgarian who lives in Malta, was preparing to practise his sport at about 3 p.m. when a gust of wind caught his kite and slammed him into a nearby tree.

He barely had time to recover from that impact when he was picked up again by the strong wind and was slammed onto the metal roof of a nearby room.

An ambulance rushed to the site but sources said he had lost a lot of blood in the accident. He underwent surgery immediately but died during the operation.

Source: Times of Malta 

It seems that the leading edge inflatable (LEI) design hasn’t moved on for a long time. I remember seeing the original kites produced following Bruno Legainoux patent in the late 80s. Since then there does not seem to have been much innovation. More and more manufacturers have come along and made slight variations on the general theme - until now. Read the rest of this entry »