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kites kite
buggy kitesurf
surf kite
The company that makes Bubble Wrap is offering a $10,000 savings bond to the young inventor who comes up with the the most ingenious use of the box-filler. The semi-finalists have shown lots of creativity. 13 year-old Nicolette Mann of Christiansburg, VA made a kit for constructing multiple types of flying kites out of bubble wrap.
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 trawling through some sites I came across the following site: horvath.ch where some excellent innovations are being dreamed up! The site is home to a range of single line kites called ‘Synergistic Kites’. These are single line freestyle kites that at first appear to be based on Indian fighter kites. On closer examination it is clear that they are a lot more than that. The underlying design of the kites is based on hang gliders.
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
In a similar move to that already seen at a number of sites in the UK - kite buggying has been banned at West Wittering. It seems this kind of accident is happening all too often! Something is needed to help protect the public from the dangers of kiting. There are far too many who get into the sport and are not in control of the massive kites they fly. This type of accident reiterates the need for proper training. Also - greedy retailers need to take responsibility and not sell unsuitable kites to newbies or even experienced kiters who do not have a proven record! The best thing is for kiters to only buggy or surf in quiet areas away from the general public. Most will say this is not possible, but at a lot of locations 5 minutes more walking gets you away from the small areas where the public venture from the car parks! I’ve seen a number of other sites in the NW where a serious kiting accidents will almost definitely occur - Fleetwood. This is a small crowded beach where the local kiters ‘rule’ the beach. We need to be careful - otherwise we will have to emigrate to enjoy our sport!! Below is an extract from the Chichester Observer: Read the rest of this entry »
Pakistan Information and Cultural Organization (PICO) will have its 6th Annual Basant Mela (Kite Flying Festival) on Saturday, March 22, 2008 from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM at the Freestone Park located at 1045 E. Juniper Road, Gilbert, Arizona. Admission to the event is free, and it’s open to the public. Read the rest of this entry »
November 1st is the Day of the Dead in Mexico. As part of the ceremonies in Guatamala, kites are flown to raise the souls of the dead to heaven and to turn away evil spirits. Apparently, the kite flying takes place in graveyards as well! The photo above shows a traditional kite that is flown. The kites are constructed with fabric, paper and bamboo rods and often feature religious graphics. Its a long way from the fields of happy inflatable line junk on display at the UK kite festivals - no funny crabs here!
Kiting has long been a popular Indian pastime, and now Indian kite fans can take to the skies with a range of power kites. Yaka plans to import a range of Peter Lynn power kites. Greg Bourne, director of Yaka, comments: “Yaka will be selling kites suitable for the whole family to learn the basics of powerkiting in the park or at the beach, as well as advanced kites for people who want more speed and lift for jumping, buggying and kiteboarding.” Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve never seen one of these before, but while looking at some sites came across them. Marco Casadio makes them, probably more popular this year due to the inflatable cherub kite seen at a number of festivals. These kites bring inflatable and framed kites together in an excellent way. Its quite rare to see rods in inflatable kites, with only a few people giving it a try, such as Martin Lester. This seems to work really well. Take a look at the side view below: Read the rest of this entry »
Following the success of kitesurfing the new thing is kites on snow! All the major manufacturers are churning the designs out this year. Some of the most impressive are coming from the minds at Ozone. Ozone have taken their paraglider knowledge and put it to good use. It is exactly this that gives them the edge over their competitors with power foils. For 2008 three new kites have been released: The Access XC, the Frenzy FX and the Manta II. Read the rest of this entry »