View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
rpaillon
Joined: 02 May 1998 Posts: 124
|
Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 9:47 am Post subject: Alameda death? |
|
|
Mike Godsey reported a death at Alameda yesterday. I don't see any thing in the Chronicle. Does anyone have any details? |
|
Back to top |
|
|
rigatoni
Joined: 25 Feb 1999 Posts: 498
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
dvCali
Joined: 23 Aug 2007 Posts: 1314
|
Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 11:33 am Post subject: |
|
|
More than sad, poor him and poor family left behind so needlessly.
The dynamic of the accident reminds me of an episode I witnessed just last week at Crissy. This guy violently dragged by his kite on the beach, almost hitting a bystander, and then stopping just two feet before a big spiky trunk. It is a bit scary how dangerous Kiting is ... dying on a beach, not even sailing.
Last edited by dvCali on Mon May 15, 2017 12:11 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Riptide
Joined: 15 Jan 2011 Posts: 411
|
Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 12:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
"For those that did not know Brett, please allow me to fill in a few blanks. Brett was a very gentle, very sweet, very kind person from Marin. The world needed more of him, not less of him, but we are grateful we had him in our lives, even if we only just met him. Brett is survived by his loving wife, Carla, and his two sons, both in their twenties. His family is headed for some painful times, and we all feel deeply for them, even from a distance.
As has been established, Brett was new to the sport. We have all made mistakes and been through kitemares that could have gone worse, and his did. It is sobering, to say the least. A heartfelt thanks to those that tried to help Brett both before and after the accident. Lets all remember to keep your eyes out for the new people in the sport, and be assertive about making sure they are ok and safe. We lost a really good guy, and it hurts, but lets learn from it. Hopefully small steps of help will make a big difference for someone else in the future." |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Riptide
Joined: 15 Jan 2011 Posts: 411
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
dmount
Joined: 19 Mar 2001 Posts: 29
|
Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 2:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Last Friday at the stick when winds were gusting into the 30s, a kiter crash landed his kite to the left of the launch along the rocks. It can be a tricky place to climb over the rocks even for windsurfers. A kindly park visitor offered to help the kiter, but the kiter declined. He said the lines could cut him if something went wrong. Things can go awry pretty fast in those kinds of winds. Condolences to the family of Brett. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
pacspeed
Joined: 14 Sep 2000 Posts: 627
|
Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 3:22 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Precisely why I gave up kiting 5 years ago...
I had gotten pretty good, enough to wavesail (wavekite?) in Baja, Waddel, and Hawaii. One bad self-landing though, laid all that to waste. One minute I was happilycoming in to the bheach at Waddell, the next I was being yarded down the beach at the end of a tangled and failed safety release. Completely shredded my left knee: ACL, MCL, meniscus wrecked. Hamstring subsequently wrecked to graft the former.
And I got lucky it was only that.
Sincere condolences to his family. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
dllee
Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5328 Location: East Bay
|
Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 5:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I kited one season, 70 water days, 50 other's that I chose not to go in.
Saw at least 15 huge supermans, including one of a 240 lbs.ers who got launched 20 feet high, 200 feet distance at Alameda. He was fine, he was pretty far out.
I was on the rigging area when the guy got dragged by his kite up the beach, through the rigging area, 2 other guys jumped atop him, and the 3 got dragged almost to the road, but well past the hiking/biking trail, as the kite finally hit a stopped car.
I was windsurfing that cold day when Leo Lomelli got dragged hundred's of yards by his kite outside Lordships on a Jan sub 50 degree day.
On one of my last days, another kiter somehow flew his kite up between my 4 lines, got it tangled somehow as I was heading out, bailed on his kite, and I had to kite back to shore with BOTH kites up in the air, his tangled inside the lines of mine.
I finally got the hint when, a year later, Leo caught my kite at Marina Bay, tripped over a rock and fell, but toss the kite up into the wind, me getting supermanned from the rocky shore, OVER the bike path, to land dead square right at the side of the concrete bathroom located next to the playground.
I had stopped kiting and the following year, one of my old windsurfing buds, Don L..ter, got launched at Sherman Island from the water's edge to land squarely inside the bushes between kitebeach and windsurf beach.
It can be thrilling. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
dvCali
Joined: 23 Aug 2007 Posts: 1314
|
Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 7:44 pm Post subject: |
|
|
zirtaeb wrote: | ...
It can be thrilling. |
It obviously can be deadly ... This year at La Ventana I witness a "beach landing", Kiter up in the air and then spitted down on the beach like a doll. Amazingly, no consequence for the Kiter. Day after a Kiter hit something on the beach, apparently he was heavily disfigured and the last I heard about the episode he was in La Paz Hospital in a coma.
Just today there was an idiot at Crissy going around with what looked like a long-board Kite. Completely erratic and out of control, swinging up and down with the board and flying the kite 2 feet from the water. He was clearly having some (clueless) fun, oblivious to any damage he could cause to himself or others.
Danger is part of the thrill, but one wishes that kiters were trained as well as rock climbers are. The opposite seems to be true.
Last edited by dvCali on Tue May 16, 2017 1:52 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
Back to top |
|
|
windoggi
Joined: 22 Feb 2002 Posts: 2743
|
Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 9:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I've been slammed hard climbing, surfing, motorcycling, and wind surfing. Any of those many episodes could've been fatal. But, here I am. Bad judgment and lack of experience certainly can kill. But then there are those other times when nothing can protect you. Fate is a cruel mistress. RIP to our thrill comrade. _________________ /w\ |
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You can attach files in this forum You can download files in this forum
|
|
|