"When our units arrived, we had very strong gusts in the area."
Of all the many persons who play on the ocean, I have had least experience with kitesurfers. For the wind to be strong enough from them to ply their trade, it also has to be strong enough to chew waves into boiling white messes and thus I am nowhere to be found when they are dancing their dance though, as a sailing man, do admire their harnessing of nature.
In any case, a Florida kitesurfer died, yesterday, after unexpectedly high winds off the coast of Fort Lauderdale scooped him up and smashed him into a nearby building.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Chief Stephen Gollan, addressing reporters near the scene, said, Fred Sulter, 61, “was attempting to kite surf in the ocean behind the address here, actually, just two doors down, when strong winds came into the area unexpectedly, and he was not able to release from the kite in a timely manner. When our units arrived, we had very strong gusts in the area. We had a storm come through just prior to the 9-1-1 call, so went from relatively calm conditions to extremely dangerous conditions in a short period of time.”
The witness who called 9-1-1 said, “The wind just picked him up and threw him against the building and he went down.”
Friends said the father and grandfather would often kitesurf in the area and was very skilled and would be out on the ocean often.
A great tragedy.
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Beach grit comment section for the win per usual
What’s Joe Turpel’s take on this?
I have a hard enough time not tripping over my own feet. The idea of trying to juggle a bazillion bits of string and a powerful kite and not get sucked up into space or smashed into something unfriendly, has never, ever appealed.
A bunch of my friends in Scotland got into it, but I stayed well away.
Man this really blows
BA dum ch
…chunks
Same history with a guy at Barra da Tijuca, circa 2005, in the kite point, he’s in the sands, when was hit by a strong and subtle wind and dragged, rolling over and over with eventuals little flights, along the sand, sidewalk and avenue Sernambetiba till stopped in the parked cars at the central pavement.
Multiple fractures.
This is why I was a one, and done on the kitesurfing adventure. I was dragged down the beach lifted, and slammed. Years of freefall experience didn’t help. But, I’ve always said I’d rather die doing sport than on the toilet or in a f car.
I just got invited to go do it – got second thoughts
Have you wronged the person who invited you? Sounds like they want to snuff you out.
Ha! To know me is to want me snuffed
Snuffed, stuffed and mounted on the wall. Not the worst of fates.
Have a crack! It’s a good alternative to those blown out days of onshore winds.
That being said, get lessons through a proper set up. There’s too many kooks doing the self-taught route and part from taking way longer, it costs more in making mistakes. Paying someone is well worth it.
Thanks Lemon – I think I will try it, apparently my host is good at it, so I’ll get some tips. Dont want to end up like this poor dude.
I sure was embarrassed, but was consoled with “this probably wasn’t a good day to learn”.
wind can be a dick
Yeehah! Good to go with someone in the know. Some people find it easy, but I found it one of the more challenging things to learn. Take it easy, learn all the safety stuff thoroughly and don’t race ahead too much You will know when you have pushed it when you are flying through the air!
Years of freefall experience? from your black-op Military days? Whens the book coming out?
(patting you on your fat head) Get out in the yard and do, “chores”. I pay to have my chores done. But you’re still trying to make it in life, and your family is being patient. How old are you? I’m sure any day you’ll get there.
I like doing chores, You like servants. We all end up in a hole in the ground and no ones going to remember that you didn’t dig your own.
Even black ops need catering
How hard is it to detach yourself from the kite? Probably unsafe to make it so easy you could do it by accident, but after seeing some of these dudes get picked up and blown hundreds of feet in the air it looks like something you should be able to do.
It’s not hard, but unless you practice enough that doing so is an automatic response, it’s a bit hard to make it happen when you’re panicking. It’s a sport where things go from under control to freaking out very quickly.
Current safety/kite setups make it easier to avoid being blown way up in the air but not impossible. Awareness of weather systems around you is another thing. I’ve been in a situation where I kited way up the beach and it wasn’t until turning around I realised there was a storm cell heading my way. I almost made it back to the carpark, but had to bail the kite. Luckily the lines got tangled in some scrubby mangroves and it didn’t get blown the 400m across wasteland to the 10 lane highway…
Sure seems like it would be a fun sport for when the wind is howling. Then again this is coming from a guy who’s debating buying a surf mat to bring with some flippers on trips that aren’t solely focused on surf.
I went to one of the local news stations websites to see if there was a video and they played an Ad for hurricane wind proof windows. I wonder if they make kitesurfing proof windows too, much to ponder.