KNRM Helicopter

Friday afternoon seem to be a great surfing day, but it turned out to be a horrible day. Because of the unpredictable weather several kitesurfers had an accident.

The weather shifted quickly from windy to stormy weather. One of the kitesurfers was picked up by a wind gust and was smacked into a nearby building. As a consequence he incurred back lesion. An other kitesurfer was missing and but was localized by a rescue helicopter.

The rescue services hurried to the wounded kitesurfer where they gave him first aid. Unfortunately they were not able to rescue him.

These horrible accidents show how dangerous kitesurfing can be. Also, this is not the first time an accident like this has happened. Last year a german guy had a similar accident (=dutch link) and was also heavily injured.

Since I don’t have a lot of experience with kitesurfing  it’s hard to imagine how accidents like these happen. I heard kites have a de-powering system or some other rescue system, but when you are already 10m up in the sky you are too late to de-power your kite.

As a kitesurfer you clearly need to know what you are doing. Check always the wheaterforecast for your surfspot and don’t overestimate your own skills. Try to avoid any obstacles and try to train on these extraodanary situations.

Are there any kitesurfer who can explain how to avoid these kind of accidents?

Update: Read more about how you can stay safe while kitesurfing.

This is a post from: Mad Windsurfing. A windsurf blog with tips, news, and how-to's.

Liked this post? Here are some related articles:

1. Kevin Langeree world champion kitesurfing

This is a post from: Mad Windsurfing. A windsurfing blog with tips, news, and how-to's.