Very sad news. Thoughts are with his family and especially wife at this time of the year.

nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/856278...-killed-near-nelson/
"A Tahunanui kite boarder was killed this afternoon in an accident witnessed by his wife.

Nelson police are investigating the death of a the 35-year-old man north of the city at about 4pm today.

Sergeant Shane Miles said the man was kite boarding near Wakapuaka when an extreme wind gust lifted him high off the ground.

"He then came into contact with trees and the ground before coming to rest some distance away in farm land.”

Police, ambulance and fire attended but the man was dead on their arrival.

The man’s wife who was present at the time of the accident is being supported by family and victim support.
The death has been reported to the coroner and any witnesses to the accident are encouraged to contact police."


Are there any more details?
Again, condolences to his family who are obviously going through a horrible time. I'm sure all kiters will spare them a thought for their loss

sad news to here this time of year.

looking at a weather web site, looks like the wind was wsw, avg 12kt
but could have picked up quite fast and gusted to 25kt

Blenheim at the time was recording 24kt gusting 42kt


condolences to his family

There was a wind warning on the TV news last evening that mentioned winds of over 100km per hour in parts of the South Island - really sad news for the sport

really sad, be safe out there folks..... huge condolences to the family, terrible thing to happen at this time of year.

sad to here and my thoughts are with the family, b safe folk

Yikes. very bad news indeed. My condolences to the family.

I'd like to know more details also.

Theres been several deaths around the world this year for kitesurfers. The usual story is that a dramatic increase in wind speed lofted or dragged the person to there doom.

Everyone at one stage or another has had a 'kitemare' or close call, everyone learns at one time and does things that probably arn't the safest or go out when maybe they shouldn't its all all about learning. Terrible thing to happen and my thoughts are with his family and loved ones. It is upsetting to see some of the negative things people have to say when commenting on the news sites.

Take care people and stay safe.

That is some very sad news, my condolences to the family and friends as well. It has been a very hard year for many new Zealand families and is very sad to think of another family having to face a Christmas with out their loved one.

My deepest sympathy

Thats tragic news. Condolences to his family and friends.

Every now and then something like this happens and makes you realise we are playing with very powerful forces. Sometimes the best place to be is at home however tempting it looks. Respect the conditions, be safe and keep an eye out for fellow kiters out there.

A sad day for all kiters.

i see the herald ran this story on the front page today(monday), i think this is typical of that rag, afterall it happened on friday, i still feel very sad for the guy and his family what a horriable thing to happen, does anyone know any more details id like to know wat sort of kite he was using & wat size ect, was he kiteboarding or on the mountain board, does anyone know.

FUCKING HELL, the kite death was of a land boarder (not that it changes the horror of what happened) but fuck !!!!!!!!!!!A kiteboarder killed in front of his wife in a Christmas holiday tragedy was lifted 20 metres in the air by a gust of wind - and flung to his death more than a kilometre away.

Ruben Laas was about to start kiteboarding on the Wakapuaka sand flats, north of Nelson, when extreme winds - 45km/h gusting to 60km/h - picked him up.

His wife, Heather, who also kiteboards, watched in horror as the 35-year-old hit tall trees and was carried in the air for more than a kilometre before crashing on to farmland beside State Highway 6. A real wake up call for me because for a long time I told myself that I was safer land boarding than venturing into the water.

This is him on his land board RIP dewd

i posted the kite type up but the post was removed, i can see why because although i was commenting it was strange that the dude was using a land kite to kite surf its unfair to the brand. Now we all know he wasnt kite surfing it makes more sense. Ill tell you next time i see you johnny but i honestly think its just our nature to say , oh its because his kite was too big or of a certain type etc, but the truth is it could happen to any one given freak conditions. the guy was an instructor in Germany i believe, so not a bunny at all. it reminds me of that video with top hat in it where the guy boosts a small jump over a line set on the beach and then gets lofted again and comes down in the car park over the back of pine trees except of course that he lived. very sad for his wife and close friends.

few more details HERE, he was a pretty experienced kiter by all accounts,

This is the first landboarding death I have heard of. I'm sure there have been others. It sounds like he was kitted up with helmets etc and was and experienced dude.

Deono land kiting is deffinatly more dangerous than kitesurfing and you need to be more acutely aware of the conditions and surroundings as theres almost allways something to hit downwind if you get dragged, lofted.

The one common theme with all the kiting deaths this year. I'm talking world wide here. Is gusty conditions and or sudden increases in wind speeds.

So I think if we can learn as much as we can about wind, wind patterns local weather conditions and when to spot advancing squalls etc and select the appropriate kite for the conditions then we will become safer kites.

yeah looking at a weather site the wind went from avg 12kt to 20kt gusting to high 20's
in an hour or to.

tks 4 that, the kite he was using dosent have the depower some brands have, like the brand i use (naish sigma series) has 90% depower all u have to do is let the bar go, and if like me u attach the safty lead to the main sheet knob at the chicken loop, when u let the bar go it also sheets the kite out completly,the wind would have to go from 15kts to 30kts plus b4 i have real issues. i dont want to make a big deal out of it out of respect for the family but if ur thinkin which kite is best 4 you i dont think anybody could go past naish gear.

Jimmy22 wrote:
[quote]i was commenting it was strange that the dude was using a land kite to kite surf

the unit in question is equally at home on land as in water and is sold as such - i have several UMBRES who only use this product on the water!

Johnie i don't think a full kite depower is going to save you if you get lofted while jumping. you and i both know it happens in an instant and your alot higher than expected before you can engage any safeties.

Infact I think sle's are more dangerous that foils to jump with on land as you come down a hell of a lot faster than a foil. You have to time your re-direct well or its a hard hit. for that reason i do most if not all of my land based jumping of depower foils.

Safeties that flag the kite out are only usefull on the ground not when your at height.

I knew him and i hate to say it but the wind was way to strong for a 15 phantom that day. This whole weekend have been mental with ppl riding mostly 10s and under on the water. Still sad >also will miss another flysurfer out in the water in nelson

the thing is with so much depower available you dont get lofted so much cause as the gust hits you the first reaction is to back off on the bar,so you dont get bosted out of control,i dont want to pull rank plum but ive been at this for longer then i care to remember and ive used it all, i broke my teeth, amongest other things on foils. this is important, especially for newbies who may b looking to get onto it and they need to know wat the safest gear is, and wat gear NOT to use no if buts or maybes, bsafe .

wow not 15m kite would have been safe out there also kite surf accidents are as bad now as they used to be because of big clames about 90+ % depower and how much safer kiteing is its all about knowing your gear knowing the conditions and knowing your skill

kiteing is alot safer then the bad ole days because the gear is better, no one can dispute that its a fact but theres so many more poeple getting into it so theres more accidents, now days anybody can go get a kite, usualy a obsolete rag that shouldnt be sold to anyone, buy some lessons and go 4 it.the 90+ depower is also a fact not just a marketting claim as canto brad seems to be sugesting if you dont believe me try a naish sigma i dont sell them thou i just fly them, but hes right about knowing your gear and your limits.

the gear maybe byetter but the sport is is inherently dangerous you neve used to here about ppl dieing all the time now we cant go a week with out some one in the world dieing and normally because they are out in conditions when they should be and why because of thats overabundance of safety and depower in kites there is no 15 kite i would want to fly in sustained 60 kph winds let a lone with gusts over 100 (i live in nelson and it has been crazy windy the last fey days ) i also like my kite to be controllable when it fully depowered not to just fall out of the sky thats what pulling the safety is for (ps i have tryed the new naish and they are very nice im even thinking about a park or two ) but no amount of depower would have saved Ruben

johnie i'm not saying that old kites are safer. all new kites have far supeior safeties than kites 5 years plus.

But the key factor in every accident i have read about latley is flying kites in gusty/squally conditions on kites outside there wind range. Its not the kite itself its the incorrect selection of that kite for the conditions.

i remember in 1999 12 kiters died doin wat they loved, i dont think things have got worse considering the sport has grown so much more, its almost mainstream now after all, in those days if u said kiteboarding people said kite wat ? never heard of it, if u want a kite to perform fully depowered try the sigmas thats why i use them brad i mean wats the point otherwise eh. but lets not quibble ova this i just want poeple to know the truth about kites and kiteboarding cause theres alot of shit out there you need to avoid, its so hard to gain true comparison between brands and design, i feel ive had my fair share cause i pinch everybodys gear on the beach and try it out 4 myself apart from the various gear ive owned including peterlynn wipika flexifoil rrd and of course naish, im not involved or associated with any brand or retail outlet and i dont have any emotional of financial investment in any brand, but i do like naish cause they work,your right again when you say the sport is inherently dangerous, iv got a naish t shirt that says it all - kiteboarding : absolutely, positively the wrong sport for 99.9% of the worlds population.

Ive been kiting for a long time and flown alot of gear. back in the day i had early Wipika's and then cabrinha Nitro's with their lock in bars and about 0.0001% depower, bloody hard to relaunch, you had to edge for your life and the risks were real, obvious and kitemares were frequent. Kiting has come so far that its almost a different sport, hugely safer. With the quick relaunch and massive depower available these days it has moved into the 'acceptable risk' category of many more people which is why its grown. Without SLE's i reckon kiting would still be a fringe sport.

Seeing some of the old gear go through trade me does worry me. You wonder who is buying it, and i very much doubt they have the skill to use it.

brad, ive never been through a year kiting without hearing about several deaths, I dont know the stats but its been happening since day 1. Like the others have said, its inherently dangerous, probably less so than skydiving but more so than a jog in the park, it depends what you think is an acceptable risk. its about minimising the risks as much as possible with good gear, good conditions and experience, and accepting the risks which are still there. It will always be a relatively dangerous sport and unfortunately this story will not be the last kitemare we read about.
Stay safe.

landboarding is still very much a fringe sport. its as different to kitesurfing and snowkiting as skateboarding is to surfing and snowboarding.

99.9% of all none kiting people i talk to have no idea what i'm doing and only 50% of kitesurfers i talk to even know of landboarding.

The equipment you use kite wise can be the same but often it is not for reasons of the enviroment.

In my opinion inflatables are not the safest kites to use on land. As they hold there shape and can get lines snaged on the wing tips and can loop uncontolably while powered. This is less likley to happen with a foil in my experience. Sure you can have a snaged bridle or a broken line on a foil but that usually equates to loss of power ane the kite crumpling up on the ground. inflatables are also alot harder/dangerous to solo launch and land, less stable at the edge of the window and usually require constant input to stop them falling out of the sky or rolling over and darting through the powerzone.

im not saying at hasn't all ways been dangerous but you can go a week now with out hearing about a death yes more depower is great and all but it in no way makes the sport that much more safer. Not only does i make ppl think they can take the worng kite out in the wrong winds but in adds more points to the kite to fail bridles pulleys more stitching now things arnt a problem if you look after and inspect your gear but a lot don't and there things seem to contribute to a lot of death loops and as such

I here what your saying and i agree that it can perhaps make people a bit more complacent, but c or bow, who hasnt stuck the wrong kite up at some point? a bow will not give you such a beating for that poor judgment. There may be more points of failure on an SLE but gear is way better quality these days and its up to the person using gear to keep it in good shape in any sport, thats just the bare minimum. Im not getting into a C vs bow debate, but to say that depower doesnt make the sport safer is just daft. I still have my first Wipika Hydro in the garage. If you still need convincing about safety improvements your welcome to take it out for a couple of sessions.

So sorry to hear about a kiter being killed, especially a landboarder, my heart felt sympathies go out to the family.
I have just been reading the posts on this thread, no matter what equipment you use kiting can be a dangerous sport and when things go wrong it usually happens very quickly.
It's the rapidity of what happens when things go wrong that catch you out, I have been very lucky on several occasions in the early days not to have been seriously injured or worse.... modern equipment certainly makes kiting safer, of that there can be no doubt, but when your in that "oh shit" moment you better hope lady luck is smiling down on you.

Plummet plummet plummet..... where to start.......

getting a line caught on a foil is shite! you find it a lot harder to bow tie a Inflatable. I would way rather launch my C4 in strong winds by myself than my mantaII because the depower is awesome!!!



inflatables are more controllable at the edge of the window due to the rigid structure of them, when the wind changes a foil will fold the front in or some other shit, a Inflatable will drift back till it finds the flying point again. In my experience when the shit hits the fan you dont want a kite to Auto zenith or stay in the sky, it just keeps pulling your sorry ass then, reminds me of the old days with the X3 naish 18meter you knew about a beat down then. No you want the kite to hit the deck and stay there.
Oh and never ever have i had a line caught on the wing tip of my C4. have seen a few on old bows but pull the QR and its all over.

I think the point is getting lost here though. If the Poor guy in Nelson was using a bow/ high depower kite, then the lofting would not have happened! he would have been lifted up and then instinct kicks in and you push the bar away and you come down. that is less (way less) likely to happen on the kite he was using due to less depower.

Im still a little rocked by his death as im sure all kiters are, especially you folks in nelson.

Be safe

DAN

i think its a bit to easy to say if he was using a another kite thing would have turned out different. there's a lot of clips on utube of ppl getting lofted on all types of kites. there are a lot other thing to consider too i thinks its best to wait for the coroners report.

I geuss Dan its what we are more used too. you are more used to inflatables i am more used to foils.

From the stats quoted the wind was 30 knots gusting to 50!!! cripes. by the sounds of things this poor guy was flying a kite designed for the 15 to 20 knot range. i don't know the circumstances that lead him to fly it in 30 knots with 50 knot gusts. maybe the wind built very quickly from the toted 15-20?

It wouldn't matter what type of kite you are on arc, depower foil, inflatable if its normal wind ranges was 15-20 and got hammered with a 50knot gust whilst jumping you would be in a power of shit.

Dan if you think your inflatable will save you, your seriously mistaken.

The key factor here is using the incorrect size kite for the conditions.

dan speaks the truth plum, have u got a late model bow ? neva mind the 15 > 20 kts range think 15 kts > 30 kts + and wat the f would the coroner know about it 4 christs sake, tell all ur friends to stay the f away from obsolute rags that have had there time and move on to the next genaration of kites, im tellin ya in 5 or 10 years u wont find a ramair (foil) kite bigger then 2 or 3mts anywhere and wat u do find will b called trainers. btw since ive been using bow kites (naish sigmas ) ive neva been bosted out of control NEVA ! it dosent happen, r u hearing this people, it doesnt happen anymore, just the other week perrin kent spencer and me where at mangawai 15 > 20kts, i kited past the cliff point where the wind was funky 10 >30 kts i reckon and i got boosted i was on my 12mtr and im 65kg wet,it was ova in a sec i got lofted a metre or so in the air backed off the bar and remaimed in control the whole time, there so fkn good i kiteboard in an offshore at waipu. enuf said eh...my thoughts remain with the family of ruben.

Yep I have late model bows. I fly them every time i'm on the water and enjoy their depower. when i'm on the land I fly my depower foils and enjoy there extra stability and less depower.

Arc kites are a solid choice flying inland gusty conditions on a landboard they are the best gust muchers. And they are the most stable. Had he chosen the correct size arc 8m for those toted conditions he would probably still be here.

I still state that the fatal error of this poor guy was selecting the incorrect size kite for the conditions. not selecting the incorrect type of kite.

This guy was an experienced instructor that generally took safety precautions from the reports i read. I doubt very much he made his kite choice based on ignorance to its flying characteristics.

Sle's, bow's are not a silver bullet they can still kill you if take them out in the wrong conditions. There are plenty of examples of that this year alone.

the question i have for you Plummet is this..

you are out kiting in normal conditions say 15-20 knts your choice of kite, i would be on a 10 for instance, no dramas really etc etc, then you get hit by a 25-35 squall sustained for several minutes, Obviously you should pull the Q/R before you get a chance you get a little lofting,..........

would you rather at this stage be on

A) a foil kite

a bow kite

My choice is clear, (b) push the bar away and you come down to land/ water Pull Q/R and go home.

what would happen on a foil in this situation......................
bearing in mind ive been in this situation on both types of kites, I love my manta for light winds but im not ever going to take it out in its upper range in case that very situation happens. when you get lofted on a foil there is very little you can do to come down at will, your on for the ride. On a SLE push away and down you go.

closing statements your honor.

Dan the key to land kiting is assessing the flying site and wind conditions of the day and selecting a kite that can withstand the highest gust forecast.

I will also decide not to jump on gusty squally days and remain planted on terra firma doing speed runs and sliding around.

I'll leave the jumping for clean predictable days.

ps If i had a choice of a kite above my head after being lofted in would be a Manta.

yep i wouldnt land kite with an LEI BUT i do fly under powered to compensate. but i wouldn't kite surf with out an LEI. i think most dedicated land flyers have foils but i have noticed a growing number of LEIs turning up , Johnny might be right

yep i wouldnt land kite with an LEI BUT i do fly under powered to compensate. but i wouldn't kite surf with out an LEI. i think most dedicated land flyers have foils but i have noticed a growing number of LEIs turning up , Johnny might be right

my point of mentioning coroner was, that it will be the offcial report on what happened. most of us can take a very good guess at what happened. But in the end its only a guess


more info here

yep bow kites etc.... have the greatest de-powder of all kites at the moment.

but when it come to kite accidents, of all the one ive seen or read about on the interweb have happened because.

1.inexperince

2.kiting in condition the equipment cant handle

3.inattention

i.e. pilot error! if your sensible you shouldn't hurt yourself whatever your flying
and if it too gusty go to the pub!!!!

yet to hear of an accident where kite design was at fault.

Dan.j wrote:


i would drop my foil into the power zone and be 3 km up the beach by the time a squall hit (your can see them a mile away). then back down the other end for the next one!
sometimes it's the only way to stay dry on muirwai beach. he he

foils are way faster so your can dodge squall. of cause im talking a 2m foil and buggy.
an lei isn't much use in this wind on a buggy.

I understand what Dan and Johnie are saying. They spend a majority of the time on the water and are very comfortable with the inflatable kites they use. It makes perfect sence to use the kites you are most used to. Your reactions, muscle memory are tuned to the equipment.

For me kite stability and predictabilty is more important than huge depower.

Below is a video of my local flying site in an on shore. my kite is overflying trees and buildings and I'm within meters of drift wood.

I have been dragged once through the drift wood and it was on the 11m edge. an incoming wave wiped me out and spun me around, i let the bar out but somehow the kite roles over and wangs through the powerzone. perhaps i gave the bar some input while crashing? Any way it drags me through the drift wood.

I had a similar crash on saturday flying the 15m manta. its night time and i can't see (yes its silly) and i hit a rock at 30kph and crash in a similar manner to the edge crash. I let the bar (just the same as the edge) out on the manta and what happens? nothing it just sits there floating in the air waiting for input. i get up dust myself off not even holding the bar or looking at the kite. its so damn stable.

www.vimeo.com/14528707

[b]Jimmy22 wrote:[/

i do fly under powered to compensate.

hahaha - I can now see the why the old age strollers overtake you on the beach.

I enjoy using my 12 metre Instinct LEI on the land. In the UK the debate between ram air foils and LEI's, for land based use, is about the ability to boost big air and having more depower, with LEI's the prefered choice

just a note dave. wind was more like 50 km/h not 50 kt
i dont know where the weather station is in relation to the accident site.
but the highest gust for that day was about 27kt

nice video Plummet (",)

hey 50psi bro i wasnt havin a go at u with my coment about the coroner its just that i dont have much faith in any gov dept so no disrespct bro and plum my fav ride is the mountianboard with my 12 mtr naish code cause i dont like gettin wet peace to u all.

yeah there is a discrepancy of what the windspeeds were. Canton Brad quotes 60 to 100kph.

I can believe a 1km lofting in these winds.

the paper quotes 60kph/30knots.i find it hard to believe a 1km lofting in these winds. unless theres wierd updrafts create but the trees/ hills.

my

deano your such a cleaver guy. it might take a while to get the actual skills to make a challenge though.

Yeah Jimmy may not look that fast but he's one of these guys that is super smooth and quietly goes fast. The dark horse if you will. I'm yest to beat Jimmy.
One day when the moons of jupiter and Saturn align and i'll take the win.