Never go kitesurfing / kitesailing in an off-shore wind

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Originally posted by, Cliff Kitecat in an offshore... you've had better ideas Tom

Obvious I guess.



I was at Cambersands yesterday with my friend James for my first flat water session. It's something I've been dying to try. :shocked2:

The off-shore breeze kept the sea nice and flat.

XC online weather forecasted 18-25mph x-off-shore, it was in-fact just light winds 5-10mph directly off-shore with 15mph gusts every now and then. The tide was in all the way and beautifully flat.

Easy launch and ride away. No spray, just smoooth sailing. I had to keep the kite looping tho or it would have fallen out of the sky.

The flat water was a dream to sail on but things quickly went from good to bad.

Never again will I go out in an off-shore wind.

I also know now not to downloop a kite in a KiteCat unless you're pointed in the general downwind direction or the KiteCat will flip you out...an OCE (Out of Cat Experience). I ended up in the water and out of reach of the KiteCat with little chance of reaching it.

Even tho the wind was light, it was enough to drag me out to sea. I thought that if I flagged the kite out on the 'oh #@%$#! handles' that I could somehow swim back in while towing the kite behind me....wrong! Flagging the kite out still leaves enough kite poking up out of the water to act like a sail.

I OCE'd just 30ft from shore. It might as well have been 30 miles. I was out of my depth and could not touch the bottom or get any purchase.

Wear a life jacket. I wasn't wearing one and became exhausted very quickly trying to swim the kite back to shore and when I realised I hadn't made any progress, I had to make a sad decision. I had to let go of the kite or it would kill me. By the time you read this my lovely Flexifoil 10.5m ION should have made landfall somewhere in northern France.

If I had hesitated another minute or two I may not have had the strength to swim back.

My friend James was the hero of the day. He swam out and saved the KiteCat.

All of this just 30ft from shore. Lesson learnt.

After we changed out of our wet gear we went back to the beach to see the kite. It had gone!....it was just a tiny speck out at sea. :sniff:

I called 999 and explained to the coastguard that I lost the kite in an off-shore. I did this to prevent a full scale search and rescue should someone find it out at sea or washed up somewhere.

I know I'm going to get flak for this but if maybe someone will read this and learn from my foolish ways then it's worth it.

Peace out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvZHTIFC8AI&feature=youtu...

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No need to rag on you - you played the odds, had some bad luck but ultimately made the right decisions.

I've been out in cross off-shore conditions and before I hit the water, decided that I would just kiss the kite good-bye if it went screwy. Always been out in good strong wind though, so I felt I could get back to shore with a body-drag etc.

Did you try deflating the leading edge only, rolling up the kite and swimming in on it like a surfboard?

... no sign of it, Flyfish sorry!

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Originally posted by sand flea glad you made it out. Brother please get a life jacket!

Thanks! I won't be going out again without a life jacket or lid. New respect for the sea. Even in the most placid conditions things can go bad. Lesson learnt.

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Originally posted by Flyfish Hey Redsky, Good job on bailing on your kite! Lesson learned! I've been there. I went out in offshore waves, wind died, kite fell, couldn't relaunch it. I tried self rescue. But there was only enough wind to go prependiculer but not "upwind" toward shore. All I could do was parallel the beach. I tried around an hour to get that kite back in. But there was no way so I paid my respect and let go with little fan fare. I'm still waiting for Kami to U2 me saying he found my kite on the other side of the Pacific.

Scary stuff. I too paid my respects to my kite with a final salute before letting go with the words...you were good. :sniff:
It was a bit like that scene from Titanic. In the grand scheme of things tho, a kite is just a kite.

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Originally posted by Snake This happened to me windsurfing once. The wind got too high for the size sail I was useing and I couldn't get back to shore. I derigged my sail and tried paddleing back in but I couldn't. I desided to wait it out and float to the other side of the lake since I was exhasted from paddleing and lifting the sail. I was about 100 yards from the other side when a jet skier kindly towed me back. After that happened I was scared to go on the water for a bit. I was reseaching "land windsurfing" when I came across one of carltb's videos and I knew kiteing was the answer. It's been 8 months since I first discovered kiteing, 7 months since I first used a kite, 5 months since I first flew a real power kite, 3 months since I first flew a depower, 2 months since my first ride, 2 1/2 weeks since I can say I have a quiver of kites and 1 1/2 weeks since my first atb ride.

Glad there was someone on hand to tow you back. Another reason to not go out alone I guess.

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Originally posted by Kamikuza Did you try deflating the leading edge only, rolling up the kite and swimming in on it like a surfboard?

Good idea. I'll remember that for next time in an on-shore but with an off-shore and the coast just 30ft away I made a swim for dry land.

I had a moment of quiet panic when I was thrown over board as what to do. I have zero kitesurf experience. I had to take two deep breaths to calm myself and try to think the problem throu wasn't as easy as I thought. It's a scary and lonely experience.

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Originally posted by beachrights Glad you are ok- story told how fast things go bad on the water- If you had the vest on it you might still have the Ion and none of us would be writing now.....at least you had a suit on! Mine gives some buoyancy but not enough to hold me up.

Thanks, without the vest I'd have lasted about two or three minutes at most I reckon. I bought the wetsuit just two days before. I never really thought I'd get thrown overboard. I was going to just use a leaking drysuit to keep the wind at bay!

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Originally posted by Txshooter38 What is the saying...experience is something you get a second after you needed it? I had a similar experience with my F.S. 19...ditching in unfavorable wind and filling it with water. A jet ski driven by the wife made the difference in my being able to save my kite. It was stupid on my part but I learned alot real quick. Glad you are ok. You can replace the kite.

True dat

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Originally posted by cheezycheese That sucks Tom. Glad you are ok. Shows how quickly a good time can turn into despair. You can always get another kite.

Thanks man.

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Originally posted by carltb the lesson you should have leanrt is a deep water pack down. all you wouldve needed to do is, wind in your lines until your kite was with you, then deflate the leading edge but not the struts, then rolled it up and swim in with it. do you kitesurf?

I have no kitesurfing experience. Kamikuza suggested the same thing. I've heard of the deep water pack down but didn't actually know what it was.

It makes sense tho and it might have worked. The thing is I was only 30ft from shore and very tired.

For this to work I'd have to keep afloat until I had wrapped the lines up and then do the deep water pack down and then swim in from an even greater distance.

I think your idea would have worked and afterwards I was sad about the kite but at the time all I wanted to do was to get back on dry land asap.

Thanks to yours and Kami' explanation of the deep water pack down, I will practice it next time and report back.
Cheers