wouterb
Berichten: 2759
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maj, dat zijn er meer: Beun, Zwafra... een flysurfer haal ik er ook nog wel uit, maar verder voor de geinteresseerden: Wouterb = prutser met baardje  |
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Flyingtrunkie
Berichten: 1804
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maj, dat zijn er meer: Beun, Zwafra... een flysurfer haal ik er ook nog wel uit, maar verder voor de geinteresseerden: Wouterb = prutser met baardje 't barst van de prutsters op Schel. Ik ken 't af en toe ook nog niet laten!  moet trouwens toegeven dat ik hier bij veel namen ook geen gezicht heb, terwijl je er een aantal wel spreekt... |
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Pieterr
Berichten: 88
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Goed nieuws van onze oosterburen:
News is just half an hour ago. Surgery was good, he can move everything and will be fully week in some weeks! greetings
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wouterb
Berichten: 2759
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Geweldig nieuws!!
hoop dat ie volledig herstelt, en weer aan de kite kan/durft.
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Lord of the Boards
Berichten: 869
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Top om te horen. Hij zal voorlopig nog niet de oude zijn denk ik, maar dit is wel een goed teken.
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Idefixe
Berichten: 8241
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Goed nieuws!
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mocem
Berichten: 874
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altijd leuk om te horen. ik had er een zwaar hoofd in na die slechte berichten
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martimor
Berichten: 1934
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super, sterkte met herstellen...  |
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@LaurenS
Berichten: 6454
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Top!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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stefansmilesagain
Geen avatar
Berichten: 1
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Hi guys,
I am the german kiter who smacked down at Wijk an Zee last tuesday.
Thank you for all your good wishes, they really helped me! I was really really lucky to survive this accident and thanks to the perfect chain of rescue and everybody that helped nothing worse happened!!!
I can give you some facts if you are interested:
I am kiting since 2000 and befor that I was windsurfing for 20 years. I would say that I am experienced in high wind and big wave conditions. I am married and have a little daugther - I would not say that I am an adrenalin junky and I am quite fit, aged 42.
Last Monday evening I met with two friends in Wijk an Zee to go out the next day. In the morning we went to the beach to have a look at the conditions. It was quite a big day, a little gusty and with slightly turning winddirections. Nothing to worry about, I just returned from 3 weeks kiting in Denmark with bigger days. In the morning I flew a 9m Waroo Pro, the wind picked up and we made a lunchbreak. In the afternoon I went out with a 7m Waroo. The wind was still picking up so at one point I stopped every "risky"actions and just rode between the really beautiful waves (no high jumps and stuff...) and enjoyed the scenery. Always looking if there are any other kites outside - and there were.
Than I wanted to finish kiting, went to the beach like 1000 times before, slowed down, stopped and my friend asked me if I wanted to land my kite - I said yes. He hurried up to put his windsurfboard away and than "it" happened.
This is how I remember it:
I was sitting with my butt in the sand, board in front of me, no speed, kite was 12 to 1 - a really safe position. Than I was dragged downwind what really surprised me. Here it starts to become little estimating - I think I was slightly lifted and pulled downwind, touched the ground, turned a little and made a steering mistake and messed it up. I believe I half looped the kite, was torn in the air and downwinds. I have a little film in my mind of the moment when I flew over the beach, head first. I was thinking "far too fast, far too high - BANG". I do not exactly know how often I hit the ground, I just remember one big bang and I was sure that this was it. Thanks to a lot of guys at the beach that really helped at that moment I am still here - once more thanks. The next 7 days where hell but I made it. Now my neck is Titanium enforced by two screws, it was a quite difficult surgery (Friday) and it was done in Muenster university hospitle by speciallist. I was really really very lucky to be still alive. From what I understood most of these injuries are deadly, the dens is just to high, right at the breathing centre.
Yesterday I was sent home. Unbelievable. Pure nightmare and pure happiness.
I am thinking about what happened and what went wrong since it happened. I talked to my two frinds who where there. Sure I messed it up and miss-steered the kit. But why was I dragged downwind and liffted the first time? Freakgust? Just bad luck? I don t know... Where the conditions above my skills? I not sure - if so I was very lucky a whole lot of times before where nothing happened in same situations.
What do I personally learn from this?
I don t know if I will ever kite again. I will never ever go out with a kite smaller than 9m. I will never ride a overpowered kite again. I will be much more aware of the danger of a kite (even in the zenit) at the beach.
I never thougt this could happen to me - unskilled beginners ok - but me? No way. And than it did. One second, that was it... I did not see the danger of the situation, it was just like always. No time to pull the safty at all and after the smackdown I couldn t.
Kiting is the best sport I know. But guys - it is not chess. Even if you are kiting for ten years and you think you have seen everything - be careful. I heard stuff like this hundrets of times and always thougt: Yeah sure - but I am a safe kiter - skilled and experienced and careful. Bullshit.
4 years ago I was kiting in Portugal, jumped, lost one foot out of the strap, kicked the board away like 1000 times before. When I hit the water the wind had pushed back my board which hit me at my head. I was very happy to make it back to the beach. The docs fixed it with 9 stiches, I looked like a zombie. Bad luck or good luck? We lost friends to windsurfing and a lot of friends had bad kite accidents. I don t want to sound like your mom and maybe I am still shocked and too old for this stuff but please promise me to f...ing take care!
Once more thank you to everybody who helped me and thought of me!
;-) stefan
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Gehaktdag
Berichten: 549
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Nou nou, wat een verhaal.. 't kan ineens zo maar gebeuren in een paar seconden zonder dat je het zelf kan bevatten.
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Blieky
Berichten: 23
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Glad youre ok Stefan!
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chico
Berichten: 1112
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Thnx 4 the story. I do hope you will recover full and get starting again. A story to laugh from a 45 yrs old one in overpowered condition (Helix 10,5). At a place with very muddy conditions and a full depowered kite but completely overpowered, I was dragged on my butt for at least 100 mtrs with a speed of 20 km/hr and my board in my hand. I really could do nothing besides disconneting me from the kite which I did not. When I hit the waterline I got some resistance to get the kite to the edge of the window.
It did remind me to the incredible power of the kite in the wind and I was glad there arose no obstacle because I was dragged forwards and kept the balance with my legs wide spread ;-0
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Willy77
Berichten: 67
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Hello Stefan, Good to here you're recovering so well. Thanks for your crystal clear explanation about the accident. I'm a former windsurfer(over 20 years experience) as well and a relative beginner in kiteboarding.(3 years). I think the point with sportsmen is they allways are looking for the edge of there abilities. The difference between kiteboarding and windsurfing to my personal opinion is the controllability in extreme changing situations. It's easier to control your surfboard when suddenly gusts of 15 knots more then the average wind picks up. That's why my smallest kite is indeed 9 m2 aswell and in higher winds I will ride my old funstuff. Most likely when my skills will increase my mind will try to encourage me to challenge my skills in edgy conditions.... Again thanks for your eye opening explanation of your accident. Regards and all the best with your recovery. Willem |
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DM2008
Berichten: 913
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Good to hear your operation went well. Thanks a lot for your detailed explanation. Seems that you indeed had bad luck. My only comment is that I wonder why you had the kite at 12/1 o'clock. To the edge of the window would've been safer?
I really hope you'll be able and wanting to go kitesurfing again. Even if only under decent weather conditions, the kick is something not to be missed...
Good luck for a speedy recovery!
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Jelle
Berichten: 1293
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Thanks for the story, Stefan.
It sounds like you still have your wits together, that's very good.
I hope you recover well, your body and soul.
Your words are familiar: "I'm a safe kiter, I'm in control".
One day when you're ready for it, I'd like to ask you: what do you make of my explanation below?
I think an unfortunate system of gusts could make you go downwind and lift you a little because gusts are not linear accelerations and decelerations of air but really 3dimensional waves that change shape, direction and speed. Air is more flexible than water. So one part of the airwave will make your kite backstall and the next will hit it with much more power. We sometimes see two waterwaves interfere, sending a big splash up. In air it might be 3 waves creating a big difference in direction and speed.
Did your kite move up and down, back and forward before it happened? Probably the airwaves hit your kite in a very unlucky rhythm.
Can you recall or construct what made you missteer after you'd been lofted? The old instinct of finding your own balance and pulling the bar in order to get some hold?
I left the water at Wijk an hour before you did, and found the kite much harder to control while walking back, than in the water. But even in the water, it was no fun anymore.
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martin 404
Geen avatar
Berichten: 71
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Well it sounds like you have given this a lot of thought. (naturally)
Thanks for sharing your story and conclusions with us and for letting us know you’re all right.
Good to hear, because you had us worried there. (off course nothing compared with what you and your close ones must have felt)
Sounds like you knew the risks, but where simply caught by a surprise gust at the wrong moment.
Believe me, this could have happened to everyone that was on that beach that day because at the time you got hit, the wind got really nasty, really fast.
(I was on the water a couple hundreds of meters downwind at the bunker)
As for never riding over powered again :
The word “overpowered” is pretty self explanatory, so know one will disagree with you that this is never a good idea.
I hope your hesitations about ever using a 7m kite again will subside over time and you will rejoin us in the hunt for adrenaline.
(but because you have a kid, I can understand if you don’t)
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rocket man
Berichten: 1330
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stefan, I am happy to read that you're well recovering. Thx that you took the time to update us. There is always a lot of empathy on the fora when we (have to) read about these kind of accidents. Yet your words help us to better undertand what and how it happened (presumably it was rather tuff luck than a mistake from your side). What struck me, was your notion of the unexpected when you firstly were lifted and then went downwind with the resulting inability to pull the safety because everything went so fast.
As a lessons learned perhaps the first action when one leaves the water in these conditions is to be prepared to pull the safety and to be over cautious, puling it if the slightest annomally occurs instead of focussing on corrective measures.
Anyhow stefan, best wishes to you and your family and i guess hugging your daughter will be more gratefull now...
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PeeWee
Berichten: 1652
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Dear Stefan,
Thanx for telling your experience. I wish you a good and complete recovery and that you may Kite with pleasure.
For myself (kiting now for 6/7 years and 46 by age), I decided to not go out in winds above 30 knots. This is because with that kind of gusty winds I have the feeling that I am not fully in controle. I have just sold my 7m to exclude the possiblity to go out on the water in that kinfd of gusty winds.
See joes
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