Failed Downwinder from Viento (With Video!)

kitemare · Since 23 Mar 2010 265 Posts Seattle, wa Obsessed

So a buddy of mine and I decided to go for a downwinder the other day from Viento to Hood River. The weather was lining up, all the sensers where saying 10m conditions. As we left my car at the marina, everyone was launching there 9s and 10s so that's the kites that we grabbed.

Got to Viento and it was Cranking. (Around 25-40) We knew we where going to be overpowered on the kites that we had brought but figured we would go for it anyways.

After we launched, that was probably the most over powered I have ever been on a kite. I was handling it well, boosting huge. But then I accidently popped the eject on my kite and that's when the sh$t hit the fan.

It would have been fine, except my leash got wrapped around the kite center trim line as I was re-engaging the safety pin and I couldn't sheet in or out. 20 minutes of struggling to get the kite fixed, the board I had dropped earlier was gone and I had to self rescue.

Want to give a thanks to my buddy George for kiting with me and a dude named Rob who we hitched a ride from back to the Marina.

Luckily(?) I had my camera on the whole time so I decided to make a quick video of me through-out the day and share it with everyone.

So enjoy Smile

Link

and if you want to watch it in 1080: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCgDQpSmLz8

wylieflyote · Thu Jun 23, 11 7:27 am

The 2009 Ocean Rodeo QL used to blow apart unexpectedly a lot for me. What year is this?
I hated mine after a time.

pappas · Since 10 Jun 2007 58 Posts

What happened to your "buddies"??? who should have been watching out for you and easily dealt with your board floating off.

Rule one of downwinders... go with a friend you can trust.

Pepi · Thu Jun 23, 11 8:02 am

I don't know if you guys were the ones who left right before us yesterday, but a couple of us totally felt your pain.
Yesterday was one of those days where Mother Nature just hands you a beating.

Same exact situation with wind, hammering up to maybe 40 at Viento when we started launching. I was the last one to go, had some issues trying to self launch, while one of my buddies tried to launch me with his kite already up in the air, we had a snaffu and my kite took off on a solo downwinder with out me.

Took a while, but I found my kite about a mile downwind pinned on a rock wall above a cove and recovered it safely (although very sketched climb down and back).

Headed back to Viento to rig up a 10m2 kite and then had my ass handed to me about 4-5 times with the kite being blown into weird shapes and deforming all over the place. Called it quits due to just plain bad karma.
About that same time a windsurfer who was out with me came in and informed me that he was rigging down to a 4.0m2 because it was too windy out there for him.
Which, explained why I could not handle flying my 10m2 kite, DUH!

Meanwhile, the rest of my downwind crew rocketed downwind for about 2 miles until the wind petered out and left them with barely enough wind to keep the kites flying all the way down to the Marina.
One person who could not keep there kite flying had to bail. She self rescued and hitched a ride. She did lose her board, so if anyone sees a very small Cabrinha surfboard (white) anywhere between Viento and Stevenson, please call 2nd Wind Sports.

I guess there's truth to the old saying that goes, "It's not an adventure until something goes wrong"

stringy · Since 23 Jun 2006 1734 Posts vancouver XTreme Poster

not sure if that was distortion from a wide angle POV or not, but that launch i would say is by far the sketchiest I have seen on a video.
not much room for error especially in the winds you said they were experiencing.

C Johnson · Since 17 Apr 2009 853 Posts Seattle Opinionated

wow never seen a launch in trees like that before.

you guys are crazy

Youkai · Since 08 Feb 2010 553 Posts Beaverton Addicted

There is a definite fisheye to the camera but still I would say you are right Stringy. That launch is super sketchy between the trees like that. Props to the kiter for managing it. I'm assuming when the water level is lower you don't have to launch from inside the tree line?

Would a drift launch not have worked there?

Aeolus · Thu Jun 23, 11 9:12 am

carolb · Thu Jun 23, 11 10:11 am **wow**

That launch looks really tight. I think I would have tried the drift launch.

Stevie was good yesterday!

Gman · Since 11 Feb 2006 4910 Posts Portland Unstrapped

mcsailor0303 · Since 18 Mar 2009 184 Posts The Dalles Stoked

Epic Fail! (haha) Way keep it together and get in safe.

That launch is much better now that they have cleared a lot of the trees and brush!

kitemare · Since 23 Mar 2010 265 Posts Seattle, wa Obsessed

wow, got some great feedback thus far.

Wylie, it's a 2010 OR bar. The bar is pretty sound. Might have just brushed it with my hand or something when it popped.

Pappas: my buddy was just on the other side of the river playing in the swell and when he realized what happened, he was off to look for the board but he couldn't find it. And I would trust him with my life any day of the week. I agree, it is ALWAYS good to kite with a buddy.

Stringy-not distort, I launched under a tree. Not one of my better ideas but it worked. We where jonensin to go out. So that's what we ended up with.

I would say to look forward to my next video, but after this one. We'll see what happens Smile

kitebot · Since 20 Feb 2007 251 Posts Obsessed

windobsessed · Since 07 Aug 2008 117 Posts Portland Stoked

It is very sketchy. I was there and it pretty much looks like that.
Trees all around, if the kite drifts in the air
(a lull) the kite is in the trees in no time.

Drift launch looked even worse. I saw one guy put the kite in the water, lines
part in the water (filled with debris, branches...) and part on land between
logs, kite starts to drift towards trees on east side of launch, he quickly moved
through water going west to get lines extended before kite ends up in bushes.
Kite powered up within feet of trees and bushes, WOW.

I'm amazed (glad) there has been no accidents.

Pete · Since 29 Oct 2007 843 Posts Opinionated

Windance Crew · Since 18 Apr 2008 473 Posts Hood River Kite Shop Obsessed

I think he must have whacked the QR pretty good becuase it takes about the same pressure to release as other brands.

Also in my opinion that was a pretty dangerous launch and they're lucky they didnt get hurt. A much safer way that I like to launch there is to be in the water with your launcher holding the kite on the beach, then take the kite up and overhead towards the river nice and slow.

"There are old pilots & bold pilots but no old bold pilots"

K4L · Since 19 Jan 2009 483 Posts Obsessed