Kitesurf downwinder

Seven kite surfers set off from Umhlanga Rocks on a downwind, with a fresh NE blowing us down the coast to Durban. It was fantastic, great wind and some swell, so we had some reasonable waves to ride down the coast. After about 10 minutes my main spar opened at the trailing edge and the bladder squeezed out, looking like a bloated sausage hanging out behind my kite. I beached and Alex followed, helping me to sort the distended bladder, and we were off again heading towards Durban.

As we reached Blue Lagoon, my kite twisted, falling from the sky and beating itself to death behind the backline. A bladder leak had deflated the kite and I was unable to relaunch so I started swimming in. Just behind the shore break I unhooked my safety leash, as Glen was waiting on the beach to pull my kite out. Before he could catch the kite, a wave pulled the kite..and pulled the hook on my safety leash through my finger middle finger. I was dragged under the water by the force of the wave pulling the kite...I thought my finger would be pulled off. As the leash slackened off I pulled in some slack, and managed to pull the hook out of my finger.Literally hooked on kite surfing.

Thanks to Glen, Alex and Julian for their quick reaction to the situation. Fortunately it was not lfe threatening, but at another time their speed could have made a vital difference!

A quick visit to the doctor and four stiches later I am good to go!

Kitesurfing Information