Tropical Storm Fay eats up Kiter

brettbuchanan · Joined: 12 Jun 2001 Posts: 77

This winter Brett Lickle was severely injured at Outer Sprecks with partner Laird Hamilton. They were chasing waves 40-50 ft. Hawaiian - near 100 foot mountains. Personally, I would never even think of putting my life on the line like that. But I would never question nor denigrate his choice to test his limitations.

This kiter's accident is tragic and could have been prevented. But on that day all the cards were stacked against him. Nothing more. It went bad. He paid a dreadful price. Think a good thought for the poor guy and move on. And for any of you who chose to rip into this fellow you should be ashamed. You could get hit by a Mack truck tomorrow. Or you could get whip-sawed over the nose of your board, smack your head on your mast and get knocked unconscious, and drown to death. I wonder what people would write about you...

keycocker · Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 3598

The lesson to me in all this is "Make every day good. You only have so many and you don't know how many there are"
Wasting one minute on quibbling over horse shit is a minute you can not take back. Smile at your critics. Brighten your day up. Days are all that you have. Live like you are dying because you are.

kevinkan · Joined: 07 Jun 2001 Posts: 1661 Location: San Francisco

Sad story, Keycocker. Sorry to read it. We've all done stupid, reckless things, and usually we get away with it. Sometimes we do everything correctly and still end up on the short side of the stick. Everybody has to assess their skills and their ability to cope with the dangers of whatever we do. It's good to exercise some caution and to know when you're in over your head... and it's also good to push your limits sometimes. It just seems like I've heard too many kitemare stories lately, and sometimes I worry about my friends who kite. Just seems like random mishaps are more likely to really hurt you.

89Spring · Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 241

Its a bummer that this stuff happens, buddies of mine have been launched before but not nearly that bad. I beleive I read in this thread that a kiter should be unhooked when launching and landing a kite. This seems like common sense. Not being a kiter I dont know how the release system works. Meaning are you able to release from the kite fully loaded?
If we were still in KeyWest I'm positive I would have been sailing at least tried. Friends I spoke with said wind topped out around 50 in KW. I've never sailed in that much. Everysport has inherent risks. I dont blame the guy for going he just got caught making a mistake and is paying for it. I hope he alright and is able to get back on the water eventually.

spyder · Joined: 24 Sep 1996 Posts: 2790 Location: oahu

kurtmagness · Joined: 08 Jul 2006 Posts: 68

Hey check out the good morning america web site for a interview of the guy. HE'S ALIVE!!! I guess he does not remember anything past the first hit on the sand. He talks kinda horse but he looks pretty good considering. says he's going to wear a helmet next time he kites in a hurricane. He said he's mistake was to not have anybody to catch his kite and to not pull the safety cord. Duh

damion_dark8 · Joined: 21 Aug 2008 Posts: 54

I live in Coral Springs FL, right down the street form Kevin. He is out of the hospital and doing fine now.

I was once in his same position when I was younger. I made the same mistake of being careless and going out in those winds. Same thing happened to me years ago but instead of throwing me into A1A it threw me into the water. Thanks god! That was the scariest day of my life. I have since learned to respect kiteboarding and will try tomorrow to pick it up again and learn the right way, with sensibility.