Collision Yesterday at Waddell

[Jaipal]

Hey all,

Yesterday I was involved in a collision at Waddell. It was heavy and I am hurting. I think the other person may have been hurt too. He packed up and left pretty quickly before I could talk to him. He was Australian and I believe flying a blue North kite??? If you are the guy or if anyone knows him lets get in touch. I hope he is ok.

We were both coming in on port tack I was on a sailboard and he was kiting. He was upwind and in front of me. It was peaky windswell and it looked to me like he was slotted up on better section of the wave than me. I waved for him to go down the line but I think he misunderstood and he jibed right into my path.

We hit hard and I was in the water for a while. I was stunned and afraid I was losing consciousness. I made it in but have about a fifteen minute memory lapse after that. I came home and wasn't going to go to the urgent care until I noticed I hit my head too. Given that there was memory loss I didn't want to take any chances. By the way, I was wearing a helmet.

There is no concussion and I don't have any broken bones. [Correction. I found out today I suffered a grade one concussion.] I feel lucky. In a wet wetsuit I weigh over 200 lbs I'll assume the other guy was a hearty Australian and big too. I know they are a tough lot. Anyway there was a lot of energy transfer and again I hope he is ok.

Dissecting what happened, I made the mistake of gesturing to him that I wanted him to go down the line in a situation where it was not clear what he would do. Waddell unambiguously is a down the line right. Those of us who have been sailing there since the 1980's know that beach inch by inch. That's how I knew he was in a better spot than me and why I wanted him to go. But I was downwind and behind him and I assumed he would ride the wave successfully in front of me and away from me to the right. Instead he jibed.

If it was unclear what I was signaling, he might have continued on port tack until the coast was clear. When we hit he was on starboard. He was on starboard because he just jibed from an upwind position and we all know how fast a kiter can change direction. That is why the left side of my body is creamed.

Anyway, I feel really bad about it and wish I never signaled him to drop in on the wave. Maybe nothing would have happened. We all love the place and even though I don't kitesurf I dig watching the kitesurfers every day. Awesome sport. We just got tangled up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And the helmet may have prevented me from passing out and drowning.

Everybody sail safe and Australian guy I hope you are ok. Let's buy each other a Fosters.

-Jaipal

[Please see a couple of my posts later in this thread. There has been confusion as to whether we were both on the same wave - thus a right of way issue. We were not on the same wave. I was a few seconds behind, downwind, and on the next wave.

I wrote the post less than 24 hours after the accident and didn't do the best at providing a complete description. Sorry.

Most of all I am happy the post has brought ROW and safety to the forefront.]

-Jaipal

[MalibuGuru]

Jaipal, It is a good thing you both walked away from the collision. I find it difficult to read kiters, who sometimes don't understand just how much "real estate" they take up on the water. I hope this spring/summer they will self regulate in the surf zones and yield right of way more often. Their turns are much quicker, and their power greater than ours.

I hope the kiter is ok and he steps forward in a constructive way to discuss what went wrong.

[WindsurfUtah]

Jaipal

I would just like to thank you for having a good attitude about this situation. Too many times in this world (myself included) people go on the offensive in similar situations and attack.

I pray that all of us wind riders can have an attitude of brotherly love, friendship, and safety on and off the water.

Thanks for uplifting my day.

Josh

[gerritt]

I've had some close calls with kites at Waddell myself. Last year, I was headed down the line, going right, frontside to the wave and saw a kite backside to the wave, going left coming up towards me. I thought for sure he would jibe out or at least yield, but he didn't. I bottom turned and came back at the lip and was about to cut back and he wound up directly below me. The nose of my board actually impacted his lines. I backed off and let the wave go under. He then proceeeded to yell at me for not getting out of his way! I tried to talk to him about wave rules and Waddell being a down the line spot. All he could relate were four letter explicatives. I said whatever and that maybe he should go ask one of the Schriebel's about right of way.

I like watching the kites at Waddell too. Most of the former windsurfers that know the place rock. The problem is the young kids who show up with the wake style boards and long lines and want to boost big air. I've read Schriebel's rules for waves and kites and they are spot on. If kites are there to jump, then they need to go somewhere else. Waddell is a down the line wave.

[pascal.bronniman]

Hi Jaipal,

sorry to hear about this accident but glad you made it back and still have a great attitude towards other users of the water, even if they are kiters. Plenty of close calls here on Maui as well...

Anyhow, don't buy him a Foster's, Australians don't really drink those, it's just for export

Aloha,

Pascal

[wetdog69]

Sorry to hear you got banged up Jaipal. We have all had a similar close calls with them. It does seem that at Waddell most of the kiters don't do very well on the waves and don't read the place well either. It seems like the best approach has been to assume they won't make the section down the line and to take the wave anyway, they seem better at avoiding a wave than dealing with it, especially with a sailor on it. The kiters that can and do ride the waves well are on top of their game and are pretty obvious in their skill. I hope the kiters learn from your post as well as us sailors. Look before you tack or jibe.

Hope we see you back soon.

Eric

[isobars]

Something I'm not clear on is this: " I tried to talk to him about wave rules and Waddell being a down the line spot."

How does that compute, considering the grief we get for wanting some consideration for swell-riding in the Gorge? It's not as though there are miles of superior swell here, and swell is all we have to work with.

Mike \m/

[tsokat]

Isobars, with all due respect, the Gorge and Waddell are incomparable. Please let those that know the conditions there speak about it and stay on track, because this is an important discussion for us.

[SWE106]

There are wankers in each watersport-group, in some more than in others..., but it surely sounds like a real accident and miss understanding. Unfortunately, accidents do happen and from both ur attitudes it certainly seems that way. Let's hope the kiter responds; if you already haven't done so, I suggest posting the same thread on ikitesurf.com. Spreading some brotherly camaraderie between kiters and windsurfers is certainly needed.

The forecast for next week looks awesome; now with the higher tide you'll certainly find me at waddell!

[isobars]