We filmed a kite beach for 8 hours...

We set up our camera to film the kitesurfing beach in Cayo Guillermo, Cuba for a full day. What did we catch on camera? Check out the video and see if you can spot the mistakes. (Thankfully no one was hurt!)

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[zzzzzzmc]

this perspective gave me some new appreciation for my local.

[pixelloopy]

Bruuuuh this is definitely the kookiest beach ever. 🤦‍♂️ New found appreciation for my local spot and the crew I ride with. 🙏

[toddhorn]

Another good video from Our Kite Life.
It's frustrating to see the over confidence in some kiters but really cool how quick most kiters are to drop what they're doing to lend a hand when things start going sideways.

[TomKitesurf-Passion]

3:56 INVERTED is my Favourit one!!! Just EPIC 😂 😂 😂

[KristanDL]

I'm genuinely impressed by the dude who had his kite inside out and safely returned to the beach. I had no idea such could be possible. Also watching inverted Souls with lines over canopy hurts to the core. Edit: Also considering it as newbie spot, my fav spot is also has plenty of beginners, but I've never seen such amount of mess.

[gwegnerde]

Thank god I've never experienced so many unexperienced kiters on one beach...

[kitesafe-de]

Hi guys, thanks for sharing!!! This 5min30sec shows a good resumee of what we experience on almost every beach where we work, kite and travel to during our seasons. People take progression and skill as granted, there is no need to take a lesson as long as they're following the motto "no pain, no gain". Doesn't matter if it's just a broken kite/equipment (or few, when hitting other kites during crashes), a scared kid, injured beach user or a broken ankle...
The sad thing about it: there is (at least in the european & african areas where we travel to) no use of common sense, no learning from mistakes. Some kiters just deny/reject any hints and/or lessons offered (even for free), as they can do "on their own". To all these guys: you're spending thousands of $/€ for equipment, fuel, trips and apparel, so why you don't invest a small percentage of that money in your own safety (and thus in the safety of all beach users)?!? Use common sense, get a lesson, kite safe!
Cheers

[kiteG]

If people would kite like that at my homespot it would be closed down within weeks and there would be a lot of funerals!

Portuguese here; From what I can tell and I'd say I'm intermediate at best, is that there seems to be a lot of newbies on that beach (like launching your kite directly against the wind window), which is fine. Since I've started kitesurfing my instructors where very safety oriented for one and when people spotted me, the newbie, doing something that could be hazardous to me or others they'd immediately come out and help and advise on the best course of action. I've also done the same in the following years and overall that seems to be the attitude of the community as a whole, since things can go really bad, really fast.

[mysticpointwatersports]

Wow, great video as usual ... It's amazing how many things happened in just one day and it wasn't even a bad day and you didn't even capture all the things that happened ... kiters must use good/safe launching procedures. Thankfully no body and no kites were harmed during filming. For the record I wanted to list the steps to a good launch.


1. Choose a good setup/rigging/launching location
2. Run lines downwind - check bar and safety release and lines for any issues during rigging/setup.
3.
Before launching be aware of others upwind and down wind of you ... is someone else trying to launch/land etc?
4. Have a knowledgeable person hold your kite on its side with the open/down side facing towards the kiter (Beginners should launch with their body close to water / more experienced kiters should launch with their kite close to water)
5. Kiter should attach safety leash and then walk out downwind putting tension on the lines - once under tension both kiter and person holding the kite should do a pre flight check to see if there are any issues. Ensure front lines are untwisted as well as back lines
6. Now Attach chicken loop and slowly walk up wind until kite stops fluttering ... you don't attach chicken loop right away in case something goes wrong all you do is let go rather than pull safety.
7. Take one more step up wind and kite will start to gently push into the person holding.... this is the correct launch angle. Being too upwind is something some kiters do to try and counteract backstalling but this is dangerous, reckless and makes life for the person holding the kite very difficult. You can see when kiters are too much upwind because the kite is literally smashing into the person trying to hold it.
8. Once in the right position and ready to launch ... place Top hand on the bar and give thumbs up with other hand - then place the thumbs up hand either on the bar or on the chicken loop ready to release. Do not grab the lines or the floaty. Grab the bar and be ready to release if something goes wrong.
9. Steer the kite out of the holders hands - holder does not toss the kite.
10. As you steer the kite up do not sheet in ... a loss of power here is most often caused by a back stall which means the kiter should sheet out as the kite moves up and through the sky. In general sheet in to steer but then sheet out as the kite starts to move. Also in areas with wind shadows etc, walking upwind after the kite has been released can help promote flight as can tugging on the front lines to promote laminar air flow over the kite and get it moving through the sky. If you launch in an area with wind shadow get the kite low and over the water as quickly as possible to get to cleaner wind.
11. Be careful when bending down to pickup boards etc as this can change the flight of the kite ... in some cases even sending it past 12 o'clock which in low winds can cause the kite to move past the apogee and the kite can fall out of the sky behind/upwind of you. I have also seen chicken loops accidentally release when bending down.


Pro Tips:
- I should note this procedure is for inflatables and not foil kites
- All kiters should learn to self launch and self land before being considered an independent kiter
- I do not ever fully "depower" a kite at launch... at most a quarter "depower". Having the trim fully out ("powered up") helps to launch the kite at the edge of the wind window and does not have extra line dangling about to get twisted up in case of an emergency. When choosing kite sizes its a good idea for the kite chosen to be ridden fully "powered" so you use the "depower" as needed.

[gBayCanada]

Kitemare beach! Looks like everyone had fun and survived the mishaps. We've all been there to one extent or another; as you so clearly state, it's important to help each other out.

[paulursini]

A lot of fun memories! Thanks God nobody got hurt. Good job guys.

[wernerxldata]

One of the parts that's not really practiced when you have lessons, most schools are about getting you on the board as quickly as possible.
But you can actually practice landing and launching safely on shallow water with a buddy.

It's a bit of a mess out there, luckily everyone helped each other out preventing more drama.

[markusbroyles]

So glad I live near a seldomly used beach... for kiting... after watching all the chaos... and knowing how my own learning curve has been just on the edge of safety. Good to have a place to learn where you don't get too involved with collisions and tangles, lost kites (runaways) . What a gift to be spared the confrontations and accidents (so far) Great work crew ! Always eager to see your new videos ~ I always learn so much ! I have had some wild moments and injuries, equipment failures and accidents and mistakes...The Kite ritual is so very complex compared to surfing.The equipment knowledge and Kite Path (WOW) I'm just amazed that there could be something as good as surfing after all these years. Love the cool community too! Surfing had become almost undoable for me as punks told me I was too old now for surfing. HA ! NOT !!

[David-cuxy]

Y’all need some more instructors over there

[warrenp]

This is why I like my spot - deep water and side off shore can be pretty intimidating which keeps the number of newbies down until they get some skills.

[zik]

This is how a normal kite day looks like in this spot. Thanks for the video.Now my friends will beleive me 😀

[blitzerdisco]

wind shadow effect in action! many beautiful examples to explain to new and old students... added to favourites :-) best part was the 2 tractors coming along though :-)))

[raphouphoune]

The more paradisiac the beach is, the more dangerous it is because of "holidays" kiters ! In winter in North of France you don't have that kind of issues :)

[droopysmt]

Was planning a trip there in March, might reconsider for safety reasons..