Today's Darwin Award Winner is.....

[drjeff]

The kite boarder from Miami Beach during tropical Storm Faye!

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/weather/2008/08/19/florida.kite.boarder.wfor

 

[dmc]

I cant believe that...

I mean... What a friggin idiot....

 

[ctenidae]

While I don't think anyone deserves to be slammed into a wall, that guy comes pretty close for being stupid. I wonder what happened to the guy in the video behind him.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

hahaha..natural selection at it's finest..

 

[deadheadskier]

Video's like that one and this one make me think twice about wanting to pick up the sport.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RuE5t1-H9k&feature=related

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Skiing is the only dangerous sport I will do..

 

[bvibert]

Wow, that was a smart move. Question; are you typically attached to the kite? It looked like he was just hanging on, couldn't he have just let go?

 

[Moe Ghoul]

He actually had a chance to let go when he got driven into the sand before getting launched into the wall. Major Moron.

 

[deadheadskier]

Wow, that was a smart move. Question; are you typically attached to the kite? It looked like he was just hanging on, couldn't he have just let go?

In both videos it looks like they hadn't locked into their harness yet, so in theory they could've let go. If you listen to the interview near the end on the one I posted, he said he considered letting go when he was 25 feet in the area, but thought he'd break a leg. Next thing he knew he was over 100 feet up. Miraculously that guy didn't break any bones when he finally crashed after being up in the air for what I think they said was 45 seconds.

 

[cbcbd]

Moron... no sympathy here.

 

[Johnskiismore]

Dumb - da - Dumb - Dumb!

 

[Marc]

Can't be a Darwin Award winner unless he croaks.

 

[drjeff]

Can't be a Darwin Award winner unless he croaks.

I know, I know, but I figured it would be a little more PC of a thread title in this family friendly forum than the "Dumb sh$t of the day Award"

 

[hiroto]

I found a good demonstration video on Kite Release System. Good BGM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns0q2Tl0Dc8

 

[Beetlenut]

Can't be a Darwin Award winner unless he croaks.

Talked with my sister today who's in Orlando. Local news says the guy's in critical condition!

 

[bvibert]

Talked with my sister today who's in Orlando. Local news says the guy's in critical condition!

I'm sorry to hear that. I guess the thread title wasn't too far off then...

 

[drjeff]

Talked with my sister today who's in Orlando. Local news says the guy's in critical condition!

You gotta figure that what looked like a pretty high speed slam into a concrete wall from that height was going to leave a mark or two. And it's not like his board shorts were going to give him that much protection.

Hopefully he'll just be laughing about this over beers someday in the future.

 

[cbcbd]

How does one not realize that with a kite that big in storm speed winds one will be going storm speeds and not under any kind of control. Maybe after he's out of the ICU we can convince him to take his kite up to Washington on a blustery day.

 

[Warp Daddy]

All of which demonstrates that try as you might, you can't protect a fool from their destiny !

 

[Marc]

How does one not realize that with a kite that big in storm speed winds one will be going storm speeds and not under any kind of control. Maybe after he's out of the ICU we can convince him to take his kite up to Washington on a blustery day.

The very best kite boarders I've seen reach their limits with very small kites around 40 - 50 kts, if its steady. I wonder if it was blowing harder in the video. Whatever the case, that guy is not one of the very best kiteboarders.