Croftland1

Bolton-le-Sands, near Carnforth, (Morecambe Bay.) About an hour north of Manchester.

There are one or two keeping an eye on BLS for Xmas Eve Martin

Given good weather and dry humidity it is possible that it will dry out enough. BenR, who's house also looks onto the beach, has buggied here in the Xmas hols before now. I've been buggying here for about the last 3 years and in that time I've never been able to use it at that time of year. Here's hoping though!

Awful news. So sad. His brilliant videos look so poignant now. 'Tis an awesome power that we play with.

Sincere condolences to all that knew Mark. We all think this won't happen to us. Poor Mark no doubt thought that too.

Great video. Just wondering what's wrong with wearing helmets

hi Jim,, damn i bet that took ages to write.. Hope you are feeling better n your arm isnt still feeling like its flying all over the place.. I wasnt insinuating that you`d done anything wrong with this thread, i was just trying to gauge ppls idea`s on the landings of kites.. Like you said,, it can happen to anyone of us. The clubhouse was a bit subdued when you left,,... Hope the missus aint ribbed you too much No probs Scud, I know where you're coming from there, don't worry. I think your 'staying in the buggy in high wind' theory has a lot of credence tbh The arm's stabilised a lot now. It still feels a bit disconnected (which it is obviously) but the sharp shooting pain has stopped, thank god, and it doesn't feel like its waving around at shoulder height anymore. The hand and arm is quite swollen now and tight in the cast. Sue's been great and very supportive. She was just very worried on the day and so may have looked as though she was miffed Sorry it put a downer on the day, cause it was great up until that point. Nevermind, there'll be more opportunities to sample Hoylake again I'm sure.

What he means is I could have unhooked the strop before standing up out of the buggy, then when the kite misbehaved, I could have just let go. I used to fly with a roller spreader, but the trouble with them is, they'll come unhooked unexpectedly sometimes and that can cause a whole load of problems of its own.

Cheers for all the concern and well wishes fellas. I've seen all sorts of launch and landing methods employed by a great many buggiers, boarders and static fliers. I've also seem all sorts of **** ups both in and out of buggies resulting from a wide variety of reasons. I, like most experienced fliers, can feel where the kite is and what it's doing without necessarily looking at it, so on this occasion, with it raised safely to zenith and holding handles close together infront of me, I was confident to walk forward to my stake glancing away from and back to the kite as necessary. (The stake that was left in the pits was one of those corkscrew dog stakes with nylon ribbons tied to the top. Conventional stakes are carried on the Bug for other unplanned stops.) Unfortunately, having just wet the kite moments before in some very shallow surface water, its characteristics were radically changed. It dived to one side and as much as I fought it, I was going! Whichever method you use and however safe you think you are, there is an element of risk from gusts, soft sand, worn equipment, public, other fliers, obstacles, wet kites as in my case, or just complacency or lack of concentration. Like all men think they're the safest driver in the world, kite fliers can suffer the same confidence issue. Just remember that we're only mere mortal lumps of flesh and bone. Kites can produce amazing acceleration and power us along at 50+mph. It therefore stands to reason that they can make a fine old mess of us if they choose to. I've got a long time to ponder that now unfortunately.

Sorry Phil, no camera found in my gear. Ditto - naff day for buggying, but a great social meet. The sun shone and apart from the flippin' money spiders crawling all over us, (could be a good sign though!,) we had a ball. Dave and Brig were great - they even supplied Moet & Chandon for everyone to accompany lunch! Plus, we met Carl's wife, Denise, (who called herself Olive Oil, lol,) her first time on the beach at a kite meet. It was a pleasure to meet you too Denise. And of course all the other famous names.......too many to mention. See you all again at the next one - it could be an annual institution.

you dont have to be shy, anyone with a kite,buggy,landboard,kite surf is your freind just go over and introduce your self, i sometimes stop halfway up the beach to help a kite surfer land his kite Or is that just insurance so they will drag you back out of the sea onto the beach when you need it Matt??

When I bought my RS I was told it was a copy of the Libre Special. A pm to Maverick440 will get you the answer you need though.

Just look up York Landyachting club on the web and give them a call for upcoming dates and other details. I've found them to be a very friendly bunch.

tell us more about this allowing us on the strip....we could arange a speed day... Carl - you have a pm

The York Landyachting club allow kite buggies to join in their sessions at Elvington airfield by prior arrangement (2 mile long concrete strip , where Hammond crashed the dragster). You can fly the kite over the grass at the side and buggy on the concrete, but as Trikbitz said, don't try to slide on the concrete cos its very grippy.