A prickly topic ....Insurance or no insurance ?!

[Moroni-10]

So, wind is free, the beach is empty, ( except for the odd dead crab or dead fish ), so why bother with third party insurance ? , in fact , any insurance ? Its an 'extreme' sport, its on your own head, so why bother, you know the risks !

Or do you try and kite in a buisy park/beach/area, where the risk of an accident with joe public is there ?!

Public race events where every pilot has to have insurance makes more sense, asthe risk of an incedent is high, but what about the average kiter that doesnt race ? 

Here is me, ive only been power kiting since year 2000 , and have NEVER had kite insurance and NEVER will. I buggy, board and static kite. Ok i probs dont take risks and dont fly in  bad gusty conditions and at 56 i dont do the higher jumps i used to on my board, and never bothered with freestyle risks, and my learning curve is never sharp,  i take things carefully, but saying that, i still enjoy the thrill , but yet ALWAYS RESPECT the WIND and my kites.

Some may call me irrisponsible, but i cant spell it !

 

[nigel]

2 hours ago, Moroni-10 said:

Some may call me irrisponsible,

 

No, I'd use harsher language.

 

And one day some one's dog rushes towards you, you take evasive action, and hit the dog or a person.

End result, local council bans all of us from using the parks and beaches we now enjoy, as they now consider all of us irresponsible.

MORONi-10, and you've named yourself. I rest my case.

[Moroni-10]

Fair enough

[jhn.holgate]

7 hours ago, nigel said:

And one day some one's dog rushes towards you, you take evasive action, and hit the dog or a person.

End result, local council bans all of us from using the parks and beaches we now enjoy, as they now consider all of us irresponsible.

I don't think Insurance would make any difference in that case.  Only if we get sued - which I am shocked to say has happened and by one of 'our own'.  Who I doubt I will ever share a beach with again.

Moroni - I'm probably in the same boat as you, 53, bloody conservative and extremely careful about where and when I fly and never likely to be insured for it.  Kite flying is like riding a bike - there is nothing 'extreme' about it....unless you set out to make it that way.  Some of us do, some of us don't.  Having said that, 'ExtremeKites' sure does have a better ring to it than 'MildKites'...

[Moroni-10]

10 hours ago, nigel said:

No, I'd use harsher language.

 

And one day some one's dog rushes towards you, you take evasive action, and hit the dog or a person.

End result, local council bans all of us from using the parks and beaches we now enjoy, as they now consider all of us irresponsible.

MORONi-10, and you've named yourself. I rest my case.

So you are more concerned about losing a kite site than the welfair of the injured person ? Would having insurance made any difference ? I doubt it, if the injured party wanted to threaten and push the council, the council would just  put a ban on it anyway. If the councils require insurance to fly then they realise the risks involved and just want to make sure they don't get blamed for any incedents . It's all about money, not the welfair and safety of the individual.  So will having insurance make you a safer, considerate , a better more proficient kiter ?, or maybe "I'm insured I'm ok, I can fly in busy crowded public parks and busy beaches without any worry ", does that way of thinking make them a safer kiter ? 

"Kite flying is like riding a bike - there is nothing 'extreme' about it....unless you set out to make it that way."

I like it. ?

To a newbie, powerkiting can seem quite extreme, but do you think the more you do it, and the more skilled you get, the less extreme it feels ? 

[Mfwetu]

3 hours ago, Moroni-10 said:

do you think the more you do it, and the more skilled you get, the less extreme it feels ? 

Nope. 20 years on and I still get the flutters every time I launch in 25+knots. A bit more skilled and a bit more careful but there's always the chance of getting hurt again and the adrenalin kicks in. I think that's the appeal for me, the feeling just never gets old

[.Joel]

8 hours ago, jhn.holgate said:

Kite flying is like riding a bike - there is nothing 'extreme' about it....unless you set out to make it that way. 

Felt pretty fucking extreme for the first time in nearly 15 years of kiting being picked up, honked through the air and smashed in to the sand completely unexpectedly and breaking my leg.  Don't know if i'd call the next 6 days kiting on a broken leg extreme, but the launch certainly was  

Goes to prove, even after this many years things can happen completely unexpectedly in the blink of an eye.

[jhn.holgate]

12 minutes ago, .Joel said:

Felt pretty fucking extreme for the first time in nearly 15 years of kiting being picked up, honked through the air and smashed in to the sand completely unexpectedly and breaking my leg.  

No arguments from me on that one.   I'm thinking of the conditions that I typically fly in - 10 - 15 knots with a 4m NS2 or Peak 2 6m - I feel that's quite gentle and safe.  Sure, it can be as dangerous/extreme as you want to make it.  But I don't think we should be broadcasting that side of things to people - especially anyone official as that may make insurance and bans all the more likely.  It's exactly like riding a bike - you can go for a pleasant cruise through the park....or launch yourself down a RedBull downhill time trial - one is usually pretty safe and the other looks like suicide to a novice.  The level of risk that we're willing to take in this sport is a purely individual thing and I despise people who say stuff like 'if you're not crashing, you're not trying'.  Sure, if you want to buggy jump, break 100kph or get great at freestyle, you have to push to get that good.....but you don't have to if you don't want to...which is sort of my point.... I think.

[Moroni-10]

Fly safe, fly carefully, fly sensibly , fly respectfully (to wind, kite and site) . My learning curve has always been slow, soft and carefully with risk assessments as long as my arm, ( you may say I'm boring and over causous ) I don't jump in head on and 'just go for it' when dealing with Mother Nature when she can be unpredictable, I've had my near miss moments and the odd bruise to go with it, but I'm always watching the weather and being aware what the wind and clouds are doing whilst I'm enjoying my kite session. 

A lot of the time it's just me on my site with the odd passer by (which I chose that way , as I usually go when it's a quiet time of the day ) so I notice anybody approaching.

[Clive]

Try to use a bit of sense when it comes to the public, if you hit and hurt someone you can be sure the lawyers will drain you dry.

insurance would be nice, but unless you get a group together it's far too expensive for the few days I get out.