Wisconsin Man Dead After Tube Kite Accident
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
ST. GERMAIN, Wis. — A man was fatally injured in an accident while being towed on an inflatable tube kite on Little St. Germain Lake, authorities said.
The man sailed several feet into the air and then hit the water, suffering fatal head and chest injuries, officials said.
He struck the water around 8 p.m. Monday and died five hours later at a hospital, officials said. It appeared that he hit only the water, conservation warden Mike Sealander said.
The Vilas County Sheriff's Department identified the victim Tuesday as Gregory Bykowski, 42, of Delafield.
He was riding on a tube kite, which is an inflatable platform towed by a boat. It skims across the water and can become airborne.
An autopsy was planned.
Full Version: I saw one of these, Looked Awesome
my riding buds sell tubes and we we watched the video of this. It has very explicit use intructions and while theres been a few deaths most are form not following the direction, towing too fast/ too high. I think they are dangerous but so isn't riding a sled, we all make choices on how we get our rush but I'm sure it will get pulled and sportstuff will get sued.
With the WEGO kite tube you put your life in the drivers hands they have to be very attentive to what is going on...
We had one on the go last weekend, but could not get it to stay in the air. It kept folding up on us. :doh:
I think we will air it up some more and try it again this weekend.
I think we will air it up some more and try it again this weekend.
tubing got the same bad publicity when it hit mainstream.
I know a guy who distributes the aquaglide raft/towable. its not a kite, just a sqaure inflatable but you can get some good air with it too.
dont be an idiot and go 50mph on one of these things. from the looks of the video you were in an older model mastercraft or similar inboard so maybe you were running 45mph - barefooters run 40-43 mph behind the boat and don't die... slalom skiers hit over 60mph when crossing the wakes, and don't die... ski jumpers hit 60+mph and hit a 6foot jump ramp, and don't die... what's wrong with this picture?
I know a guy who distributes the aquaglide raft/towable. its not a kite, just a sqaure inflatable but you can get some good air with it too.
dont be an idiot and go 50mph on one of these things. from the looks of the video you were in an older model mastercraft or similar inboard so maybe you were running 45mph - barefooters run 40-43 mph behind the boat and don't die... slalom skiers hit over 60mph when crossing the wakes, and don't die... ski jumpers hit 60+mph and hit a 6foot jump ramp, and don't die... what's wrong with this picture?
QUOTE(Bigfish @ Jul 6 2006, 12:12 PM)
We had one on the go last weekend, but could not get it to stay in the air. It kept folding up on us. :doh:
I think we will air it up some more and try it again this weekend.
I think we will air it up some more and try it again this weekend.
We found that once you air it up and it hits the cold water, it will deflate some do to expansion / contraction. Air it up again and go hurt youreself! :frech32:
somebody was killed on one of these last weekend at the lake we go to, im pretty sure alchohol was involved
we were thinking of getting one but we dont have a wake tower and iam prety sure i wouldnt trust my ski pole. looks like so much fun!
QUOTE(eric Phazer485 @ Jul 9 2006, 02:46 PM)
somebody was killed on one of these last weekend at the lake we go to, im pretty sure alchohol was involved
Well theres a surprise, whats the first thing most people put in a boat? A cooler full of beer.
QUOTE(proxJ @ Jul 10 2006, 01:15 AM)
we were thinking of getting one but we dont have a wake tower and iam prety sure i wouldnt trust my ski pole. looks like so much fun!
they are not suppossed to be pulled from the tower, that's part of the issue people have been causing, towing from a tower and at higher speed than recommended and they fly too high and unstable. Saw one this weekend and I guess the driver was too cautious or the rider too heavy because it wouldn't hover above the water.
ehtier way i know my ski pole wouldnt handle it.
Won't be long before these are off the market. There have been several deaths already. I know of 3 others who have broken necks and one other who burs his aorta when falling off these things. The fall from 35 feet up at 40 MPH isn't a graceful one, especially since these things tend to dive when they get flipped over. You get accelerated down towards the water by the things.
The Sevylor Manta Ray is a much safer design since it's relatively flat across the back. You have a control surface.
The Sevylor Manta Ray is a much safer design since it's relatively flat across the back. You have a control surface.
QUOTE(Matt @ Jul 11 2006, 09:42 AM)
Won't be long before these are off the market. There have been several deaths already. I know of 3 others who have broken necks and one other who burs his aorta when falling off these things. The fall from 35 feet up at 40 MPH isn't a graceful one, especially since these things tend to dive when they get flipped over. You get accelerated down towards the water by the things.
The Sevylor Manta Ray is a much safer design since it's relatively flat across the back. You have a control surface.
The Sevylor Manta Ray is a much safer design since it's relatively flat across the back. You have a control surface.
or maybe people could start following the direction which is for 20 MPH but we know thats not going to happen and in todays litigious society sportstuff will be in court for years even though it was operator error.
The fire got fueled this morning I'm sure. The today show had a feature about them this morning complete with a guy in a HALO and footage of people crashing. It reminded me of the 3 wheeler scare of years ago.
Yep. They also say you shouldn't pull regular tubes over 15 knots, but who actually abides by that?
If you look at the injury/mortality rate on these things, it's astronomically high. No product with that kind of record is going to be around for long; warnings or not...
If you look at the injury/mortality rate on these things, it's astronomically high. No product with that kind of record is going to be around for long; warnings or not...
:doh:
http://www.heytone.com/movies/wegowipeout3.html
No surprised. These were recalled yesterday and are to be removed from store shelves immediately.
No surprised. These were recalled yesterday and are to be removed from store shelves immediately.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.