The
incident occurred on Tuesday 14th of September 2004, on
the field of the kite international festival of Dieppe,
in the mid-afternoon while I was kaping since almost an
hour, walking around on the field.
The rig was
tied at about fifty meters under the Waco of 3m. The wind
south-west, force 4, was blowing from the sea, and varying
4 to 7 m/s. I had a polyester line 90Kg resistance for a
kite pull of 3 to 6 Kg, and a 1 Kg rig. On my left, at some
twenty meters, kiters from Sardinia were flying instable
kites, with about 30m lines. Having to change batteries,
I went away from them, to tie the line with a gamma hook
on the fence, and the rig set down to 15/20 m line length
from the hook. By lowering the line, I change the batteries,
and I get the rig up again. I checked the functions, and
I was ready to untie the line from the hook. At this time,
I saw the kite of the Sardinian man diving over my rig.
With no time to untie, I lower the line. The diving kite
continued on its way, its line overlap mine just under the
rig. The Sardinian man, instead to release its line clearly,
was pulling his line, the dive of his kite accelerating
as a fighter, and, in a glance, my line was cut. Dumbfounded
I was!
The rig is
brought away by the kite, go touch the façade of
a building, between the 1st and 2nd floor. it stayed a few
seconds stuck under the side of a balcony, but the kite
regain height and pull, and the rig start to glide up on
the wall, between the balconies and the downspout. The top
reached, it disappears on the roof, and I see the kite flying
away.
I run in the
adjoining streets, and try to locate the line. My run ends
on the harbor. The kite is in the water, between the pontoons.
Nobody is injured. I got back the line and the Waco. A part
of the pendulum bar is still there, but nothing else. Is
the cradle fallen in the water? Questioning witnesses, they
state that there was nothing else on the line when arriving
there.
Some time
later, a roofer who was working on a building undergoing
renovation, confirms he saw the kite falling down, then
the kite recovering height a while, and at the end falling
again. For a few meters, he could have catch the line! He
heard a noise meanwhile, but the moment during the fall
was not sure.
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I have been
able to go on the heights, and look where the Waco have
been flying over, and
go in the courtyards accessible from the streets.
I have asked
the locals, I have posted searching advises, I took aerial
photos of the roofs with another equipment, trying to check
if the cradle was not staying somewhere. A caretaker also
verified a possible place on a roof. The cradle has not
been founded.
Then, the
man from Sardinia hardly accepted to discuss about. I well
understood that this was not his problem. Of course, he
didn't helped to find out the equipment; of course he doesn't
have insurance coverage. The festival organization has no
insurance coverage either for material damage caused by
their welcomed visitors! I have the right to claim to make
good the damage, whatever the perpetrator or the liable
body corporate are insured or not. It is their problem,
not mine. No amicable arrangement has been offered to me;
probably I should have lodged a complaint to get a compensation?
The cradle with the digital camera and the electronic devices
constitute the amount of 700 euros.
What is incomprehensible
is that it is required to the French kiters a coverage through
the insurance of their club affiliation, but nothing to
the foreign kiters; those invited should be covered by the
organization, and other should assess their liability and
insurance coverage. Some visitors have got their parked
car damaged (roof smashed into) by the fall of a huge kite
of a foreign kiter who denied liability and they could not
even draw an insurance report!
For pity's
sake, executive chiefs of festivals, do not make unsound
savings on insurance costs, or assume your liability! Do
not invite people who may built nice design, but are wretched
kiters, unable to adjust a kite, or to design it as such,
and ignorant of the basic principles of flying together.
Do not invite neither, and do not accept on the field these
churls who don't care of others, and don't face their liabilities
That day,
Fausto Marrocu was one of these.
We should never
forget that let occurring material incidents will statistically
end with body damages.
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