The first day of winter. (Kitesurfer caught in a storm)

[:en]The first day of winter. (Kitesurfer caught in a storm) [:]

Kitesurfing session in the UK on the east coast. The conditions looked perfect (all be it a little cold, below 5c) for a good day at the beach. The first time of the 2012 season that winter wear was needed. Wind was blowing on average around 25mph in the sun and flat water conditions. After a short fun time a hail storm was to pass through where wind speeds picked up to around 50mph in an instant. As you can see in the video I was lofted from the water and struggled to keep control of my kite as the kite was not designed to be used in such strong wind, Luckily I managed to engage my safety system and was (eventually) helped by another kiter stood on the beach . Nobody else out was injured as everyone engaged the kites safety systems too and all was fine.
About 10mins after we all made it back to the beach another storm cloud came though and the wind speeds were reported to be even higher than before as kiters had to lay on their kites to stop them from from blowing away.