I have no doubt it’s an additive sport…and while I gladly accept the challenges of offshore racing on small catamarans, the potential for getting slung into a parking lot from 40 feet in the air at 50 mph….nah.

Well…now I’m beginning to feel bad for the kiteboarder in question. He is reported to be in critical condition suffering head and chest trauma from the impact onto highway A1A. A detailed description of what happened to lead up to this kiteboarder’s flight can be found HERE. Team Seacats certainly wishes him a complete and speedy recovery.

[edit] youtube removed the video…here’s the same from CNN[/edit]

I think the Volvo Extreme 40’s are great for our sport. They’re exciting, they race close inshore where they can be observed by spectators, and they crash a LOT. Let’s face it, nobody likes to be involved in a crash either physically or financially - but it creates the drama that keeps people watching. I am, however, concerned that one day someone is really going to get injured on one of these things and I believe it’s going to happen when they fall from the upper hull to the lower hull. I hope they’re working on some sort of safety prevention…that boat is nearly 24 feet wide - that’s a long fall from the upper hull to the lower one and certainly would not be a healthy impact for a noggin’. Heck, I’ve felt like I was clinging for my life as I barely hung onto the upper underside of the top hull of a capsized 8.5′ wide catamaran!

More info at Extreme40.org