SAFA Skysailor Magazine

21 May | June 2022 SKY SAILOR The story This was my second flight of the morning, having toplanded earlier for water, bladder relief and something to eat. I’d been airborne for about an hour and at around 600ft amsl I decided to conduct some mild wingovers, the first of the day. Having pushed out over water in front of the main ridge and beach, I conducted a 360 visual for other traffic since I shared the site with about six other wings. Satisfied with separation, I turned right into the first low energy wingover, then left for the second. In the subsequent turn, once more to the right, I felt and saw the left wing tip tuck as if ‘Big Eared’. As I began to swing somewhat sideways underneath, the right wing tip also tucked as if Big Eared. The wing then snapped quickly to the left and started a Helicopter-type rotation. Suspended vertically below the centre of the wing, I rotated rapidly to the left. A brief try of ‘hands up’ followed shortly after by moderate brake on both sides seemed to have no effect. I rotated quickly in this position (one pilot described it as four or five ‘flat spin’ rotations), with both tips still tucked and what felt like a very high rate of descent. Rapidly running out of altitude and not fully understanding what had just happened, I decided to throw my reserve even though I thought it too low to be effective. I released both brake handles and leaned to the right to locate the reserve handle as I needed to get it on the first attempt due to my fast diminishing altitude. Pulling the reserve out from under the seat and throwing it out and behind seemed effortless and much easier than previous practice throws. Still leaning to my right, I could see the reserve lines ‘twang’ taut and the canopy ‘bang’ open much faster than I expected. The main wing then pitched down in front of me and I managed to grab a handful of lines in my left hand as the water approached rapidly. (When I leaned right and deployed the reserve, I believe the rotation may have ceased. I was facing into wind as the reserve opened and could not see the distance to shore, only deep water below. I now wonder if releasing both brakes with weightshift to the right could have helped regain control initially.) The water was now very close and splash- down imminent. I descended under the reserve for approximately four to five seconds in total before entering the water. I released the handful of lines in my left hand and was fairly confident I was about to drown. As I let go of the lines, I reached with my right hand for my hook knife. It was attached to my harness on the left shoulder strap, handle down. I knew I had to get out of the harness if I was to stand any chance of survival. I entered the water whilst grasping the knife. My harness incorporates the ‘Get-Up’ leg and chest strap closing system, using square buckles that interlock (the smaller square buckle fits inside the larger square buckle). Sometimes called a ‘Pass Thru’ buckle, this arrangement is lightweight, secure and reliable. Unfortunately, it is NOT quick release, especially under tension. I went quite deep under water, although my feet did not touch the bottom. My knife was more difficult to extract than expected,