Douglas Wisor

Les gens du pays pensent que Douglas Wisor, un kite surfer expérimenté, n'a pas du avoir le temps d'utiliser le bouton de sûreté qui libère le cerf-volant dans les situations critiques. Wisor devient la première victime de kite surf en Nouvelle Zélande. L'année dernière un homme a été sérieusement blessé dans un accident similaire au Sud de l'Ile.

Les participants de ce sport relativement nouveau sont tractés par le cerf-volant pendant qu'ils surfent sur l'eau, ils sont souvent soulevés hors de l'eau et réalisent des figures incroyables.

Steve Smith, Directeur de Craggy Range Vineyards Ltd, où Douglas Wisor travaillait, lui rend hommage sur leur site Internet : " Doug était le jeune homme le plus incroyable que j'ai jamais rencontré et c'est une perte tragique dans le monde du vin même si ce jeune homme était avec nous depuis peu de temps. Il était destiné à un grand avenir. Ses vins lui survivront, et probablement sa plus grande réussite jusqu'ici est un choix spécial de pinot noir de 2003, qui représentera maintenant un hommage à sa mémoire "

Peter Saunders, auteur de livres sur le vin à Hawke's Bay, qui connaissait Wisor depuis environ quatre années, l'a décrit comme un "winemaker" particulièrement doué à qui Craggy Range doit beaucoup à son succès.

Te Awanga est situé près de la ville de Hastings dans la région productrice de vin de Hawke's Bay, à 335 kilomètres de nord-est de la capitale, Wellington.

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A young American winemaker has become New Zealand's first kite surfing fatality, police said.

Douglas Wisor, 31, who moved to New Zealand from Geneva, New York, was killed in a freak accident after a strong wind gust hit his kite, dragging him 100 metres from the sea on Saturday and slamming him into a caravan.

Witnesses said Wisor was about to release his kite harness when the wind suddenly dragged him across a beach and smashed him through the limbs of a tree at Te Awanga, a small settlement on North Island's east coast.

A man at the holiday camp, who requested he not be identified, said he heard the crashes and found Wisor lying semiconscious on the ground beside the caravan, bleeding from his wounds.

"I just held him and looked after his head and tried to stop the bleeding" the witness, who declined to be identified, told the Hawke's Bay Today newspaper.

Locals suggested Wisor, an experienced kite surfer, may not have had time to use a safety button which releases the kite in critical situations.

Wisor's death was the first kite surfing fatality in New Zealand. Last year a man was seriously injured in a similar accident on South Island.

Participants of the relatively new sport are pulled along by the kite as they surf on the water, often rising upwards while pulling off incredible tricks.

Steve Smith, managing director of Craggy Range Vineyards Ltd, where Wisor worked, told in their Website : "Doug was the most incredible young man I have ever met and it is a tragic loss to the world of wine that this young man was only with us for a very short time. He was destined for greatness. His wines and his legacy will live on however, and possibly his greatest achievement to date, a small batch, special Pinot Noir selection from 2003, will now be named as a tribute to him".

"The world is a poorer place without him. He was an unbelievable young man," Smith said.

Hawke's Bay wine writer Peter Saunders, who had known Wisor for about four years, described him as an "exceptionally talented winemaker" to whom Craggy Range owed much of its success.

Te Awanga is located near the city of Hastings in the Hawke's Bay wine growing area, 335 kilometres northeast of the capital, Wellington.