Thanet kite-surfer lucky to escape injury after lines cut while out at sea by suspected Indian Fighter Kite

A Thanet kite surfer says he was lucky not to be injured – or worse- after his kite lines were cut by a suspected Indian Fighter Kite while he was out at sea.

Stacey Vass, from Margate, was about three-quarters of a mile from shore while kite-surfing off Ramsgate main sands last Thursday when his lines hit a long string attached to a small black kite.

Indian Fighter Kites are single-line flat kites where line tension is used for control and at least part of the line is glass or metal shard coated to cut down the line of others in fight matches.

The incident led to Stacey dropping backwards into the water and having to swim for some 25 minutes to reach shore.

He said: “While sailing I was out about 1000m from shore when my kite lines hit a long string which was attached to a small black kite which was heading across the bay. Straight away it cut through all four of my kite lines causing me to drop on the water and my kite to fly away from me.

“Luckily I was able to swim back to shore in about 25 minutes, and my kite came into the beach safely at the end where Nero’s was where it was collected by a friend.

“As I was swimming in I could see the small black kite still flying, heading out to the north. It had kept flying because of the weight of the trailing line.

“Once back at home I talked to a couple of people and that’s when we discovered it’s a Indian fighter kite, the lines are covered in glass and small fragments of metal, the lines can be up to 80m long.

“My lines had a braking strain of 500kg each and it cut through them like butter, not even pulling me.

“It also cut about 70cm above my head, which could have very easily been my body.

“The kite could have very easily came ashore if the wing was 10 degrees more onshore and the line could then have run along a busy beach causing injury.”

Stacey, who has been kitesurfing for more than 20 years, says he wants people to be aware of the danger posed by the fighter kites.

The dad-of-one said: “They are banned in a lot of countries and have even caused deaths. When it comes down it means you have sharpened line in the water and then washing up on the beach where there are people and dogs that might get injured because they won’t even see it.”

The sharpened kite strings are a particular hazard for flying birds, as the strings easily cut through muscle and bone. Fighter kites are common in countries like India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh but not generally in the UK.

Stacey, who works for a kite company, has reported the incident to police and the coastguard.

A Kent Police spokesperson said: “Kent Police received a report of damage caused by a suspected unattended kite towards another kite which was being used in the water near Ramsgate beach during the afternoon of 7 August 2025. Local officers have been made aware.”