whilst we're on the subject of kites - check this out. I dug it out from some old e-mails so u may have seen it before - huge air and huge stack - ouch!
I reckon he was lucky to land in the water(even though it was shin-deep). Another few metres and he would have been kissing Terra Firma like the Pope. Looks like his gear was OK, can't say the same for his face. A helmet doesn't always save your bacon.