Chris OCallaghan wrote:

I suspect that the problem related in the article was an acceleratated
stall while still on the cable. This would explain loss of control and
back release. It's not hard to see how an inexperienced pilot might
abuse the controls during launch and wind up in just such a situation.

Agree --

In Nova Scotia, at a winch only club with 20+ years experience, a fatal
accident occurred during a launch. The pilot accelerated and took off
normally, then rotated toward full climb sooner than we teach. The HP18
had a high speed stall and spun rapidly on the wire and into the ground
from no more than 300 feet. This was the pilot's second launch of the
day. The first was normal. Too steep too soon can result in a high speed
stall.

I winch launched my PW5 at this home club for five years -- no problems
but I paid close attention to maintaining control of the flight
attitude and launch profile -- as I did on all the other ships that the
club operates.

The club Ka8 was noticeably harder to control at the begining of a
launch but we never had a launch accident with either glider type.