Hi, this may come off as a silly question but I feel like it is important to know everything I can about the safety of the sport before going out as a beginner. I do not plan on being alone in the process of learning and practicing, but I am curious what I should do in the case of a breakdown on the water. If something fails and I am unable to sail in, what is the best plan of action? What do I do with the sail if I am attempting to paddle back in? I am a 21 year old male in reasonably good shape and can't travel too far from the beach where I am planning to learn so I wouldn't need to paddle more than a half mile at the most. I also will be using a Kona One which keeps me completely afloat so that won't be an issue. Again, this may come off as a basic question but in addition to only sailing in onshore winds, being around others, wearing a life vest, etc. I am looking for ways to stay safe on the water as a beginner.

Thanks!

Life jacket is most important or an emergency flotation device. In odd circumstances and higher wind you can become separated from the board and it can float away faster than you can swim after it. Trust me , thats scary , it happened to me and i didnt have a life jacket.
Having said that it probably wont happen
In case of a breakdown , easy. Unrig your sail. Roll up the sail , shove the mast in the middle ,lay the boom on top and tie it up with the down-haul rope. Lay it all on the board , lay on top , paddle in , reward yourself with a beer

Try and sail where others sail..

Maybe do a practice self rescue one day.. and check out some sites like this..

www.peconicpuffin.com/the_peconic_puffin/2012/01/how-to-self-rescue-on-the-water.html

I think the above comment says it all. I try & sail with another sailor or someone close by.If you go out solo let someone know where you went.a simple text or phonecall could help .

Dress for the water temperature, not the air temperature.

Found that one out the hard way, sailing on a warm spring day in a thin wettie. Disaster struck, and spent a long time in cold water until I attracted the attention of another sailor.

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MikeyS said..
Dress for the water temperature, not the air temperature.

Found that one out the hard way, sailing on a warm spring day in a thin wettie. Disaster struck, and spent a long time in cold water until I attracted the attention of another sailor.

Wearing a wetsuit also helps with the buoyancy. You can always let water in to cool down (esp. if it's a chest zip).

You've got it covered really with "onshore winds", if you're using a Kona One, it'll be really floaty and all you will have to do is sit on your board and you'll get blown back into shore. Avoid places with strong tidal flows and try to find somewhere that's reasonably shallow to sail like a sand flat at high tide. Enjoy.

Most important thing - stay with your board if you can.
Assess your predicament vs your ability.
Can you fly the broken rig and get to shore body dragging?
If you can derig, use the uphaul as a lanyard to stay connected with the board as you disassemble your gear. You may need to disconnect the mast from the board during this stage due to a broken mast. don't leave your board.
roll the mast sections up inside the sail and lash the sail to the boom.
if you can leave the extension attached to the mast base. You can use this as an attachment point for the boom/sail/mast. Lay on top and paddle your guts out.
Always assess your position.
If derigging is taking a while and your getting further into trouble or further out to sea, or it's going to be easier to ditch the rig than to try and derig in the water, uncouple the rig from the board.
As DJ said, practice self rescues on the flat windless days and sail with others.

A piece of spare rope in the life vest. Can be used for a tow or attach yourself to the board if you attempt a de rig. If the board goes your gone. Last resort dump the rig, I've done it twice. Replace downhaul, outhaul and boom clamp ropes with good stuff as original supplied sometimes isn't that great. Replace universal tendon annually. Check your gear as you rig each time. A few bucks on prevention is cheaper than a new rig or your life or at best a bloody inconvenience.
Its surprising how many times I have seen people break their downhaul rope while rigging on the beach, lucky for them.
Enjoy the learning experience and stick at it.

Done this many times, sailing solo offshore reef break at my local, mainly snapped masts, broken boards, 2-3km swim/paddle in wind and swell every time.
All of the above, particularly dressing for the water temp as MikeyS said; gives you a lot more time/energy, and for me, swimming 1-1.5km during my lunch break a couple of times a week makes the biggest difference.

Wetsuit and booties. apart from oysters, there's broken glass, stonefish, sharp rocks, old car bodies, and anti submarine mines. They grip well and keep your feet warm. Carry six or eight meters of strong cord, real handy if you break a downhaul rope or need a tow in. A lifejacket will keep you warm, works as an impact vest to prevent broken ribs, helps with water starting, is compliant with regulations in different states, and as as a coastguard guy told me once "makes it easier to find the body" ONLY sail in onshore breezes in enclosed waters with no fast currents. You'll get stranded downwind and do the walk of shame back home - as we've all done. A good secure hat and some cheap sunnies. Get some lessons. There's lots of learner stuff on utube but nothing beats someone out there guiding you.
Nothing beats time on the water, get out as often as possible. Have fun.

A trick I saw but have never tried. In lighter winds, you disconmect the board and rig, lay the boom across the board and then lie on the lower boom, between the boom and the sail. This holds the rig to the board and you paddle in.

From what I've seen rolling a rig up and paddling in is very difficult. A friend of mine tried to do that in the Bristol Channel (lots of tide) and ended up ditching everything apart from his board.
Practising lightwind freestyle is great training for breakages though. I've sailed in with no fin, which is like sailing while standing on the nose. When I broke a boom I sailed in clew first. Other things I've seen are:

broken boom clamp: turn the boom around and attach the clew end of the boom to the mast. Use a spare piece of rope to tie the broken clamp to the sail clew. The old school boom clamps were just rope anyway.

Broken UJ: tie a knot in your downhaul next to the cleat. Undo the deck plate a little, wrap the excess rope under the deck plate and then tighten it up again. You will damage your board but hopefully you'll get back.

Sailing with a broken mast is a lot like sailing with an old school no batten sail. If you have some spare rope you can fold the sail over and try to tie the top of the sail to the UJ to get some tension.

All the advice above is priceless.... I can only add that when I do sail alone, I carry a registered EPIRB plus a mobile phone... two things I hope to never use.

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cecil said..
All the advice above is priceless.... I can only add that when I do sail alone, I carry a registered EPIRB plus a mobile phone... two things I hope to never use.

You definitely have all the bases covered! No one could accuse you of being a cowboy, but you are right in respecting the water. Fitness is important when you are learning because mistakes and time in the water take a lot out of you. Learning to after start is liberating! Until then be aware that there may be times when you are just exhausted from uphauling and catapulting. Don't panic just sit on your board, catch your breath, then get up and go again. The fun part is that you will continually improve, just stick with it.

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Imax1 said..
Life jacket is most important or an emergency flotation device. In odd circumstances and higher wind you can become separated from the board and it can float away faster than you can swim after it. Trust me , thats scary , it happened to me and i didnt have a life jacket.
Having said that it probably wont happen
In case of a breakdown , easy. Unrig your sail. Roll up the sail , shove the mast in the middle ,lay the boom on top and tie it up with the down-haul rope. Lay it all on the board , lay on top , paddle in , reward yourself with a beer

+1 for life jacket. I also had a board blow away when trying to derig. Could not catch it. 3km from shore, & no flotation, dehydrated and tired after 4 hours on the water. Came to within seconds of drowning after being out there for an hour before rescue. So wear a life jacket and in stronger winds 15knots plus tie yourself to the board before attempting to derig. Once the sail is removed from a board it can move very fast downwind.

Has anyone ever worked out how to use a leash between body and raceboard? I am often out by myself and think often about the "what if?" question. A long time ago I had a uni blow near the garnet point beacon off Margate. Instinct was to hold on to the rig and the board surfed away at a great rate.

A foot leash to a slider on a continuous loop from one aft footstrap around the front of the mast track to another aft footstrap could work but you would have to unravel your tack and gybe combinations occasionally?

Peter

Try and find a big shallow area to learn. Way easier to walk than paddle. Way easier to learn to beach start. Also i suggest walking out and learning to sail back to the beach first. Its great for confidence to know that the first time you sail out, you already know you can sail back. Also learn to turn around. Seems obvious but i see lots of beginers get going, sail out further than they should and not be able to turn around or sail back. Dont trust the knots on new gear. Re tie all your own knots.

The best advice I can give you is, if you go out, can you swim back safely to the beach. That means, in a day if your runs are 1km out to the beach, can you swim back because you can be separate from your gear. That means, if you can't swim 1km...bring a floatation device. If you will be in hypothermia, buy an appropriate wetsuits. If waves are too big, don't go. If winds is too strong offshore etc. Just use that rule of can I come back safely and you should be not in trouble.

Some of the advice here is great but some is just dangerous. Find a club ,fellow sailor who can assist. Above all learn about weather and your capability to not get into trouble.

DO NOT ATTACH YOU SELF TO THE WINDSURFER WITH ROPE. Wear a life jacket, wetsuit ,sunscreen and a big grin.