It's a pity it doesn't seem possible to have a leash for the gear.
I'd like to go for some chop hops but now I'm older I'm not game . If things go pear shaped, I wouldn't be able to swim fast enough to catch my gear.
I suppose that the mast is the problem? Wingers don't have masts..
Did they ever try the idea for windsurfing?

Well I've seen it ages ago, a couple of old guys launched from Avalon to do a downwinder to Safety Bay. They both had leashes, as they were going several Km from shore. No idea how they worked or what they did, when the leash tangled around the mast

It's not often that the board and rig end up more than 5m away and stopped dead.
Now that I'm having a go at foiling I'm finding I swim further after a crash. The board seems to keep moving even when the sail is in the water, maybe because it is smaller and is less of a brake.

Would a leash attach to your waist?. Might be alright if you weren't tacking.

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Mr Milk said..
It's not often that the board and rig end up more than 5m away and stopped dead.
Now that I'm having a go at foiling I'm finding I swim further after a crash. The board seems to keep moving even when the sail is in the water, maybe because it is smaller and is less of a brake.

The stacks that worry me are the ones where the sail stays in the air for a while and keeps sailing.

Anyone tried a leash?

I know the stacks you are talking about Sue, Fell of backards somehow and as falling watched the sail still uprigth carry on quite happily doing it thing into the distance.

Plus seen a guy out at Gearies on a breezy day have his gear drift away with the wind quicker than he could swim.

dubious solution as it tethers its own set of risk potentials

Just buy a plb ,gme do one small enough to tuck in a wetsuit.
Tying yourself to the gear sounds dangerous.

Yup can't see a leash working
Ive never had gear more than a mast length away and def not going away fast, from flatwater jumping crashes. Just do it.

Most of the time the sail acts like a big sea anchor and keeps the board from floating away after you crash.

The exception is a cammed sail that lands on the water cam side down. Now the sail is a big bowl that floats on top and easily drifts with the wind. I have had this happen to me twice and needed a rescue because I could not swim as fast as it was drifting. A sailboat one time, and a very skilled winger who dragged my gear back to me.

This is the reason you must keep a grip on the boom when you crash.

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segler said..
Most of the time the sail acts like a big sea anchor and keeps the board from floating away after you crash.

The exception is a cammed sail that lands on the water cam side down. Now the sail is a big bowl that floats on top and easily drifts with the wind. I have had this happen to me twice and needed a rescue because I could not swim as fast as it was drifting. A sailboat one time, and a very skilled winger who dragged my gear back to me.

This is the reason you must keep a grip on the boom when you crash.

There was someone that had something very much like that happen recently at the foiling spot you know of...fairly chopping conditions and it got away from him, luckily a race crew was nearby and scooped him up and dumped him. I hadn't seen the beginning of it and just saw the board/foil and sail floating there and wanted to see if he was still there by the kit (he wasn't). They came by a few minutes later, and were far enough away I couldn't quite see that they had picked him up.

Usually the ghostrides I've had are within a short swim, but I've lost grip in shorebreak before...not fun.

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segler said..
...The exception is a cammed sail that lands on the water cam side down. Now the sail is a big bowl that floats on top and easily drifts with the wind. I have had this happen to me twice and needed a rescue because I could not swim as fast as it was drifting. ...

This is the reason you must keep a grip on the boom when you crash.

Add Ezzy Cheetahs to the list. My only two swims were due to a Cheetah 7.0. One short one and one that got really interesting for a while. It was apparent after watching my gear surf three quick whitecaps that I wasn't going to catch my gear.

The second would have been avoided by holding on to the boom - the sail blew out of my hands on a botched waterstart when I got lazy late one December (N. Hemisphere) afternoon. Also, the reason I now where an impact vest. Swimming in the chop of 20-25 kt winds is over-rated. Windfoiling has vastly sharpened to my "hold on to the boom at all costs" skills.

Had an RSX get away from me one day, couldn't catch it swimming, it was only 20 or 30 mtrs away from me but may as well been a mile. I ended up getting rescued by a fellow sailor by grabbing hold of his footstraps while he dragged me over the board.

Learned to hang on after that, another time I was out on a raceboard with a 9.5 by myself riding gusts from Wellington point down to Manly enjoying a powered up downwind blast. Full weight on the harness and the line snapped, I fell backwards instantly, I knew before I hit the water the board would travel some distance before it stopped on that angle and knew it would be a big swim at best to try and catch it so I managed to hang onto the whole kit with my toenails.

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Paducah said..
....Also, the reason I now where an impact vest....

We're going to blame autocorrect for that one (even though I wrote it on my desktop).

Similar to Cam, sailing my Raceboard with 9.5m, by myself in Moreton Bay, fell on a gybe, lost contact with the gear, the big sail just sat on the water and the rig and board was blown downwind faster than I could swim and out of sight. I consigned myself to a long swim. The shore about 2km away downwind. After swimming for 40 minutes, I saw my board about 100m downwind, the sail had eventually sunk and created an anchor. It took me another 20 minutes to catch up, remount and sail home. The morale of the story, don't sail alone and as Cam said, don't let go the boom.

The stacks I'm worried about are the ones where you get too high ( for your confidence ) and bail out mid air or the rigs ripped from your hands and sails off. I use twin cams in up to a patchy 20kts so the wind catching the sail and bowling it along could also be an issue..
What dangers do you see with a leash?
I don't tack , but I can see maybe you could get caught up in it waterstarting? Do you think it would pull the gear back towards you and the sail could be a hazard?

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Paducah said..

segler said..
...The exception is a cammed sail that lands on the water cam side down. Now the sail is a big bowl that floats on top and easily drifts with the wind. I have had this happen to me twice and needed a rescue because I could not swim as fast as it was drifting. ...

This is the reason you must keep a grip on the boom when you crash.

Add Ezzy Cheetahs to the list. My only two swims were due to a Cheetah 7.0. One short one and one that got really interesting for a while. It was apparent after watching my gear surf three quick whitecaps that I wasn't going to catch my gear.

The second would have been avoided by holding on to the boom - the sail blew out of my hands on a botched waterstart when I got lazy late one December (N. Hemisphere) afternoon. Also, the reason I now where an impact vest. Swimming in the chop of 20-25 kt winds is over-rated. Windfoiling has vastly sharpened to my "hold on to the boom at all costs" skills.

Years ago I was out in 20-25kts plus off Coal point. I did a jump and the rig separated from the board. I wasn't far from shore so I managed to keep hold of the rig . The board lined itself up downwind and flew down the windswells.
No way would I have been able to catch it.. A passing boat was flagged down to get it but it had gone several kms downwind by the time they caught it.

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cammd said..
Had an RSX get away from me one day, couldn't catch it swimming, it was only 20 or 30 mtrs away from me but may as well been a mile. I ended up getting rescued by a fellow sailor by grabbing hold of his footstraps while he dragged me over the board.

Learned to hang on after that, another time I was out on a raceboard with a 9.5 by myself riding gusts from Wellington point down to Manly enjoying a powered up downwind blast. Full weight on the harness and the line snapped, I fell backwards instantly, I knew before I hit the water the board would travel some distance before it stopped on that angle and knew it would be a big swim at best to try and catch it so I managed to hang onto the whole kit with my toenails.

Impressive..

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John340 said..
Similar to Cam, sailing my Raceboard with 9.5m by myself in Moreton Bay, fell on a gybe, lost contact wit the gear, the big sail just sat on the water and the rig and board was blown downwind faster than I could swim and out of sight. I consigned myself to a long swim. The shore about 2km away downwind. After swimming for 40 minutes, I saw my board about 100m downwind, the sail had eventually sunk and created an anchor. It took me another 20 minutes to catch up, remount and sail home. The morale of the story, don't sail alone and as Cam said, don't let go the boom.

Cripes. I bet you were buggered after that!
I'd just have to float in. No way I could swim 40mins..
Lucky I sail on a lake where you'll eventually wash ashore.

I'm getting that creepy crawly feeling on the back of my neck from reading this, and remembering my own experiences. Like where I imagine those times I was 2miles away from the launch and could've been separated from the rig, and would've just had to swim it in my shorts and no extra float....

You could consider the Oceanus Eel kiteboard leash. I've used one for many years on various kiteboards, and it saves a lot of swimming /lost boards.(Kite foil can foil away quite happily without a rider!)
If you attached the leash extension (probably at the mast base; otherwise the back of the board), and the reel attached to your harness, I don't think it would get in the way as there's no slack to hang on the deck, until you stack it and the spring-loaded reel lets nearly 3m of coiled leash pay out, keeping the board close at hand. Then retracts itself as you pull in the leash.
To avoid potential harm any leash could cause, use a breakable link to the board attachment in case of a serious catapult dismount and a simple quick-release at the harness end in case you ever need to seperate yourself from your gear.

A leash sound like a terrible idea, far to much weight and momentum not to mention the tangles that could happen
plus there are times when you really want to get away from your kit.

Can't see a leash working, would just get in the way. Be always prepared to swim. Don't go further out than you think you can swim (with a harness-- although you could also ditch that if really needed) unless you know there is backup. Remember gear is replaceable. You are not. This happened to me only once, dropped a gybe and board/rig took off down wind and i just could not quite catch it. After a few attempts where i expended much energy just almost getting it, i still recall the decision i made to let the gear go on it's merry way and turn in for shore. This was just under a km out, so not too bad although still a slog wearing a harness. (Managed to get the great back later as it happened)

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sboardcrazy said..

John340 said..
Similar to Cam, sailing my Raceboard with 9.5m by myself in Moreton Bay, fell on a gybe, lost contact wit the gear, the big sail just sat on the water and the rig and board was blown downwind faster than I could swim and out of sight. I consigned myself to a long swim. The shore about 2km away downwind. After swimming for 40 minutes, I saw my board about 100m downwind, the sail had eventually sunk and created an anchor. It took me another 20 minutes to catch up, remount and sail home. The morale of the story, don't sail alone and as Cam said, don't let go the boom.

Cripes. I bet you were buggered after that!
I'd just have to float in. No way I could swim 40mins..
Lucky I sail on a lake where you'll eventually wash ashore.

You'd be surprised what you can do when you have to, especially when you wear an impact vest or flotation device.

A leash might work. You could attach to an unused footstrap plug and the back of your harness. Give it a try and let us know if it works. I suspect it would be too much of a pain in the arse to be worthwhile.

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John340 said..

sboardcrazy said..

John340 said..
Similar to Cam, sailing my Raceboard with 9.5m by myself in Moreton Bay, fell on a gybe, lost contact wit the gear, the big sail just sat on the water and the rig and board was blown downwind faster than I could swim and out of sight. I consigned myself to a long swim. The shore about 2km away downwind. After swimming for 40 minutes, I saw my board about 100m downwind, the sail had eventually sunk and created an anchor. It took me another 20 minutes to catch up, remount and sail home. The morale of the story, don't sail alone and as Cam said, don't let go the boom.

Cripes. I bet you were buggered after that!
I'd just have to float in. No way I could swim 40mins..
Lucky I sail on a lake where you'll eventually wash ashore.

You'd be surprised what you can do when you have to, especially when you wear an impact vest or flotation device.

A leash might work. You could attach to an unused footstrap plug and the back of your harness. Give it a try and let us know if it works. I suspect it would be too much of a pain in the arse to be worthwhile.

The kiteboard leash with breakable attachment bits sounds interesting.
I'd only need it if I tried jumps..might have a think.
I'd rather someone else tried it out and gave feedback.

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sboardcrazy said..

John340 said..

sboardcrazy said..

John340 said..
Similar to Cam, sailing my Raceboard with 9.5m by myself in Moreton Bay, fell on a gybe, lost contact wit the gear, the big sail just sat on the water and the rig and board was blown downwind faster than I could swim and out of sight. I consigned myself to a long swim. The shore about 2km away downwind. After swimming for 40 minutes, I saw my board about 100m downwind, the sail had eventually sunk and created an anchor. It took me another 20 minutes to catch up, remount and sail home. The morale of the story, don't sail alone and as Cam said, don't let go the boom.

Cripes. I bet you were buggered after that!
I'd just have to float in. No way I could swim 40mins..
Lucky I sail on a lake where you'll eventually wash ashore.

You'd be surprised what you can do when you have to, especially when you wear an impact vest or flotation device.

A leash might work. You could attach to an unused footstrap plug and the back of your harness. Give it a try and let us know if it works. I suspect it would be too much of a pain in the arse to be worthwhile.

The kiteboard leash with breakable attachment bits sounds interesting.
I'd only need it if I tried jumps..might have a think.
I'd rather someone else tried it out and gave feedback.

Crickets! I think you already have feedback. I've never seen anyone use one in 40+ years of windsurfing!

John 340 said, "Crickets! I think you already have feedback. I've never seen anyone use one in 40+ years of windsurfing!"


And there is the truth and nothing but the truth. If it was feasible and worked we would all be wearing them.

Surprising stories on here!

I often ditch my gear mid air or have it pulled out of my hands when caught in strong waves. It is challenging when blowing 25 knots and plus but still... Even sailed in 35-55 knots and didn't have issues, that was with a full on wetsuit.

Don't remember seeing guys in pozo lose their gear?

I did hold my buddy's gear the other day, he was happy!

Comes down to fitness both mental and physical. Challenging conditions and situations you got to prepare for always. If it goes bad - think positive

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Manuel7 said..
Surprising stories on here!

I often ditch my gear mid air or have it pulled out of my hands when caught in strong waves. It is challenging when blowing 25 knots and plus but still... Even sailed in 35-55 knots and didn't have issues, that was with a full on wetsuit.

Don't remember seeing guys in pozo lose their gear?

I did hold my buddy's gear the other day, he was happy!

It normally only happens with large cammed sails where the sail floats on top of the water. Wave sails sink and anchor the board.