Board Leash Can Drag You Down

jeffreyc · Since 23 Aug 2006 43 Posts

We all have heard that board leashes have their disadvantages. Here’s another that you should be aware of.

A friend of mine is a novice kiter working on simple reaches when he dropped his kite in the middle of the river. He was using a ~12ft retractable leash because he is not efficient at retrieving his board yet. The leash was attached to the front foot strap, approximately 1/3 board length from the end.

With the leading edge of the kite on the water, the pull of the kite caused the board to “tombstone”, driven underwater like a down-rigger the full length of his leash. The downward pull was strong enough to drag him under. When I got to him he was wide-eyed & panicked and his head was being jerked under like a shark had him by the ankle. In addition, the board was acting like an anchor keeping him from relaunching his kite. He could not pull the board up; he could not stop the pull of the kite. Since he had no emergency board release I instructed him to lease his kite.

After releasing the kite the pressure was off and the board popped to the surface and all was fine. A jet ski helped him to shore and he now has his first kitemare/rescue story.

If you are going to use a leash, only connect them to the very end of the board. If you find that it still tombstones, you might consider not using it. I carry one with me and leave unhooked in case I break down, wind dies, or go for a long swim. I then have the option to hook up and keep my board close.

Spike · Since 13 May 2007 1414 Posts Alameda Spelling Expert

I saw a lot of people using board leashes yesterday at sauvies, scary seeing people flying though the air with their board flying around them. When the crashed in the water they landed so close to their board they could have easily landed face first on the edge of he board. Also saw a few of the leash+board recoil situations. Helmet works to protect your head from the back, but some were looking around for the board as it was skimming towards them, makes for anice board in the face reconstructive surgery. No matter what bluae99 says, those leashes are scary

stringy · Since 23 Jun 2006 1726 Posts vancouver XTreme Poster

i witnessed a leash user at rufus on saturday who was getting ready to transition and sent the kite the opposite way and lost his edge. it spun him 360 and then the leashed board was to follow. what a site. there was a brief human/kite powered rotor. rider was wearing a pfd and helmet so somewhat protected from a leashed board.

pdxmonkeyboy · Tue Jul 10, 07 8:43 am

Were still talking about board leashes? Wait a second, did I go to bed and wake up in 2004? It's beginning to sound like discussions about global warming where everyone is like BAD! and there are a couple people who say "nu uh".

Perhaps we should summarize the issue:

1. The vast vast vast majority of experienced kiters DO NOT use board leashes.
2. Many beginners do use leashes essentially to save time as they are often falling. If your learning to kite, it would be wise to ditch the leash in a timely fashion...besides, it a good milestone.
3. Board leashes are dangerous, no matter how you want to spin it, or no matter what kook system you devised in your basement, they are dangerous. (I have been speared as a result of a leash and I have landed directly on top of my board b/c of a leash)
4. When you get down to brass tacks, board leashes are a crutch. They simple put off learning and using a the very simple skill of upwind body dragging.
5. If you insist on wearing a leash most people could really care less as your only going to hurt yourself; although you might as well wrap a band around your leg that says "kook" on it.

Smile

blowhard · Since 26 Dec 2005 2025 Posts Windward

same thing happened to me
while at Floras Lake
after removing the safety link in the Nsi leash
the board went to the bottom and wrapped up lake weeds around the leash down to the board like about 3-4 feet of them
after a bit of being tightlined under water for a while I was able to released the kite and floated up .
I threw it away
I didn't want somebody else making that mistake

Spike · Since 13 May 2007 1414 Posts Alameda Spelling Expert

plus if you want to attatch the leash to the front of your board you gotta drill a hole in it or soemthing, not worth it.

stringy · Since 23 Jun 2006 1726 Posts vancouver XTreme Poster

spike
i would suggest just taking a small 3" piece of webbing, folding it into, soldering a hole through it and securing it with one of the fin screws. this way you can easily attach a leash if you drop your kite or whatever and need to clip onto your board. i have seen some kiters take a piece of webbing about 6-8" and attach it across the board from left fin to right fin screws and then put some tubing on the webbing. this makes a nice handle for pulling your board with by hand as well. does this make sense? no drilling required.

stringy

Spike · Since 13 May 2007 1414 Posts Alameda Spelling Expert

I was about to argue that I wasn't going to attatch a leash, but then I remembered the self rescue technique of clipping your kite leash to your board then swimming to the kite. I get what you mean, sounds like a good method.

Kodiak · Since 01 Aug 2005 1114 Posts Slidey

You can always just clip your leash through a footstrap if you need to do a self rescue.

KingE · Since 27 Apr 2006 58 Posts Lake Wenatchee

If you can't drag back to your board then you aren't ready to have one on the water with you. With kite skills that poor you aren't going to accomplish anything productive with a board anyway. Learn to fly your kite!

Jeb