Board Leash...To be or not To BE???

[toby wilson]

And the biggest con on that link from Scott is here...

http://www.instructables.com/id/E9VDR5GIEZES9J4YGT/

Invest in a Go-Joe if you aren't comfortable in your upwind body dragging skills...

Originally Posted by Skyway Scott

That's actually what I do too... but .... then you don't have a leash on your kite!
(even if just momentarily)

Who cares! If the kite was able to fly you wouldn't be separated from the board

Yeah, most of the time. But, you tend to disconnect the leash from the board and re-attach to the kite after the water relaunch, not before. So at launch, things might go wrong.

If something goes really wrong during the water relaunch (deep water) you now possibly have a wild kite dragging you with a board "chasing you" and no kite leash.
Given enough time, anything can happen.
I actually launched my board (by the leash) up with my kite once.

[JoshTaylor]

uhh in our waters why would you need a boardleash unless your riding the gulf?

and if you are riding the gulf, then you have current rushing your board downwind, just always keep your eye on it, and get your relaunching skills down good before you ride the gulf. we have flat water spots for west winds if you can't handle the gulf.

Agreed Josh. A leash around here makes no sense.
At Matanzas though, if I crashed a kite, I put my kiteleash on the board. Otherwise the board was actually screaming upwind of me at about 5 knots.
It once lead to a kitemare when a line tangle led to a subsequent "joy ride"

[bryanleighty]

There was a newer rider out at EB on friday on an older fuel.. he kept crashing and I saw his board come pretty damn close to taking him out on a couple occasions. I was staying upwind of him because I saw him get overpowered and lose his edge near another rider.

Bad enough to have a kiter and kite coming your way.. add a board traveling at 25mph and it can get more serious ...

I talked to him off the water and told him my thoughts on the board leash .. didnt tell him what to do.. but offered my advice..hoping he would take it.

Cut to about 15 minutes later and some guy drops his C kite and it goes flying down the beach.. luckily it was easily caught and no one was hurt..

i walk up to him and ask him what happened and he says "damn my loop broke.".. I say "where is your kite leash" .. he says "ya.. i forgot that".. so i tell him as directly as i can without sounding too much like an a-hole "do not fly your kite without a leash..ever". He gives me the WHATEVER look and goes to get his kite. I can see him talking to his friend, probably calling me a dick .. but what more can I do. Never seen the guy before .. but hopefully he will think about his leash next time even if he does not like me.

I remember being a newbie and i remember one forum post that was put up by a local rider complaining about a newbie that got in his way at EB.. and that newbie was me. I posted back apologizing but saying that I was out there all day and only once got a bit out of control and ended up in the main part of the water where everyone was flying.

Its tough.. but I never went out without a leash..ever..

Good job Bryan, what more can you do... unless you have 5 other guys with you saying the same thing. This is why I think self regulation will never work... it takes the efforts of more than one person, but those people are usually busy riding.

I decided to ride somewhere less crowded. Turned out to be the right move as there was just three our four of us out there and it was a blast.

[toby wilson]

Good job Bry, I'm definitely behind you there. I don't give a crap who dislikes me either over giving them stern advice. Anyone whose opinion really matters to me would be in agreement anyway...

Toby, forgot to mention, good job walking Amber out at backside. Looked plenty safe to me. How'd she do with that new pink waroo?

[toby wilson]

I think that the only issue was that the LE wasn't pumped up enough like you said when I drug back into shore. She got on plane for a while but there really wasn't enough wind by the time we got out there.

I think she mostly got some valuable time under the kite and is starting to get used to getting worked when she makes a mistake. She is losing some of the "newbie jitters" and seems much more comfortable under the kite than ever before.

She did her first accidental Waroo kiteloop yesterday and got to see how much power a loop actually has...and that was in light wind!!! She is starting to learn a lot quickly...I'd better watch out or she'll be passing me soon!!!