Couldn't you just tie a small length of rope around footstrap and tie leash to that.
I am only learning and don't use a leash , too many bad reports although i did drag a leash/rope just so if the board did drift I could grab the rope that trailed behind.
Great when I have to sort kite out or walk in shallow water.
I connected it through a hole where a third fin would gowith a knot on the bottom
Nigel

Hey Blast,

Jan is right, there is no SAFE way to attach a leash to the board. Learn to body drag upwind properly which you should have done in the 2nd lesson.

I have had too many friends with stitches in the face, back and back of the head. And all that blood in the water does nothing for detering sharks.

Ditch the leash!

Best winds and Peace,

Darren Marshall
IKO Examiner
Australian Kiteboarding school

Sorry, to say this...but get with the program........body drag...no matter how much it hurts.

My advice is learn to deal with no leash.if you insist on having one this may help.I have repaired boards where the leash plugs have been ripped completely from the board.To rectify the problem i have fitted a strap to a fin hole as you say and had no further problems.(yet).One thing that could have happened is because he has put the strap on, the amount of thread actually screwing into the fin has been reduced.You need as much thread in there as you can get.Buy another fin,and try a screw 5mm longer.

Make sure the screw is not to long and comes throug the board

Easiest solution is to F#~` it off.(the leash.)

See ya

Karl

Just cos no-one's said it yet the golden rule is:

LEASH = HELMET

otherwise or maybe just if you're lucky.

The only time I can see the need for a leash is in an onshore wind with a strong offshore tidal flow, ie at a river mouth. Any other time you can get back to your board easily with a little practice.

oh and before i get crapped on for it... id recommend a helmet, impact vest and mouth guard to anyone, but i (foolishly?) dont use any of those items

You guys shouldn't laugh,

When teaching in Oahu Hawaii, I saw a guy come to the beach with a full BMX style helmet, water jacket Oakleys, an impact/floatation vest, gloves, full length wetty (in Hawaii????), booties, a seat harness and .... drum roll please ...... a pair of shin guards like soccer players wear! I didn't ask him about groin protection or mouth guard, but being as kitted up as he was, I wouldn't have been a bit surprised.

To say he stood out on the beach amongst the regular kiters is a massive understatement, compared with most peoples tan, boardies and harness.

It was quite funny, but at least he was safe. When he got spanked, he could laugh it off.

Come to think of it, he had a board leash also, in which case he should have been wearing chest armour as well.

NO LEASH!

My instructor was very clear about not using a leash and learning to body drag and recover the board before you do anything else (thanks, Ian ) so I was already less tempted to use one.

Still, I had a few incidents where it took a long time recovering my board and I was cursing and thinking about getting a leash: 2x Lucky Bay where crashing the kite put me far downwind and I would have had to walk back and drag out to get it, but both times a kiter recovered it and I had it waiting for me on the walk back and once Scarbs where I couldn't see the board in the big swell and after 7-8 long ups and downs thinking "When do you actually give up here?", "Is it gonna be washed in?","Where would that be?" and "I'm getting hungry, what's for dinner?" suddenly I was directly headed for my board. Which was the moment I thought "YES. Bodydragging works. No leash"

I think it helped me to read the strong opinions in previous posts to that topic to stick to the principles. Making progess this summer (still lose board almost every session) I also realised that the situations where I loose my board are situations where I wouldn't want to have anything attached that comes after me.

Hope this helps.
S.