I spoke to a pole surfer who sails just north of the stkilda kiters today, and he had a complaint about kiters losing there boards and letting them drift down wind into the sailboard aera. Apperently a few sailboards have been badly damaged from hitting these kiteboards that are off on their own and hard to see. I'm guessing the kiters are newbies who are having trouble bodydragging back to their board and go in to the beach instead and then collect the board from the water. Any ideas on how to prevent this? is/should the kiter be liable for any damage? obliviously some sort of 3rd party insurance would be good, but do newbies bother (or even know about insurance available)?

Please, please, PLEASE!!!! do not start the leash debate again, we have been over and over this and the majority rule is clear - Leashes are 'kin stooooooooopid, and you almost never see them anymore for the clear and simple reason that they can fling your board back at you and puncture body parts.

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Originally posted by robecq

I spoke to a pole surfer who sails just north of the stkilda kiters today, and he had a complaint about kiters losing there boards and letting them drift down wind into the sailboard aera. Apperently a few sailboards have been badly damaged from hitting these kiteboards that are off on their own and hard to see. I'm guessing the kiters are newbies who are having trouble bodydragging back to their board and go in to the beach instead and then collect the board from the water. Any ideas on how to prevent this? is/should the kiter be liable for any damage? obliviously some sort of 3rd party insurance would be good, but do newbies bother (or even know about insurance available)?

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serious, they are complaining about people loosing thier boards? And they hit them and hurt themselves... sorry thats kinda crap. i windsurfed in melb for 10 years and unless you close your eyes while doing it you can see a board in the water, Sure **** happens, but bitching about it? really. No one should ever use a leash, and everyone looses a board at times. Liable? great lets start that up, maybe the rider needs to look where they are going, and why not grab that board and drop it onto the beach, a little bit of help, team work etc.. anyway. JMO

OK guys, give up. (Ouups, I said this!!!)
I am going not to be "lazy" anymore!

Answer to the original ?

The board being adrift is mainly due to the kiter electing to not bodydrag to retrieve it.

I will not let a student have a board until they can demonstrate the ability to bodydrag to retrieve it. I don't want my kit lost.

So assuming they have had lessons and been taught the nessesary skills then it is their choice to leave board.

So it is also their responsibility to cover damages it causes.

and windsurfers coming over a wave at speed don't have much chance of avoiding losing a $200 fin on awell camoflaged kiteboard.

I wear a leash on each leg.
Does that matter?

But the gimp's not sleepy yet!

Hey Ran,

If for kitesurfing, I would not come back to Melbourne, not now: the winter's comming, with gusty, deceiving northerly winds, short days and freezing water (by August the average water temperature in the bay drops to 8 - 10 degrees). However, from the point of view of the crew... you can't expect better!!
Looking forward to see you here.

I've gone back to using a leash.
In f&$%n huge waves rocky beach, its a must.
Sometimes in heavy sets not even spiderman could get the board back.

great idea with the anchor dude......

Or you could use a canoe?

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Originally posted by skidsy

Yeah come back to Melbourne. Kite at St Kilda or Brighton on days below 22 degrees. They're a bit soft up there and I dont know if they've heard of a steamer.

Maybe they have but I'd get them to clarify their version.

You can kite you just have to be willing to put in the effort. Rye and Rosebud are the places to be during those cold dreary northerly days

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Hey I don't kite anywhere south of Brighton. My chest plate, bright red peanut helmet, and footy jumper keeps me warm all year round. Followed by a few sauvignon blanc's to warm me up at the George. You guys don't know what your missing out on.
P.S. Bundy and turbo-shandies are for the evil.

Leashes mmmm where do you start with thias conundrum?
My 2 cents is that they are not really a problem...if..
a. you have it set for a really big ankle, you can slip out really easily in case of imminent disaster

b. you are not jumping.



Newbies sholud have em, but stay safe in what they are up to

[C] WEAR A HELMET! When using a leash.

Of course wear a helmet.

I expect they will bcome compulsory sometime soon a bureaucracy seeks to reduce mans ability to think for himself.

Or Azza an even better idea. All boards should be banned. Then we wouldn't have a problem. You wouldn't need a helmet or a leash and then there will be no losrt boards, nothing to argue on this page.

Everyone's happy!!![}:)]

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Originally posted by BOOMAN

im pretty new and am about to buy a leash cos i keep loosing my board and it takes me 5-20 minutes to retrieve it sometimes, im just cracking the up wind barrier but sometimes i just cant reach it, also wtf is it dangerous if im not jumping out the water and its an ultra lond surfboard leash....... 20 minutes for #$%@#% sake

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GOODman!

I am also going through the learning process and currently don't use a board leash, but I'm considering it at the moment.
I’ve been looking at the basic Pros and Cons and thinking I may use a leash in certain situations, with a back up safety.

The pros speak for themselves: more time boarding, less time body dragging.

The Cons: Board could rebound back, hitting you and causing injury, death.
The board could become a sea anchor.

All the talk about the dangers of using a leash comes down to one main thing, the load on the leash. In one of the past threads in relation to leashes, someone suggested using electrical cable ties as a load release measure and I'm thinking of trying this out.
Get some cable ties, attach a few to a ring on your harness and then attach the leash to one of the cable ties. If you have a mild mishap and the board comes off, it’s nearby. If everything’s going pear shaped and ya having the mother of all wipe outs, the cable tie breaks under the load, you body drag back to the board and clip the leash to one of the other cable ties.

If any one is using (have used) this method, what brand (size) cable ties do you use?