Hi Jake, what have you heard about the reel leash?

Hi Jake, I have been using a reel leash for over two years, without a problem. I can body drag as well as anyone, but my reason for using it is because I had a close call with a white pointer shark and prefer the risk of getting speared by my board than being eaten, while body dragging 50 metres upwind to get to my board. If you have to use a leash, the reel type is less likely to spring back at you than a surfboard type. Be warned, all leashes are dangerous in this sport, and if you decide to use one, please weigh up all of the pros and cons. One guy at my local spot uses a very short surf style leash that is about 1.3 metres long. When you come off your board, you are far enough from the board not to land on it, but it is not long enough to be able to spring back at you. He has been using it for over 4 years without a problem and he does lot's of big jumps. He also wears a helmet.Also, I have a weak link in the braid material that is used as the leash, and this will break with approx 50-80 kgs of force. I have snapped this several times after completely stuffing up a jump and becoming separated from the board.

Genetrix said...

Hi Jake, what have you heard about the reel leash?

kitecroc said...

Hey Jake,

Put it back on your feet, it will actually help you water relaunch your kite quicker. The more resistance you put against your kite when trying to relaunch, the faster it will relaunch. This is especially noticeable when trying to relaunch your kite in light winds.

Croc

What Crocker said!! He beat me to it....

agreed!!most times i lost my board i was too far away from it to hook up any sort of lines, but still a good idea.(best place is on your feet)relax and take it slow and stick the kite either straight up till you get sorted then out too the side of the window, which ever way you think is best to get back to your board. As said the more resistance against the board the easier to keep your feet in even if going down wind a lil till up and riding keep at it and it will all come together.

Also, don't wait until you actually lose a board to get around to writing your name and number on it. Steal stationery from work and do it TODAY!

Rooboy, I'll bite mate, no pun intended! It happened two summers ago off Seacliff very close to the wave recorder, more or less directly in front of the Seacliff Hotel. The wave recorder is about 600 metres off shore. I had come off my board, and was body dragging upwind to my board, when I saw a fin about 10 metre away just very slowly cruising by. At first I thought it was a dolphin, but they normally don't stay on the surface. I continued to my board, which fortunately was not too far away, trying not to splash or disturb the water too much. As i was getting my feet into the straps, it swam right next to me and I could see that it was at least a 3-4 metre shark!! I kited straight back into the beach, and I felt like I was in a mild form of shock. This was as close as I have come to possibly dieing, and for me to continue doing this sport that I love, I had to come up with a solution where I had my board close to me as much as possible. Ironically enough while watching the evening news that night, some fishermen in a small tinny off Glenelg were circled by a 4 metre white shark, and one of them showed his mobile phone video to prove it!
This fatal shark attack occurred on Yorke Peninsula, apparently while he was positioning his board for a water start.
The Go Joe is another option and works extremely well.


www.oceanrodeo.com/kiting/go_joe

www.listphile.com/

Rooboy said...

Sorry lads off topic but i want to hear more about Coastflyers encounter with the big bitie thing. Ive been kiting 8 or 9 years and never seen a shark. Where was this and how close was the encounter?

I have heard that if you board stick in the water and theses a lot of tension on the board and the kite is pulling you and when the board pops up out the water it comes at you people have been knocked out and much worse.

Genetrix said...

Hi Jake, what have you heard about the reel leash?

jakeyoung said...

I have heard that if you board stick in the water and theses a lot of tension on the board and the kite is pulling you and when the board pops up out the water it comes at you people have been knocked out and much worse.

Genetrix said...

Hi Jake, what have you heard about the reel leash?

I have never used one before but I know people who do and they love it for that extra safety from the sharks and ease of being able to clip and unclip from the board . Pop into Onboard I think they sell them , check one out and see if its suitable for what you need it to do.
cheers Tim

Thanks for your help. do u know if anyone has a shark shield for kiteboarding would it work

KiterBen said...

Jake

Unfortunately sharks could be anywhere, the best bet is to try and forget about them as much as you can and try to enjoy the sport. If you come off your board and cant get your kite up it can be a little scary.

Try to stay calm and think of how to get your kite up and board back as quickly as you can. The worst thing you can do is panic that is when accidents are most likely to happen.

Try not to go out to far or take a few trips to somewhere that is shallow to get more confident on the board.

Ben

yea but is better then nothing

KiterBen said...

This is my opinion

( If a shark big enough wants to eat you a shark shield would be a useful as tits on a bull )

Anyway im sure no one likes even hearing the work shark on a water sports forum.

I sure dont.

Cheers

Ben

I have been using a leash for a few years now and havn't had any close calls with landing on the board. I have had a few bad take offs and landings but if the board is caught under water and you get launched the real will snap on the static chord section. The only issues are, you must always check it is free and not caught on your harness and when you do come off, the board will be floating behind you and if a wave comes through you can get hit by the board when the wave catches it.