Hi DJ,
We have been doing R & D with Creatures of Leisure for the last 9 months with their coiled leash prototypes.
We were after less drag too. Initially we wanted them for downwinders but after using the first couple of prototypes we thought that they would have a place in the surf for SUPs too.
The first ones had the coil at one end.
For downwind we found that the coil was better at the ankle end while for sup surfing it was better at the railsaver end of the leash.
The weight and momentum of the coils at the ankle end when moving your feet around while surfing a wave had us standing on the coiled section.
The Creatures leash system allows you to interchange the railsaver and ankle piece with a fin key and grub screw so you can set your leggy up to suit either sup activity.
The beauty of the coil is you are using a 3m leash that is only 2m long due to the coil.
We have now put the coil in middle of the cord and are working on different size coils. Seems that the larger the coil (5cm diameter +) the quicker it gets pulled apart and loses its memory in the surf. Not so much in small surf but over 6ft the larger coils open up over time. Smaller tighter coils, this doesn't seem to be problem.
Overall, they are great for downwind and great for the surf but in the surf they can tangle around the coils from time to time.
Be interested to see what you guys come up with.
Here's a couple of pics of some we are currently using.
Cheers,
Courts
) and he thinks he can do it in one piece even though the coiled section needs to go into an oven to mold its coils.
..thought it looked odd.
