Happened to me yesterday in gusty Tramontana winds and heavy chop, I bailed out when the foil breached.
Felt a big bang on the tibia but was not too worried, I even got back to shore to change sail and sailed for another hour or so.
Cold water and a tight wetsuit sure give you an anesthetic effect..

Rolled up my suit and saw this, to the bone.
Imagine without 6mm neoprene.....


About 6 lower stitches and 12 superficial, Tetanus shot, antibiotics for 6 days and at least 10 days rest


Remember... first line

Good lesson. Thanks for sharing.

The other thing that can happen if you let go of the boom is that your gear can blow downwind faster than you can swim. Especially if you are using a cambered sail that floats on the water like a big bowl with the cams down. This happened to me last summer. Fortunately I was foiling with others who stopped my gear. I had a short sailboat ride to catch up to my gear.

So, we always tell people: do NOT let go of the boom. Side benefit: the way I fall if I hang on to the boom, it keeps the boom and mast away from the nose of the board (and keeps you away from the foil). After 5 years of crashing on the foil, I have yet to damage a board's nose.

FFish said..
Happened to me yesterday in gusty Tramontana winds and heavy chop, I bailed out when the foil breached.
Felt a big bang on the tibia but was not too worried, I even got back to shore to change sail and sailed for another hour or so.
Cold water and a tight wetsuit sure give you an anesthetic effect..

Rolled up my suit and saw this, to the bone.
Imagine without 6mm neoprene.....


About 6 lower stitches and 12 superficial, Tetanus shot, antibiotics for 6 days and at least 10 days rest


Remember... first line

Looks nasty, how many weeks does that put you out of the water for?
I usually get a little impatient and end up water starting which is fine until I kick the wing, result 1 month off the water because one of my toes has a big slice in it.
I went out and got some cut-resistant socks which have prevented further toe incidents.

segler said..
Good lesson. Thanks for sharing.

The other thing that can happen if you let go of the boom is that your gear can blow downwind faster than you can swim. Especially if you are using a cambered sail that floats on the water like a big bowl with the cams down. This happened to me last summer. Fortunately I was foiling with others who stopped my gear. I had a short sailboat ride to catch up to my gear.

So, we always tell people: do NOT let go of the boom. Side benefit: the way I fall if I hang on to the boom, it keeps the boom and mast away from the nose of the board (and keeps you away from the foil). After 5 years of crashing on the foil, I have yet to damage a board's nose.

Don't know if I have ever seen a used foil board without some type of minor impact damage to the nose, so wow 5 years without a strike
Do you keep hold with both hands to the death or release the back hand to help direct it away from the nose ? This may help us serial nose bangers as always hold on but still strike nose some times

Yes, I do release the back hand. This keeps the boom and sail mast away from the board nose.

But here is the other "secret": I foil UNHOOKED except for cranking upwind. The last time I catapulted on a beam reach while hooked in, I slammed my left thigh so hard against the board that the contusion kept me off the water for 4 weeks. (Did not hurt the custom Mike's Lab formula board.) Don't want to repeat that deal. So, good old-fashioned fear keeps me upright most of the time.

By the way, that catapult was with a slalom racing sail that lifts UP in gusts instead of pushing DOWN in gusts (which is what well designed foil sails do). It was a gusty day on the Columbia River (most days are), and I was still a relative beginner. Having recently been weaned off formula racing, I had the mindset that the harness is a 100% required lifeline. Now after 4 years of foiling, I am comfortable unhooked most of the time.

Been slung around 270 degrees a few times, hooked in g force on breach and hitting stuff...

Scary, thanks for sharing. Was in your arm or leg that was hurd?

I put my feet on the front wing so I know exactly where it is. And because I do that I don't need to kick. I have done more damage kicking/treading on a the back of my fins.

H2Ophbc said..
Maybe another solution here. I bought a quick release harness hook I saw mentioned on these forums last spring. It is from the Free Ride Addicted website. You have to translate from french to english.
link: www-free--ride--addicted-fr.translate.goog/e-boutique/boucle-free-fall/?_x_tr_sl=fr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US

When I catapult hooked in now I get dragged foreward and off the board as usual. The harness pulls the rig around and foreward with me and then I let go of the boom once facing backwards. At this point when the sail and board dig in and stop the hook releases and I fly another 4-5 feet, clear of the board and foil. When I come back up the rig is right next to me. I have done this many times along my learning curve and never hit anything and never been anywhere close to the foil.

This thing is a huge reassurance for me when I sail now as I know I will never hit anything and will never get stuck, hooked in under the sail.
Just a thought.

Thanks for sharing this mate!