I'm a new member to the forum and thought I should join just to share the following story - it goes something like this........

I had just spent a week on Rottnest Island camping with my family and the day I got back to Perth (29th Dec), the wind was up and I hadn't been out at all this season. Decided to head down to Leighton beach for a blast on the slalom gear and after my first run out (approx. 2 kms), my rig detached from the board as I was gybing off a swell. I held onto the rig for a short time as it was starting to sink and then I thought I'd better start chasing the board as it was getting further away from me. By the time I'd made the decision to get the board it was too late and I couldn't catch it. Ended up following it in towards Cottesloe groin and eventually found it wallowing in the shallows about 20mtrs away from the rocks (unscathed - Phew!!). Anyway, the following day I went out with my son in our dinghy to try and find the rig off Leighton and gave up after about 2 hours searching ('twas murky and about 18mtrs of water). Feeling a little dejected, I decided that there wasn't much chance of ever finding the rig unless it eventually washed up on the beach somewhere (btw it was quite a new rig consisting of Chinook carbon boom, 6.6 Gaastra Neutron and a good quality 460 mast).

Anyway, to cut a long story a bit shorter, I was over chatting to Steve at Windforce today about the weekends marathon results and how I got pulled in by the cray boat after the 3rd mark (there was no way I was going to finish the race with a 5.7m2 sail and a 95ltr board!). While I was in the shop, a young guy (Jim) walked in and mentioned to Steve that he had found a windsurfing sail at City Beach yesterday. I said to him "Was it a red sail by any chance?" thinking to myself that this was a real longshot. He said yes and then pressed me for the sail number and I replied with "WA775". "That's the one!" he said. As you can imagine, I was pretty elated and after lots of handshaking etc, I got his details and will be picking up my kit tonight. Apparently the rig is still in good condition and after some of Jim's mates told him to try and sell the kit, he thought he should do the right thing and see if he could track down the owner. He spotted the rig while out surfing off City Beach and managed to drag the rig back into shore. I feel extremely lucky that my kit was found by an honest guy and want to say a big thanks to Jim for his efforts. A carton I think is in order. Also, my wife told me that she is getting a new kitchen before I buy anymore windsurfing gear (after telling her about my loss) - so I have to say "Sorry Dear".... the kitchen will have to wait!!

Lessons Learned:
- Always swim for the board first if the above happens to you.
- Check to make sure your mast base is securely clipped in before launching (doh!).
- Never promise a new kitchen over windsurfing kit.
- Never give up hope that your rig will be found one day (I had to wait 19 days for mine to turn up!).

WA775
Any chance you can PM WindWarrior with your details
We would like to get in contact with you and Jim (postal address) so we can send him something from our range as a recognition of his good actions and to keep the Karma flowing

Regards
WindWarrior Australia
'See things from a different angle'

as they say... what goes around comes around... I think Australia is probably one of the last frontiers on the planet where this sort of karma exists... gee, I had a car stolen a couple of years back. The thiefs dumped my gear in a back aley in Marrickville... what do you know, some chick from a coffee shop found it and called the cops. Because my board bags had my mobile number on them the police actually tracked me down. The funny thing is the police a) didn't know what it was b) had now idea what the value was. Needless to say it was very very happy.

Unfortunately, the police couldn't give me the persons details due to privacy issues... really would have like to say thanks with a good bottle of wine.