Using a kiteboard leash is a bad habit still practiced by a good number of beginner (and not only) kitesurfers, and the level of danger it bears is often underestimated.
Why is a kiteboarding leash used?
Board leashes were introduced to prevent riders from losing the board. As many beginners would eventually fall off the board in abrupt maneuvers while crashing their kites, having a board leash would reduce the amount of time spent retrieving the kiteboard while increasing the time riding and practicing.
For beginners, it is also pretty common the fear of not being able to retrieve the board after a kite crash, especially if they have to relaunch the kite itself. While relaunching the kite, they might get pretty far downwind from the board, and then it would take a long body drag effort to retrieve it, not mentioning the possibility of losing sight of the kiteboard.
Another reason kiteboard leashes have been very popular is that they allow spending little time retrieving the board, so beginners have much more time to train in their water start and riding technique. That might lead to think that the kiteboard leash can lead to an increase in the learning curve of kitesurfing.
Another common thinking is that in rough conditions, the kiteboard leash can be a tremendous psychological help for not skilled riders to keep them more focused on the riding without fear mentioned above to lose the board.
Finally, new riders afraid of losing the board tend to try the kite relaunch keeping the board close to them. This prevents them from having both hands free to control the kite, making the situation chaotic and difficult. The kiteboard leash seems again a natural solution to the problem.
Is the use of a kiteboard leash justified then?
In any discipline, we set a final goal, but we need to go through the intermediate steps of learning to get there. Kitesurf makes no difference, and the principle "Learn to walk and then learn to run" applies perfectly to this sport.
As mentioned before, the leash can offer many advantages. The most attractive is to achieve the goal of riding in a faster time, skipping the tedious and physically draining body drag learning stage. Don't fool yourselves, though: striving to stand on the board avoiding to pass through the fundamental skill that makes you an independent and, above all, a safe rider is a wrong choice and will punish you at one point.
A proper body drag training also doesn't involve so much time (generally a session or two with a good instructor), and it will pay back the effort broadly.
Getting rid of the dependency on the leash.
Learning body drag will also have the great advantage of freeing the kiter from the fear of not reaching the board for good. Once a kiteboarder can relaunch the kite properly and can body drag upwind consistently, he can be finally considered an independent rider. On the contrary, if he can stand on the board, but he cannot body drag upwind, he will sooner or later find himself in difficult situations. For example: with no possibility of standing on the board, he won't reach a landing point on the shore upwind to his position.
In fact, by relying on the kiteboard leash at all times, the beginner very unlikely will keep practicing body dragging consistently, and he will always be one step back from becoming an independent kiter. He will remain dependent on the leash for a long time.
Why do kiteboard leash injuries happen?
While kitesurfing, a wrong maneuver is pretty standard, even for an expert. Falling off your kiteboard, while overpowered by the kite can have the rider dragged for several meters and with a relatively high speed.
What happens with the kiteboard in this situation? The kiter usually will lose the board behind, and he will need to retrieve it by body dragging.
But what if the kiteboard is attached by a leash? At first, it will dive into the water, then the leash will work like a bungee, and it will pull the kiteboard towards the rider with extreme power.
When a 5-7 kg heavy board, flying at high speed, landing into the kiter's head, can result in significant trauma. Many kitesurfers think it's a rare case that won't happen to them, but believe me - it's really common. In 15 years of kitesurfing, I have witnessed that happening to several kiters, with infamous results.
The internet is full of examples of that, and you can google it to check it yourself. This sequence is taken from a Youtube Video:
Having the kiteboard close at all times isn't advisable.
Another painful reason for a kiter to avoid the board leash is when he returns to the shore after the session. If the rider has the leash attached and leaves the board in the water, it is easy to imagine what will happen when the next wave breaks close to him, throwing the board on his legs. This situation can even have an amplified effect if the kiter is riding in big waves, he falls, and the next wave nicely brings back the board to him. Someone can say these situations can also happen without a leash, but we can argue that the possibilities exponentially increase if the board is kept close to the kiter's body by the leash at all times.
How to avoid kiteboard leash injuries?
As said, during my kitesurfing career, I've seen many people get injured by their leashed board, and my close friends were among them. The only solution to this issue is to never permanently attach your kiteboard to yourself with any type of a leash while kitesurfing.
If you aren't skilled enough to retrieve your board by an upwind body drag, the best thing you can do is to improve your body drag skills by spending a few hours more practicing. It's a short amount of time to spend to prevent a terrible trauma, and it will grant an essential skill for safely kitesurfing the rest of life.
Can helmet and impact vests protect from the board?
Someone might argue that with proper protection such as a helmet and an impact vest, using a kiteboard leash is perfectly safe, but keep in mind that these garments provide protection only to few parts of the body. The kiteboard can be thrown into the face, the neck, arms, legs, or other uncovered body parts. A friend of mine was hit by a kiteboard on his ankle on his kitesurfing vacation, and the result was a deep 4-inch cut (12cm), a lot of blood, a very swollen leg, and, of course, no kitesurfing for the entire vacation.
Is the kiteboard reel leash the solution?
Another myth widely spread through the kitesurfers' community is that a kiteboard leash reel is a solution.
The concept of this kiteboard retractable leash consists of the use of a longer span of lace that is rolled up in a coil activated mechanism. On the occasion of a fall and a consequent pull of the kite, the board in the water should make the reel leash coil to unspin fast and extend the leash way longer than the distance a regular leash would start to pull the board back. After the tension is exerted, the soft coil would slowly and safely drag the board back to the rider.
This is really misleading because that extra length if the kite pool is sufficient (let's think at good kite loop), can increase the potential power that will propel the kiteboard to bounce back against the kiter.
Another issue is what a 6-8-meter-long leash can cause by tangling around the rider's body or the kite bar's safety systems. Imagine the leash wrapping around the bar; the control of the kite becomes impossible. As a result, you get pulled out of the water with the kiteboard. How do you imagine your landing?
The advice remains the same: no board leash while kitesurfing.
Can a fuse line on the leash solve the problem?
The fuse line's main idea is to insert a weak line between the board leash and the board itself. This line is supposed to break the moment a tension beyond a specific limit is applied. The resulting break should prevent the board from being pulled against the kiter.
In principle, this idea is sound, but it carries with it some problems if analyzed deeply. The main is, how can we choose and furthermore regulate the breaking tension of the fuse?
If the tension is too weak, the fuse will break at the first fall, and the rider who isn't able to body drag upwind has lost the board.
If the breaking tension is too big, we are back to have a dangerous board leash.
Choosing the breaking tension can be a problem: considering the different weights of boards and riders, it is basically impossible to use a one-for-all solution. The problem is that fitting the right resistance to the fuse line isn't simple and for sure isn't well obtained by using some leftover line found in the bottom of some storage.
An old trick to retrieve the board
Suppose a kiter is afraid to lose his kiteboard or not be able to body drag upwind to retrieve it. In that case, he can use the trick I tested myself when I was a beginner: as a kiteboard leash alternative, he can put a children's floating rubber sleeves on the kiteboard's handle. This will produce two positive effects:
1. It will act as a small sail, pushing the board quicker downwind, helping the rider to reach it faster;
2. it will increase the board visibility so, even if the kiter can't body drag upwind to catch the board, he will always have it in sight, and once on the beach, some other kiter can be asked to go and grab it.
Board recovering tools
And what if you feel that children's rubber sleeves are not suitable for your image? Well then, you can invest some cash and buy a device designed for kiteboard gear. Look for "Leash-less Board Recovering Tool" online or find it here on amazon.
It is called GO JOE, and as the children's rubber sleeve, it dramatically increases the board's visibility on the water and creates that nice 'sail' effect to push the kiteboard downwind.
So, never to use a kiteboard leash?
For beginners, for sure. But for experts, there are situations where the kiteboard leash is the lesser of evils.
The most common situation when a kiteboarding leash is an acceptable option is when riding big waves. In this case, it often happens to be on reef banks or relative shallow rocks, and losing the board would mean have it smashed against the bottom. What's worse, for the rider would mean having to stay for a long time between the wave breaks to find the board. This would put him in a dangerous situation that would have a damaging potential far superior to the board leash itself.
In crowded wave spots, where many riders are concentrated and lined up to catch the waves, a floating lost board in the foam would create a hazardous obstacle for everyone.
A great article in The Kiteboarder Magazine outlines crucial indications for using a board leash:
- the right length for a wave surfing leash should be around 8 feet (2,5 meters): shorter it would increase the chances to have the kiteboard pulled against the rider, longer it would create a lot of drag.
- The leash section should be chosen according to the waves' dimension: too little can break, and too thick might cause again excessive drag while riding.
- If separated from the board, push the kite bar away to depower the kite and preventing it from loading up the leash.
- When fallen from the board, bring the kite up to the window's border in a neutral position and fully depowered. This will avoid having the board creating tension on the leash and pulling downwards.
- While retrieving the board by pulling the leash, having the kite on the same side will facilitate the operation.
- If possible, use a calf leash and attach the leash just below the knee. This will help to further reduce the drag by having less part of it in the water.
- wearing a helmet and an impact vest would lessen the chances of bad traumas.
Conclusion
Using a kiteboarding leash is dangerous, and it should be avoided. It is out of the question to use it for beginners, and for experts, it should be attentively evaluated and employed only when it is the lesser of evils.
With the proper teaching technique, reaching an adequate level of upwind body drag doesn't require more than a couple of extra lessons if the instructor is qualified and has optimal teaching methods. This knowledge's value is priceless for any kitesurfer who really wants to be independent and safe in the water.
Tell me what you think! Can you share your experience with a kiteboard leash? Do you have any other advice not mentioned here?
