Today at Pt Chev a new Kiter had a pretty serious head injury from the board belting her across the head, Nasty mess.Hope she recovers and comes back out.

It was a tangled bridle that caused the kite to loop and send her flying but it was the leash with board attached which caused the damage. It was also the retractable type leash which goes to show even they can be dangerous. A helmet may not have stopped it either as it was to her face.

Leashes should not be sold in my opinion, Kitesurfing is dangerous enough without adding more risk.

What i'm getting at is people learning to kite must learn to Body drag properly before they go out, if they cant don't by a board until they can.Kiting is getting easier so lets take more responsibility for the newbies.

On the bright side Pt Chev was cranking........

i concur.

better to loose the board and drag back to shore than smash your face up.

i've lost my board a couple of times. luckily its washed up down wind half an hour or so later.

My opinion is if a shop, kiteschool or anyone else for that matter tries to sell you a leash, or even hints that it is a good idea for when you are learning to make it easier to get back to the board /not lose your board - you are not dealing with someone with good enough experience to be giving out that kind of advice.

Kiteboard leashes killed riders when kitesurfers started using them around 2000. I know 5 kiters that got severe injuries in the early days with and without a helmet on - 2 got scars on the back of their neck.

This is another girl thet got the board in the face from one of those so called safe "retractabe leashes" that most kiteshops put into the bin 7 years ago as they found out the claims by the manufacturer were complete bullshit.

This girl did not get hit on the head - she got hit in the face last year.




I know about someone that cut their throat(they survived-fin on board cut it open -Perth) and someone else that fractured their skull though their helmet also using a leash.

kiteboard leashes - they have sucked since 2000 - keep them in the bin

Thats hideous....

Im not taking a stab at shops selling leashes, this goes out to everyone that has a friend that kitesurfs and is considering a leash to make their life easier,...send them a link to this photo i reckon that should do it, no helmet would have saved that......

Sad to hear someone who was trying to be safer was hurt.
this is such a shame and I hope they recover quickly and are not put off by this experience.



Leashes have proven to be very dangerous, regardless if it's a straight board leash or a reel leash.

Please help put pressure on all shops to stop selling these items and more on teaching the students how to body drag back to a board.
There really is no excuse to sell a board leash.
I don't actually know who sells them but I always get people asking for them and do my best to talk them out of it.

FYI - everyone thinks it's an impact from the board that is the main danger.
In fact it is more likely that the rider would put the kite in the water and the board with leash would end up in the lines. This happens in flat water and surf.

Once you get a board through your lines you're screwed.
Thats one seriously out of control kite and you are now tied to it with your board leash.

Of course some shops would then sell you a helmet, a vest and a knife to fix those problems too.
The more clutter the more risk.
Keep it simple.

Lee
Anabatic Kiteboarding

I saw our new kiterboarder friend post accident, and would agree that in her case, there is a good chance a helmet would have made little or no difference to the final result - unless she was wearing a full-face ice hockey helmet!
It is sad that this happened - the warnings are out there that leashes (retractable or not) should not be used.
Hopefully the few remaining leash wearers' will learn from her experience, however I fear some of them will make excuses that our latest victim here was only a learner, therefor it obviously won't happen to them....pfffft. What they forget is that someone is going to have to help them out when they get nailed by their leash, and it's a rather traumatic experience for those who have to deal with the victim (I heard there was a looooot of blood around ...

Fortunately our injured kiter is still enthusiastic about kiting and cant wait to get back out there! Better still, when I spoke to her, she had understood and learnt that without a leash, she would have been better off..........if she hasn't learnt this, and continues to use the board leash, please, somebody steal it and throw it away (Should the kiteboarding community take a very proactive approach on this issue and actively go out and remove board leashes from people who continue to use them???? heheh)

Are any shops selling leashes'? I thought these riders were buying them either from overseas online shops? Or non-kiting shops like boat shops? I know WSP certainly ain't.

BODY DRAGGING IS AN IMPORTANT SKILL - LEARN IT

i'm noticed that all these incadents are with chicks. coincadence? or do women tend to use leashes more than blokes?

some more education

www.kiteboardleash.com/index.php?page=testimonials