We've already discussed leashes as too dangerous.
Are there any tips for windsurfers to catch gear that is being blown faster than you can swim?
I've had 2 incidents in the last 6 months.
The 1st I went for the back strap powered up in moguls , got the sail too upright and it was torn away as I was ejected sideways.
The gear sailed away for a fair distance with the sail in the air. Luckily a friend was there to grab the gear and slow its drift. By the time I swam and caught it it felt like heart attack material. I felt crook all that afternoon and night.
The most recent one I muffed a gybe and the cammed sail ended up belly down. The wind caught the edge and was blowing it away. Once again I got it but only on my last dying gasp. 
Wingers can use their wing to body drag and catch their board..
Anyway windsurfers can catch it? It's getting to the stage where I'm not game to try anything much in case I lose the gear.
Non cammed sails don't seem to be an issue. They just sink / stay there.
I like doing bearaways so I want my cammed sails until it's 20kts plus..
Luckily I sail on a lake.
The places I sail are cross shore or are places where you'd drift for a few hours before you'd hit shore.
That's my nightmare. I had it happen once in a 25kt breeze. Had to get a boat to get the board which had gone off at 10kts plus straight down the waves and was 1km away. Luckily I was close to shore and managed to swim the sail in.
I suppose sailing with others is good too although these days most others are wingers and I don't know that they'd realise I was trouble.
That's my dream but knowing my luck it would be an over weight 60 year old fisherman that rescues me
Thankfully I have only had some small ghost rides of the board and sail after I fell off, and was able to swim to them. I had a bigger event in the waves in really onshore wave conditions but I felt mostly foolish and not in danger.
But, once, there was a windfoiler here out with me and he fell in. I didn't see his head pop up and I sailed to his board and sail to check it out.
He wasn't there.
I really started to worry, and the chop was pretty bad for the wind state. I kept looking and scanning. Thankfully, I saw a boat loitering at a spot about a quarter mile away. He got scooped up and brought back. I'm glad because I really thought it was worse. We weren't that far from shore but the conditions were kind of rough.
once its going, its going... it happened twice in 15 years to me, I guess hang on to the boom has one more reason to do it
Just calmly swim back to the shore, your gear will be waiting you there, ready to go again : )
I had an incident when longboarding where the rig landed on the nose of the board in a crash. I knew right away that I had to get to the board quickly, but had no chance. It did not help that I was wearing a winter wet suit, impact vest, and mittens since the water temperature was around 10 degrees C. Felt like I was close to a heart attack when I tried to swim quickly. The sail (non-cambered) dropped into the water after maybe 50 meters, but the 25 knot wind still pushed the gear downwind much faster than I could swim. The wind was side-one (more side than on), chop was maybe half a meter. I was less than a kilometer from shore but had to swim in the direction the waves were going, which made it more than a mile to the launch. My board arrived way before me, and nearly gave my wife a heart attack. She re-rigged and came back out to look for me. She reached me about 5 minutes before the first rescue boat arrived, and about 10-15 minutes before I would have reached shallow water near shore.
I was dressed warm enough for the 40 minute (slow) swim, but a couple of things were quite scary. The first was that I could not see if I was making any progress towards shore. The GPS tracks later showed I did, but that was not obvious to me while swimming. The other thing that was scary was that I could see several people looking for me, but not seeing me in the water, even though I was wearing a red helmet and doing the over-head two armed emergency wave. At that time, I was maybe 600-800 meters away, and they were looking straight in my direction, but did not see me between the chop and whitecaps.
The one bit of advice from this experience is to always dress warm enough for a worst-case scenario, even if you don't expect to fall much. The other bit is to stay relaxed - panic attacks and heart attacks really don't help. But I've gotten a bit more hesitant to venture far when the weather gets cold, too.
I broke my mast and ended up across the US boarder in Point Roberts. Carried my gear up the beach back to Canada, and hitched a ride back to the ferry terminal. Close call. You will start to see strange things if you swim long enough 
Select to expand quoteboardsurfr said..
I had an incident when longboarding where the rig landed on the nose of the board in a crash. I knew right away that I had to get to the board quickly, but had no chance. It did not help that I was wearing a winter wet suit, impact vest, and mittens since the water temperature was around 10 degrees C. Felt like I was close to a heart attack when I tried to swim quickly. The sail (non-cambered) dropped into the water after maybe 50 meters, but the 25 knot wind still pushed the gear downwind much faster than I could swim. The wind was side-one (more side than on), chop was maybe half a meter. I was less than a kilometer from shore but had to swim in the direction the waves were going, which made it more than a mile to the launch. My board arrived way before me, and nearly gave my wife a heart attack. She re-rigged and came back out to look for me. She reached me about 5 minutes before the first rescue boat arrived, and about 10-15 minutes before I would have reached shallow water near shore.
I was dressed warm enough for the 40 minute (slow) swim, but a couple of things were quite scary. The first was that I could not see if I was making any progress towards shore. The GPS tracks later showed I did, but that was not obvious to me while swimming. The other thing that was scary was that I could see several people looking for me, but not seeing me in the water, even though I was wearing a red helmet and doing the over-head two armed emergency wave. At that time, I was maybe 600-800 meters away, and they were looking straight in my direction, but did not see me between the chop and whitecaps.
The one bit of advice from this experience is to always dress warm enough for a worst-case scenario, even if you don't expect to fall much. The other bit is to stay relaxed - panic attacks and heart attacks really don't help. But I've gotten a bit more hesitant to venture far when the weather gets cold, too.
Sounds scary.
Yes that's my problem. Trying to swim with a winter wettie, impact vest , harness gloves, booties etc. To make things worse my gps in the aquapack was working it's way down my arm. I ended up swimming holding it in my hand.
I thought about letting it go as it's leashed. Lucky I didn't as the leash had come undone.
I always 'dress" for worst case scenario. You can always jump in if you get too warm.
Select to expand quoteTaavi said..
Just calmly swim back to the shore, your gear will be waiting you there, ready to go again : )
And when having to let go of the gear in the waves, try to react and decide quickly - if the gear is still nearby it could be possible to body surf using the wave. Like here at 00:59 sec. The left hand side of our spot is relatively safe, but on the right hand side the current would take the gear downwind to another country some 100+ km away, so the fear of letting go of the gear is always there on bigger days.
I no longer sail in the surf but on a largish lake. I sail in the places with the best wind but that often means if you lose the gear it could blow kms away before it gets to land . Not onshore.
The OP commented that: Non cammed sails don't seem to be an issue. They just sink / stay there.
In recent years I have had my share of swims after gear. Of late had been thinking of trying my Ezzy Lion without cambers. Wondering if that might save some swims? But unsure of how the sail would work when blasting along and in the gybes. Any experience among the forum members?
Select to expand quoteLonglines said..
The OP commented that: Non cammed sails don't seem to be an issue. They just sink / stay there.
In recent years I have had my share of swims after gear. Of late had been thinking of trying my Ezzy Lion without cambers. Wondering if that might save some swims? But unsure of how the sail would work when blasting along and in the gybes. Any experience among the forum members?
Uncammed sails don't give the speeds cammed sails give when bearing away. Probably easier gybing.
Not sure of taking the cams out of a cammed sail? They aren't designed to be sailed without the cams so they might feel horrible and not perform.
Select to expand quotesboardcrazy said..Longlines said..
The OP commented that: Non cammed sails don't seem to be an issue. They just sink / stay there.
In recent years I have had my share of swims after gear. Of late had been thinking of trying my Ezzy Lion without cambers. Wondering if that might save some swims? But unsure of how the sail would work when blasting along and in the gybes. Any experience among the forum members?
Uncammed sails don't give the speeds cammed sails give when bearing away. Probably easier gybing.
Not sure of taking the cams out of a cammed sail? They aren't designed to be sailed without the cams so they might feel horrible and not perform.
Thanks. No doubt you are right. 
Get rid of the cam sails, seriously! Why do you even do that to yourself! There's great no cam sails these days with almost similar performance. Problem solved...
"What doesn't chill you makes you stronger"
for me it's the hypothermia 
...2 hours of vigorous cranking around under your belt, 7-8 degrees water temperature, about 1K out, good swell (somewhat usable in getting back) and decent current can rapidly shed a rather confronting light on your self-rescue abilities.
Best prevention is to never go out under-neoprened imo as things will keep on breaking and or choose freedom
Select to expand quoteLonglines said..
The OP commented that: Non cammed sails don't seem to be an issue. They just sink / stay there.
In recent years I have had my share of swims after gear. Of late had been thinking of trying my Ezzy Lion without cambers. Wondering if that might save some swims? But unsure of how the sail would work when blasting along and in the gybes. Any experience among the forum members?
I use my 9.5 Lion as a single cam. Still retains decent shape with the bottom cam. You lose a bit of top end, but gybing is almost like a RAF sail with awesome rotation.
Select to expand quoteptsf1111 said..
Get rid of the cam sails, seriously! Why do you even do that to yourself! There's great no cam sails these days with almost similar performance. Problem solved...
I also use them speed sailing. One sail for chop and flatwater.
I may have to consider NCXs when they die and as I get older.
Do large non cammed sails blow away when in the water?
I like my speed...
Select to expand quoteDownhaul66 said..Longlines said..
The OP commented that: Non cammed sails don't seem to be an issue. They just sink / stay there.
In recent years I have had my share of swims after gear. Of late had been thinking of trying my Ezzy Lion without cambers. Wondering if that might save some swims? But unsure of how the sail would work when blasting along and in the gybes. Any experience among the forum members?
I use my 9.5 Lion as a single cam. Still retains decent shape with the bottom cam. You lose a bit of top end, but gybing is almost like a RAF sail with awesome rotation.
Thanks! Will give that a go with my 7.5 Lion. Most useful to know it is the bottom cam to leave in. I am happy to forego some steam power to get better cornering. Also thinking of putting in a slightly longer cam sleeve.
Select to expand quotesboardcrazy said..
Do large non cammed sails blow away when in the water?
I like my speed...
I used a 7.5 NCX in the past (not sure if you'd call that large, I do) and never had any issues.
I think the actual difference in top speed would be small, like maybe 2 kts unless you're a pro but happy to be proven wrong on that. You might give up a little bit in the low end although the sail is so much lighter that it might not really matter for you in reality.
Sue, as you said, this is the second time you have raised this issue, so you are obviously concerned. The reality is that if it's an issue for you, then you have to change something. eg
- sail type - cam or no cam
- strength of wind you sail in
- how far you sail from shore
- swim fitness
- fin or foil - the foil on a board is effectively a sea anchor
- the amount of gear you carry - it's very hard to swim with a harness, impact/life vest and back pack
Figure out what's important to you and change what's not.
Select to expand quoteJohn340 said..
....
- fin or foil - the foil on a board is effectively a sea anchor....
Actually not true if the board is moving downwind, from personal experience i could not reach it...
After seeing some board catching techniques from wingers I thought maybe sailboarding would have some but it doesn't look like it.
I have a gps alarm pendant that allows you to call for help. I'll have to get it going. I'll at least be able to ring to get picked up and just float around till I am.
It will be less of a worry then.
I'm having technical issues setting up the
rotten thing.and have been avoiding the job. 
Select to expand quoteJohn340 said.. - the amount of gear you carry - it's very hard to swim with a harness, impact/life vest and back pack
^^ That
Sorry to say it Sue.
Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..John340 said.. - the amount of gear you carry - it's very hard to swim with a harness, impact/life vest and back pack
^^ That
Sorry to say it Sue.
Foregone conclusion now in WA
Select to expand quotesboardcrazy said..
Are there any tips for windsurfers to catch gear that is being blown faster than you can swim?
I have only one serious experience of this. It involved a twin cam sail that lay on the back on the board after a fluffed gybe a bit shy of a k off the beach. The brutal reality is that there is no "tip". If it's going faster you won't catch it. That's the equation. Preserve energy and preserve life, head directly to shore, at a steady pace, the second you realise your aren't going to catch it. If necessary, ditch harness and other impediments. That's my two cents worth. This doesn't apply to waves, thats a different scenario.
Select to expand quotemusorianin said..
If necessary, ditch harness and other impediments.
Harness is one thing, but the impact vest provides extra flotation and warmth, so it's something you definitely don't want to ditch. Gloves, boots, and a thick winter wetsuit also all hinder swimming, but prevent hypothermia, which is the bigger thread when it's cold.Select to expand quoteJohn340 said..
- fin or foil - the foil on a board is effectively a sea anchor
Not something I would rely on. I have seen foil gear get away very fast. If the board is aligned so it points downwind, even a bit of board speed generates lift that pushes the board up, exposing more of it to the wind. After all, it has to list only 10 kg instead of 100 kg. But perhaps the bigger factor is that windfoil boards tend to be larger than windsurf boards, offering the wind more area to push to board away from you.
Select to expand quotemusorianin said..sboardcrazy said..
Are there any tips for windsurfers to catch gear that is being blown faster than you can swim?
I have only one serious experience of this. It involved a twin cam sail that lay on the back on the board after a fluffed gybe a bit shy of a k off the beach. The brutal reality is that there is no "tip". If it's going faster you won't catch it. That's the equation. Preserve energy and preserve life, head directly to shore, at a steady pace, the second you realise your aren't going to catch it. If necessary, ditch harness and other impediments. That's my two cents worth. This doesn't apply to waves, thats a different scenario.
Around here, San Francisco Bay Area, we can sail quite "off shore", 2-3 Km from launch, and with big currents. So the only solution in case of separation from the rig is ... to carry a radio and call the cost guard. And possibly always sail with a buddy, so he/she can wait with you.
My impression is that people grossly overestimate how far they can swim in open waters. 1 km in ideal conditions is a lot, and 100-200 meters can be impossible against even moderate winds or current.
