Lost rig at Lancelin (Sun Jan 10)

Hi Lancelin saiing folk, due to a carbon-boom breaking while outside the break at the Lancelin Lifesaving club, a complete rig was ditched in an effort to save oneself....

Suffice to say, if a possibly shredded North Natural 5.4m, KA Carbon boom, mast + base turns up on the beach somewhere, much gratitude would be forthcoming for a return of said broken (or otherwise) bits.

cheers, Mathew

Another thing which needs to be said often, by way of reminder;-

If your rig falls to bits and comes off your board,
ALWAYS GRAB THE BOARD IMMEDIATELY!
Don't stuff around trying to save the sail while the board blows off downwind.
I know it will probably sink but if the board has blown away, how do you think you are going to get it back to the beach if you are a kilometre or two out.?
Forget the rig, GRAB THE BOARD. At least then you might be able to paddle it back and save the sail if it hasn't sunk already.
If it has, then you can still paddle the board back to shore.
Otherwise you just end up losing both. And maybe more.

Similar thing happened to me the same day outside the break - the mast popped through the top of the sail, and the sail slid down the mast. I've often wondered what I would do if things went wrong.

pweedas and busterwa are absolutely right - hang on to the board for your life! I nearly lost mine while I was stuffing around with the sail.

I de-rigged in the water and eventually managed to put one mast half in each front footstrap and lie on top of the boom, mast base and rolled-up sail. The sail kept catching chop and filling up with water and I had to ditch it. Managed to paddle back with everything else but it was a terrifying experience. You're so far offshore that its hard to tell if you're making progress or being swept out to sea. All in all, the adventure only lasted about an hour, but it felt much longer.

I was lucky enough to bump into a friendly tea bagger from Mauritius who offered to body drag me the last 200m to shore and saved me the indignity of drifting across the slalom course in front of the pub. Fred (or was it Frank?) - thanks, man! Sorry I can't remember you name, I was so exhausted by then. I still owe you a pint.

Things I learned:

1) Don't rely on others. All my mates were on the beach but they had no idea I was in trouble. Another windsurfer said he would keep an eye on me, and then he dissapeared (come to think of it, maybe that was you, mathew?). When I got back to the beach, nobody was aware of any windsurfers in trouble.

2) Make sure the wind and currents will take you back to shore.

3) Don't go far offshore with dodgy old gear.

4) I would have felt a lot safer if I'd had my flares with me, even though I wouldn't have used them.

5) Kite surfers aren't all evil!

I put the top of my sail through the mast after a Keyboardcat-apult I still managed to sail it back in i was on 130 liter and uphauled . dont think you could do it with a semi sinker or sinker though.
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is it possiable to "tow a person back in if they are holding onto the back footstraps.
Is it possiable to tow/retreive a rig towing it with rope?
Has anyone tried.?

Hey Buster,

While I haven't towed a board back, I have towed a kite + harness + kiteboard using the back strap.

If I were to do it again I'd tie the whole lot to the uni, rather than the back strap. With the back of the board getting pulled downwind it's hard to get the nose pointing in the right direction as you slog back to shore.

If you're towing someone on a board back, get them to grab the uni, rather than back strap, same reasons.

http://www.boards.co.uk/articles/index.asp?ID_A=6&article_type=11

Not to me. If it ever happens to me again I'll try folding over the very top of the sail and tying it in place. From now on I'll keep a bit of spare cord attached to the rig somewhere so that I've got at least got something to work with in an emergency - as a tow rope or to lash loose gear together.



Sorry -my comment was meant to be tongue in cheek. I was annoyed when I got back to the beach, but it didn't occur to me that the other bloke might have got into trouble himself. Maybe it was me that should have raised the alarm!

I used mine again on the weekend, a kiter was in distress so I towed him in.

Towing using the uni joint worked really well

Make sure your length of rope is easy to undo (ie don't wrap it around your spreader bar) otherwise it takes too long just to get your magic bit of rope out. I just wind it around my hand until it's a loop, then wrap the free end around this to keep it all together... and that goes into my boardies pocket. Worked well.

I was sailing at main break that day too, and was somewhat apprehensive about it because the wind was somewhat offshore. (but it was so nicely windy and it was my last day in Lancelin so I just had to go for a sail...)I had a friend keeping an eye on me but he found it difficult to keep watching me because my sail was more clear than colour. The sail is particularly hard to see when it is in the water. All your friend knows is that they can't see you. They don't know whether to worry or not.
I felt somewhat reassured that if I encountered trouble the waves would wash me ashore at least, albeit a long way down wind.
Being an inexperienced ocean sailor I elected to stay inside the main break and I had an exhilarating sail.
Fortunately/unfortunately the only accident happened on land after the sail when I stepped in a hole on the lawn (I was watching my rig to avoid hitting people with it) and sprained my ankle!

My son had a long swim back to shore on Saturday. He said someone stopped by to ask if he needed help but that was early in the piece before he got tired.
Don't be afraid to ask again.

I hope someone found your rig and returned it to you mathew. Glad you made it back safely.