Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Jaysus, what lotto numbers do you use

I wonder whether you could use the wing to drag you downwind to catch up with the board instead of swimming.

Great job recovering it all. Good reminder for all of us.

Nice save!
Glad you're ok.
Either is really difficult.
A flipping wing especially.

When a board is sitting by itself in the water it doesn't just drift downwind. As each wave pushes the board it momentarily gets up on the foil and accelerates.

It's quite good to be downwind of the board and watching it chase you like a faithful puppy. It sucks to be upwind and chasing it.

I have been in a similar position a few times (kite foiling). There is nothing more frustrating than being 50mm away from a board and not being able to grab it.

I also had a similar incident ago month ago windsurfing. Strong winds , 40 knots onshore, 2.5 waves, a big bay, sandy beach, grey dense clouds, grey water, mushy waves curling all arond. Some would say: nothing special, safe conditions, no problem.

I usually ride close to the shore-thats were the waves are, but this time I headed out in search of a huge steep ramp. I had this strange feeling that if for some reason I let go my kit I will get in trouble and than after a swift jibe ....bang I found myself with the rig in my hands but without a board under my feet.

I left my sail and tried to catch my board..no way, wave after wave white water the wave dissapeared towards the beach. I returned for the rig-it was waiting for me thanks God. I realised that I am somewhere 200-250 from the beach. The wind was cold but the water was warm, I was with a 5/4mm-thaks God. I decided to stay calm,save my energy, cling to my rig and let the waves and wind eject me on the shore--ha-ha what a fool.. After 10 minutes- no sign of even approaching. Windsurfers, kiters were looking like ants in the distance.

Don't trust anyone telling you that there is no panic-just heroic crap. That spooky feeling of doom and gloom creeping up your throat. You can't help it.Leaving the rig and start swimming-the most desperate(and foolish) thing you can do.

With all that water moving around- a couple of strokes and you are done- what if there are currents and for sure there are.. I started looking around-no one. AND then suddenly a kiter out from nowhere, I started waving, he noticed me and came!!!! I begged for help.

He was willing but shouted that he was not very experienced. I remember I noticed that his twin tib board had straps(thanks God it was not strapless...).

He started streching out his hand to grab mine- I realised that that this will not lead to anything... I yelled for a leash but his was too short aaargh... And then he left me.....Maybe to call for some help or maybe he just abondened me stuck. How long can I survive making some strokes, clinging to my rig and staying as far as ever from the shore...

But then the kiter made a turn and came again. Without even asking I gathered all of my strength and grabbed him around the knee with one hand like a beast, the other holding the mast base of my rig- after all I did not want to loose it ( a brand new 3,4 2020Goya banzai with 85rdm mast and a slick skinny goya boom) or at least do everything possible to save it before letting it go.

Slowly plowing the water, letting me take a break to recover after inhaling countless spray and water, the kiter(GOd bless Him, I don"even know his name) took me(and my rig unscathed) to rock solid bottom waved his hand and smoked away...My angel saviour.

Getting on the shore I took the weed off my boom-I couldn't extend my elbow, my biceps in hyper contracted mode from clinging to the kiters knee. After slow recover I started the search for my board. Luckily I found it anchored on a lump of weed without any dings- just a small barely seen scratch on the deck from the bolt of my disassembled trusted and proven.. mast base. I always make sure it is tight, but what happened I don't have a clue.

Thanks God I was lucky.

Now I have a different approach. Wing, kite, surf , foil, windsurf are nature challenging sports, playing with the elements. Never forget this fact. Nature has always the upper hand although we like ''immortal" digitally evolved humans don't like to think this way. It is not worth dying for a wall of water, believe me.

You got lucky there!
I've been using webbing belts for wing and board and I've had the wing unbuckle itself 3 or 4 times. I chased it down each time but the bastard seems to know when you're catching it and of it goes for another flutter. I do it a little differently now same it seems to have fixed the problem.
As for using the wing to sail downwind sans board...I've been play with that but I reckon the board will travel faster.

^^^^ that highlights one of my concerns about wing foiling. It's touted as the super safe alternative. Anything goes wrong you just paddle in.

In reality, a big paddle in is a mission. Try and paddle a mile in with no wind some time.

More importantly, the rider is a key structural element in the system. If there is anything wrong with the rider then you're going nowhere. At least with a kite, as long as it has some wind in it you can tow yourself to shore.

I ride with an Apple watch. In theory I could press 000 and get rescued. My missus can find my location using the Find My Iphone app. It's convenient to just have it there on my wrist under my wetsuit.

Thanks for that, great info.