Had a great session today. Got some really nice long runs on the foil. Still a little rusty, but feel like I'm getting there.
Had a near miss. I was flying along and got a little high, nose dived and got catapulted. As I was coming up, just as my head popped up I saw something rushing at me. Smashed into my chest. It was the foil. It had kept flying forward and if it had been a split second earlier, it would have hit me fair in the face.
A new thing to worry about when wiping out.
That's normal. I've been hit many times by the board on my head but also the foil on various part of the body. Unfortunately the sport is not without its dangers. Hence when you fall, try fall sideways, don't look back until a couple of seconds.
I wavesail for ages in serious storms without protection, but winging even in lightwind made me buy an impact vest and helm.Awesome sport, but that 82cm Axe-sword combo is scary stuff when not standing above it.
Always be aware of where the board is when you fall and do whatever you have to in terms of acrobatics to keep your legs and feet between you and the board / foil. I always cover my head w/ my arms just instinctually.
I got knocked so hard about a year ago in the surf my head and eyes were spinning and I could not tell which way was up or even see which way was up. Thought it was over.
I'm shopping for a vest and a helmet.
Ours is an "extreme Sport" and things can go pear-shaped very quickly even on a "routine day". Yesterday I got to test my helmet. Breached on foil, fell forward, still not sure how but the board landed on my head as I was in the water. It hit me so hard I saw starts. I had to sit on my board for a while and check to see if my helmet was cracked.
My automatic reaction since the early days of surfing is to tuck my chin into my chest, wrap one arm over my head, and extend the other arm up. In bigger wipeouts I would tuck into a ball, especially during a hold down.
The idea is to protect my face and head and the extended arm pushes any stray board away. Even with a helmet you need to protect your face if you crash.
I wouldn't say it's a fail safe technique. It's better than nothing and I have definitely felt bumps on my arm and pushed boards away with my hand on more than one occasion.
I think using foot straps to improve safety makes sense as well. Although if you fall in a really awkward way you can definitely hurt yourself with straps. I've found when falling I can just go down with the board resulting in more control and keeping the foil in a safer position. Another thing to consider is straps will help you recover in situations you'd crash otherwise. A good example of a recovery that could only happen because of foot straps: www.instagram.com/p/CKWSQUsjRbp/?igshid=1ebcn6k6aixki
