Downwind: stepping on coiled leash

[yugi]

Stepping back quickly on the board when downwinding I'm finding myself stepping on the coiled leash too often. Any hints and tips on what I could do to mitigate this or different leash recommendations?

How about a leash which is only coil for half it's length? I thought the FCS adjustable racing leash might have been an option but it was shot down in another thread.

[PonoBill]

If you wear a camelbak or PFD you can hook the leash to the belt. I find calf leashes work better than ankle.

[peterp]

Your leash is either too long or doesn't coil enough.....

I use the Naish 6ft coil leash and I don't think I've ever stood on it and it will only touch water if I'm right off the tail. The leash is short and if you have a running start then it's bollocks as you can't take a full stride....that's really the only downside, but seeing I organise all our downwind races I just made sure we always start in knee-deep water.....

[Southbay]

Yugi, I had a FCS leash that was half coil, half straight, but it was dragging in the water a little.  Being that Cove is my DW nemesis, I figured that that was goign to make the difference and I bought a full coil DaKine leash.  Now the problem is that when I step back on the tail I step on it...alot. 

Not sure what kind of board you have, but my bullet has a leash loop in the front that is for the paddle handle, see photo:


I started attaching the short full coil leash the the front loop, and now it is out of the water, and I can make it back to the tail, without stepping on it, no problem.  Cove is still a problem, but that is a different story.  Hope this helps!

SB

[yugi]

Yeah, a 6 ft leash might just do the trick. Part of the problem is my leash plug is pretty far forward, part of the problem is my leash coils might be a bit weary. Oh, and no plugs up front.

[komsup]

if nb requirements are simplicity, strength & economy then you could do worse than shortest (prob 6') and thickest/strongest surf-leash at your local...
the (tightly) coiled sup-spec is nice at more-than-twice-the price, custom is also nice but can be tricky to arrange (i haven't, yet), the knee- are more comfy than ankle- but can be difficult to source to required spec (norm too long or thin or...)

[PonoBill]

The new SIC leash would probably help. It has tight coils, it's short, and has straight sections on both the board and cuff end. I'd still try it on your camelback belt. Rod Parmenter switched to that because he hates his leash to drag--hasn't had any problems since. I'll probably go that way when I finish my new PFD/Camelbak, but I'll add a separate loop for the leash. 

[Off-Shore]

I use a fully coiled short Leash on my SIC F16 attached to the back leash plug and on my ankle. I tried with it on the front paddle loop but did not like it getting in way of the foot steering. I tried quite a few leashes including Adjustable coiled FCS before finding one that was short enough from RedPaddle.

I like PB's idea of attaching to the CamelBak and will wait for pics to see how this works before trying.

[SeaMe]

Yeah, a 6 ft leash might just do the trick. Part of the problem is my leash plug is pretty far forward, part of the problem is my leash coils might be a bit weary. Oh, and no plugs up front.

Slight derailment, but why on earth would they place the leash plug that far forward? 

[yugi]

^^ The back of the Rage is flat, thin and low volume so two reasons I suppose:
- to allow water to flow over the back without hindrance
- because you don't need to get as far back on this board since it is so thin back there.

All works fine EXCEPT the stomping on the coiled leash part which is really annoying. I like the thin rails back there. Somehow it works. For one thing you don't get the water yanking on the leash like one can. Hey, maybe it's specifically to be able to use a really short leash!?

It's not my photo, just picked it up online, but the angle does make it look even more weirdly forward than it really is.

Re the attach to pack idea:
PonoBill: I would't trust the fastex buckle on the camelback waist belt. I guess either securely fastened to the pack itself - is that your plan? The shoulderstraps should hold a good yank and I guess reflexes would be to hold onto it and not let arms slip out. Or replace the stock waist belt with a climbing harness waist (just cut the leg loops off).

[Off-Shore]

Re the attach to pack idea
PonoBill: I wouldn't trust the fastex buckle on the camelback waist belt. I guess either securely fastened to the pack itself - is that your plan? The shoulderstraps should hold a good yank and I guess reflexes would be to hold onto it and not let arms slip out. Or replace the stock waist belt with a climbing harness waist (just cut the leg loops off).

Yugi. I'm with you on this. I want to see PB's set up on the CamelBak. I know a lot of the river whitewater SUP guys attach the leash to their PFDs but leashing a 16' or 17' board to my CamelBak and wiping out at speed fills me with images of being entangled in some sort of straightjacket...

[yugi]

Slight derailment, but why on earth would they place the leash plug that far forward? 

different angle