Hi everyone!
Is there anybody out there who knows about some available data on leash dragging? All of us know these accessories affect boards’ speed, but in which extent? Can it be measured in terms of the different diameters used? Thanks for any info.
I’m waiting for the auto retracting leash to show up on the market.
There was a retractable leash out about 4 or 5 years ago. There was also the telephone cord leash, that hooked around your waist. They just never caught on.
Little drag compared to your overall size, maybe 3% difference. Better to work on your pumping and high line technique if you really care.
Just get on a skiboat and drag the leash…it just bounces around along with little drag.
When duck diving, does anybody ever have their foot get caught in their leash? I didn’t have this problem until I got my 5’7" fish. I’ve gotten better at making sure that my leg is free and clear, but I was wondering if this is a common issue. Peace!
I can’t find any pattern to it, but I used to go through phases of never thinking about my leash, to it getting stuck between my toes or standing on it constantly.
The only time I find a leash a hassle is when they break, and I have to swim in. No fun when I don’t float very good.
As far as drag goes, I’ve only felt leash drag when it catches seaweed, or gets caught on winged fins, which was often.
A funny leash story happened on Reunion Island while I was there, and more than once. The reef there is pretty shallow, and if you sit on the right suck rock you can get the best waves. Many visitors would be unaware of this rock, or how shallow it is.
So with leash dangling, the water starts draining off the reef as a set arrives, and the look of terror on these guys faces is almost hilarious as they are stuck, held by their leash on the reef, only to be released when the waves start hitting. The panicked scramble for the quick release was classic.
I laugh now because it happened to me, once. I now always sit with my leash up over my leg, or paddle with my leash leg bent. No drag.
Hey Jeff
I actually tried one of those retractable leashes a few years ago…they felt big and clunky on your ankle…I definitely felt a reduction in drag but the whole design was so unergonomic that the overall effect was negative.
If somebody could develop a small sexy efficient retractable leash… I’d use it.
Hi everyone!
Thanks for all your feedback and funny stories. I started this thread because I was surfing along the last week in very small but perfect beach break lines at my homebreak. As waves didn’t change for the last three days, I tried without leash one day, then with it next day, and finally without it again. I could say that my performance was extremely different without leash. Maybe, it could have been just a motivational feeling. Sure, I had surfed without leash before, but never noticed the difference at this level. Waves here where I live are generally chest high, so I don’t like to swim down to the inside everytime I lose my board, and I think it’s a very dangerous choice in a crowded environment. Another fact that moved me to create this thread was that I observed several surfers using thick cords in those days, so I thought i could collect some numerical data in relation to the different leash thickness.
LeeDD, could you say what’s the average speed of a surfboard??
Once again, thanks!
I’m certainly NO expert on the matter, and never really spent time thinking about it.
Planing appears around 11mph, so maybe 13-20 mph on chest high fast waves, if you can pump really well and make most sections.
As Lee sez
look, planing happens at all speeds you will be doing on a sufboard. The 'leash drag’is entirely psychological.
What isn’t psychological? Well, if you are out there on a longboard, without a leash, and you lose it and take out somebody inside. Then you wind up talking to somebody like me.
There are those who call themselves ‘soul surfers’. Inept longboarders who go without leashes. And lose the boards ( cos the skills they think they have do not include the skills guys like me learned 30+ years back for hanging onto the board)
I refer to them as ‘dildos’ : a weak, plastic, pathetic imitation of the real thing.
There isn’t much that ticks me off in the water. Longboard morons drop in on me, and that’s common, I blow by them and cut 'em off. Shade me on a take off, well, that’s fine, I can make the drops that they can’t. Try to psyche me? heh…surfer duuudes versus offshore New England fisherman guy and it ain’t no contest.
But Longboard Dildo without a leash? Okay, that gets me on the attack. I am in fist city mode. 'Cos Longboard ‘soul’ Dildo is gonna get somebody hurt. Maybe me. And I will tell them to go in to the beach and get a leash or leave, period.
Pardon me for blowing off steam - and yes, there are a few here I personally know who I will permit in the water leashless, but for the most part it’s irresponsible to be out there with a 9+ object, tumbling in the whitewater and prepped to take somebody out. Like I said, irresponsible.
Use your leash. Forget how nice it is not having to swim, think about who ya might take out…
doc…
Howzit doc, I have to admit I’m a non leash surfer but at Hanalei there is not to much of a chance of the board hitting anybody. When leashes first started on the surf scene I tried them but hated it so I worked on not losing my board. If I lost my board I would make myself paddle all the way in to the beach before paddling back out and at Hanalei that’s a good swim/paddle. In the end it paid off and always made sure I didn’t lose my board. One thing I don’t like is the surfer who just jumps off his board knowing he won’t have to swim because he’s connected to his board, almost had my eye takenout by just such a surfer a few years back. If the conditions are right it can be OK not to use one but if there is a chance someone may be injured due to a loose board then by all means they should be used. I have 2 customers that won’t even have me install a leash plug on their boards.Aloha,Kokua
Doc, I’m with you all the way. I learned to surf back in '59 before there were leashes. I quit for 22 years when the short board came on the seen, and I was overseas, came back and did not know what hit. I almost always use a leash.
Kokua, I’m also with you on this one. If you are surfing at a break where there is no one else out, go for it. I also do not like the San Jose kick out. (read jump off the board and try to make it look cool) or the Valley kick out. (dive off your board and just let it cut the guy paddle out in half).
My call surf like you don’t have a leash, but ware your leash.
I learned to surf without a leash, too. In fact, when cords first started becoming popular the big guys might send you to the beach if you had one. When I visit my buddy down is Baja L.A. there are still places you don’t want to wear one. I still love surfing without one. But, I cord up if I’m surfing a spot where my board is going to be destroyed or there is a crowd. A loose board cartwheeling through a crowded surf zone is pretty dangerous. That being said, my general rule is if I’m not sure I can’t make the swim in I don’t paddle out just because I have a cord on. Mike
Not wearing a leash is like not wearing a condom-it feels better if you don’t, but it’s probably smarter and more responsible if you do. I hate wearing a leash when I longboard, but if it’s crowded you have to. It’s scary being caught inside and seeing someone’s board bouncing towards you in the whitewash, and I would feel terrible if I hurt someone in such a preventable way. Plus, I’ve already had to fix my mal twice from having it wash up on a rocky shore. I suppose that’s why leashes were invented!
i like to keep a leash on my?@B!tch
specially if its crowded
so SHE doesnt take somebody out
just joking
im pussy whipped really
cheers
Paul
I’d say 55% of the time ime leashless and 45 % I wear a leash. I don’t like wearing a leash, espicelly on longboards and stubbies. If its big I wear a leash but small days I go without even with a crowd. I always pull off or catch my board before anything happens.
i like to keep a leash on my?@B!tch
specially if its crowded
so SHE doesnt take somebody out
just joking
im pussy whipped really
cheers
Paul
I reckon you’re wearing the dog collar mate , and SHE’S the one whipping you into submission …
“you are NOT going surfing again …DO you HEAR me !!!”
[cringe cringe grovel in the corner ] " y-y-y-yes , dear …"
etc
ben t
Hmmm, I see doc’s point, but really have to counter balance it against kokua’s, which I feel matches mine…sure, if you’re not a skilled longboarder, please wear a leash, but I feel the dangers of getting hit by the “jump off and shoot the board out to the end of the leash” crew is much more of a risk than the occassional lost longboard…and there’s no way I’m drilling fins or putting plugs in my 60’s boards, which I ride often.
Not to mention the total lack of accountability that the leash has given surfers…no consequences now to blatantly dropping in on somone and falling in front of them, or blowing a take-off…so the longboarders with leashes who never really belonged at the main peak anyway can no use the increased paddle power to catch and blow every set wave…and repeat the process 2 seconds later with no risk of a swim in…
That said, I switch to other boards (fish or whatever) when the surf edges into what could be termed the critical zone for leashless longboard surfing…
Other surfers will always be a risk, regardless of what “safety” devices or methods are in use.
Hi everybody!
After making all the convertions, the numbers showed that, if the dragging factor is about 3%, the speed can decrease sort of 5 to 10 m/s (meters). I don’t think a F1 engineer will have ignored such numbers. I know skilled surfer can deal with this, but they are queens in anthills. I know shapers in general are very proud persons, and it is comprehensible a they do their maximum in order to give surfers the best surfcraft as possible. But, sometimes the best equipment is not enough to improve average surfers performance. Sit on the beach and observe how they struggle to manage their boards for a few yards (to the beach, it is a dream). So, imagine they could pass through those dead fat sections in a easier way, with a minimum of dragging effect. We will have a bunch of happier surfers knocking the shapingroom’s door not to complain, but for ordering new ones.
i don’t use one, but i know in certain spots they are a wise thing to use.what i do see, however, is too many people with leashes just jump off and let their board fly/tumble where it may, to the detriment of other people in the water-they have not learned how to kick out or hang on to their board.i bet most of them couldn’t swim to shore if their life depended on it.in the right situation it is a good thing, though i think it’s made crowded spots more dangerous due to the leap and let it fly until it retracts mentality. surfing without one seems to make one a better judge of waves - thus you won’t take off on a wave you know is going to shut down just to bash the lip and then bail…(of course i am referring to probably 90% of those in the water, not the skilled, seasoned surfers who choose to wear a leash)