Our friend Brian Lee shared this video of a run down a windy intracoastal waterway paddle last week.
At 6 seconds, Brian takes a dip, and just a few second later a gust of wind picks up the 14-foot race SUP, propels it OVER Brian’s head and down the waterway. In less than a second, the race board is 10 feet away from Brian, straining at the end of the leash.
Obviously, this would have been a different story if Brian hadn’t been wearing a leash — at the very least, this would have meant a very long, cold walk home and a lost and/or damaged board. Had this been out to sea, things could have gone very badly.
When we asked Brian if we could share his video, he replied, “Yeah, sure you can share it! It was a video like mine that helped convince me to always wear a leash. I’ve never been in a position quite like that, with the sinking feeling of knowing that without a leash my board would have been gone!”
So be like Brian — wear your leash.
By the way, the forecast wind speed was only 11 mph that day, but the maximum measured gust was 38 mph, which obviously is plenty to set your board free. Even on days it doesn’t seem like you need a leash, I recommend wearing it. You never know when you might need it, and just as important, wearing it will become second nature.
