How I rescued an injured windsurfer in rough conditions by towing him to the shore

[@bradkubota6968]

I heard it is easier to tow off your seat harness than the board. I did tow a stray board a good 2 km upwind back to the owners launch this way. it was fairly easy. If you know you cannot sail, you should start derigging right away. TIE EVERYTHING to the board as it will all sink eventually. I did manage to sail in 30-35 knots and 6-8 foot swells with a broken left ankle on starboard tack. don't think i could have done it on a broken front foot. it was just doable. Most people were struggling on two feet that day. : ) Be safe out there. Good job.

[@dengordo]

That sounds gnarly! I'm glad you made it back to shore in one piece and I hope you've recovered since.

[@bradkubota6968]

@@dengordo I live in southern Ontario. We have the great lakes that can get rough, really rough. North of Toronto however is a lake called lake Simcoe. When a strong wind comes up the waves very quickly grow to 2 meters. They are also spaced very closely. So we kinda call the waves boxcars as they are so steep. A small vessel abeam in the waves would get Instantly swamped. For windsurfing, it is a total party, jump city. My crash was many years ago. I get out less but Lake Simcoe is a total blast in 25knots.

[@greatape7258]

I broke my ankle 4 years ago.i removed the rig from my board,and paddled back to shore.another sailor dragged my rig back for me(thanks Wally).if I was alone I would straddle the board,de rig,roll up sail,and lay everything on board,then paddle.have done it a few times because of broken fins,masts,booms.hopefully no more ankles.

[@Str8representing]

is it easy to paddle and stay on course without a fin?

[@colomacountry]

You act as though you don't care, but you do, you can't help but help others :) Funny videos and love the sound effects. Wind people unite!

[@dengordo]

Thanks I'm sure most people would do the same. Keep safe and enjoy your time on the water

[@colomacountry]

That is true, when I'm in Baja and not on the water I'm usually launching and landing kites and or swimming out to rescue boards floating by. It's the needful thing to do and I get a lot of exercise :) have fun man!

[@oceannesailor]

wow. nice job. I wonder what some of the take away lessons from this are. 1) Always sail with a length of line for various potential 'emergencies' (you did, obviously). 2) make sure that's a line of reasonable length! (your efforts to get going looked seriously complicated when tied to his board.... floating around in such proximity.) 3) for those seeking to stay injury free.... keep your foot straps loose!? (is that how he twisted his ankle? got locked into a strap and went down?) Well done, obviously, no matter what. All's well that ends well.

[@WhiteSliceMedia]

good job you were able to save him! Next time I'd recommend tying a bowline knot in the rope, it is much stronger and won't come undone!

[@FranklinBryan]

How do you do that?

[@WhiteSliceMedia]

@@FranklinBryan google “how to tie a bowline”. It’s a widely used knot that would work a lot better

[@johnlysic6727]

Hell Yes! That tow was definitely not easy - I bet that was a serious full body workout - great job!

[@dengordo]

Thanks! Probably could have been done differently but not like I'd want to do it again. But I'll do it I had to

[@bradkubota6968]

Just remembered another tip. For this situation the rigged sail of the rescuee can be jammed over the rescuers sail like people do on the beach sometimes, interlocked then sailed in. Yes it will be a heavy bitch to handle but still better than being dragged in the water. not suitable for all situations. I think this was taught to me in my instructor course several decades back. Rescuee then lays on the board unencumbered by sail rig that acts more like an anchor. Rescuee may actually be able to paddle back reasonably fast laying on board vs. being towed. This also would vary depending on the situation.

[@gatesurfer]

What happened to him? Couldn’t he body drag back?

[@marcobortolan6560]

Hey! That was nice of you. Do you think you could have reached him only by board, switch rig so he could paddle the board to the beach and you took his gear instead? I guess this can work as long as his gear is not broken.

[@dengordo]

Thanks for your comment. The wind and current was strong and rough seas condition, no time for derigging really and paddling would just drift you away.

[@andysworldofoldschoolwindsurf]

Nice job. No easy way to do a rescue like that. Would have to ditch the sail I suppose and just tow the board if it came to it.

[@dengordo]

Thanks. How would you tow it? Same way attaching a rope to back footstraps or maybe there is a better way?

[@andysworldofoldschoolwindsurf]

​@@dengordo Rope to the back footstraps I think, exactly like you did. I had to tow a guy back in a couple of years ago and did the same- I had a longer rope and on my board I looped around the mastfoot rather than tying to my back footstrap- this was after sailing in to get some rope, but other end to his rear footstraps same as you. I've heard most boards tow in backwards and seems to be the case for both of us. The older boards had a 'towing eye' in the front so you could tie on, and tow forwards, but that is far rarer these days. The guy had been holding onto a buoy in a strong tide and mast totally full of water, so very slow progress dragging through the water- if I'd needed to get him more than the couple of hundred yards I did to be in the shallows, would have had to look at derigging, which is far easier said than done! I think you did very well, your casualty had little or nothing to contribute due to injury also, so pretty much a case of whatever gets results!

[@dengordo]

@@andysworldofoldschoolwindsurf Thank you. Good idea to loop the rope around mastfoot and maybe put it through the back footstraps to keep the board in line rather than having all the load on one screw of the footstrap.

[@kenjichanhkg]

Maybe it’d be easier if you de-rig his sail and then tow the board and everything together. Also, the knot should be in his joint base not foot strap

[@dengordo]

Thanks for your comment. The wind and current was strong and rough seas condition, no time for derigging really and the rope was a bit too short to attach to his joint and it would make it much harder to tow.

[@kenjichanhkg]

@@dengordo yes, de-rigging is the standard answer but in real life situation it might be hard to implement especially if there is a time constraint or with a very small board

[@dengordo]

@@kenjichanhkg I'd say derigging is the last resort when there is no other option, but I'm not that experienced to know really.

[@lucaantonucci857]

Sei un grande sempre aiutare chi è in difficoltà

[@jasminedelust3073]

wow very cool

[@lorenzoguidi7742]

Steel arms for this rescue..and the cold too...

[@dengordo]

Thanks. Fortunately it wasn't too cold about +10⁰C, but still exhausting. Stay safe! 🤙

[@jr5389]

De-rig........roll sail Around the mast put it all on the board flat lie on your tummy and use your arms to paddle in 🤔 You should practice this in shallow calm H20 on a nice 🌞 day............B. Boy Scout B prepared 🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🌞🌞

[@dengordo]

Thanks for your comment. The wind and current was strong and rough seas condition, no time for derigging really and paddling would just drift you away.

[@s.o.3653]

This is looking realy hard to manage.

[@dengordo]

This was my first time rescuing someone on my board so I didn't really know what to do. Fortunately it was cross-shore wind.

[@spychodog]

"But we go a lot in offshore winds " - this is a really bad idea.

[@dengordo]

Not much choice really and it's super flat but gusty as hell