Do you step off gracefully?

[Robsw6]

PS: There are no safety speeches here...

Those who had foot injuries this way, could not surf for weeks !!!

And Dave have had issues for half a year now, because of a broken foot

So it is all about more time on the water, and got nothing to do with safety

Some will heed advice.... others will learn for themselves !

I for one am happy to "butt land" ALWAYS.... back in '08, I was coming in to the beach on a SB, ollied the board round, nose rode into about 2 inches of water, stepped off my board into SOFT sand, VERY soft waterlogged sand, my foot stuck solid, I continued mving fwd v slowly, less than walking pace, ankly dislocated & then snapped my fibia & tibia in x10 places... it did sting a bit.... and still does now !

[joekitetime]

I tried the "plop" method as described above. Never graceful, sometimes dangerous when the foil shoots off somewhere, and a few times it luffed the kite which then fell from the sky, right at the waters edge. And, considering all the injuries and cuts from jumping off, I've now determined for me the move I strive to do always. When I'm still a ways off from shore, in plenty deep water, I try to come off foil but ride the board flat on the water, stop, start to sink, then gingerly transition into the water, then body drag in.

Not super cool for sure. But I have far too many scratches on my foils from hitting bottom, to many cuts and bruises from other methods.

Lastly, when I do get to have a dry hair session, I hate to get soaked right in the last 20 seconds.

[Whattheflock]

I usually just slow down and plop. Been experimenting with coming in slow, put hand on board and let legs drag in water while board foils beside me.. it's a work in progress. Really dig the strapless style of that ketos foilboarder on youtube.

[davesails7]

Some will heed advice.... others will learn for themselves !

I for one am happy to "butt land" ALWAYS.... back in '08, I was coming in to the beach on a SB, ollied the board round, nose rode into about 2 inches of water, stepped off my board into SOFT sand, VERY soft waterlogged sand, my foot stuck solid, I continued mving fwd v slowly, less than walking pace, ankly dislocated & then snapped my fibia & tibia in x10 places... it did sting a bit.... and still does now !

That sucks! Very similar for me. My foot jammed into the sand with my leg straight. With my ankle stuck in the sand, my torso kept going and all that leverage caused my femur to crush the top of my tibia (tibial plateau fracture). "Luckily" just splintered and crushed in the top of the tibia. All the broken pieces stayed in place, so didn't need surgery.

After 14 years of kiting with no significant injuries, I never expected surfing a 2ft wave would get me! I wasn't doing anything crazy, just paddling back to the beach and decided to catch a small wave on the inside. However, after telling people about my injury, I was surprised to hear how many others had their own stories of major injuries stepping off in shallow water (broken ankles, broken legs, torn knees, even one died from broken neck surfing shore break).

Kiting is inherently risky, but there are definitely small changes you can make to significantly reduce your risk of injury.

[geokite]

Going slow, deep water, jump off, catch board going up with arm. Biggest risk is to shoulder, just gotta be going slow.

[TheJoe]

Just learning to foil but keeping with the back crash method. Just had ankle surgery back in December and I don't want to go thru that ever again.

[Slappysan]

With my old tank foil I'd just ride it until it dismounted me

With my carbon foil I prefer to only ride in to about waist deep water and then fall off upwind while tipping the foil over on it's side, since my wing is so big it floats on it's side there are no chances of it hitting the ground.

[Regis-de-giens]

Yesterday was my first session after confinement ; I tried a new configuration : by approaching the beach toeside (side-shore, slowly with kite high and foil almost vertical) and then let me fall down downstream by bending legs and "bring the board with me" in my fall; it was great, very pleasant actually because you can let you go facing the water , almost vertical, without crashing on the back and without really jumping , by just falling slowly, your body and the board downstream the wing so far from you and the lines: no hawful crash, board easily accessible with your hand before jumping, foil upstream so less dangerous ;

... really to be tested...

[irwe]

I agree with Regis-de-giens, my favourite foil dismount is coming in toeside. I can get the foil to almost stall and when I gently dismount I use the kite for lift and as I untwist I can grab the board with my upwind hand. It's a great technique when there is shore break and you don't want your board to get away from you.
I have a Kitebuddie who did a jump dismount off his foil last summer and didn't realize how shallow it was and injured his leg putting him out for the rest of the season.

[Peter_Frank]

Interesting, but what is it?

Could you show a video of this - I dont understand what you are saying here, about toeside and falling downstream (dont know what downstream is, downwind?)

Peter