Need Windsurfing Towing/Rescue How To

[kenonstott]

I tried to tow a disabled sailor and rig in for the first time Sunday and I didn’t have any luck. And he had derigged so there wasn’t all the drag of a rigged sail. I went up a board size over what I was sailing, ditching the 85L for the 115L. I also ditched the 5.3 and went with the 6.0 for some power. Apparently these were some dumb decisions as every time I started to put some pull in the rope the nose of my board went under. The 115L is only 7’11”; should I have gone with the longer Carve? And should I have stayed with the smaller sail? I knew the carpal tunnel was going to limit what I could do but it was pretty embarrassing that I didn’t even tow him a foot. Any suggestions for next time?

[Craig Goudie]

Hi Ken,

I have towed in more people than I'd like to admit. The most successful
tows were done by two people (plus the towee). One person ties a
length of rope between the nose (hopefully) or somewhere else, of the board/rig and your rear footstrap.
The other person drags the towee's body in (they hold onto your rear
footstrap). You're always better off with a larger board , a floater for sure, (and a longer
waterline helps also), with sail size pertinent to the conditions, but you
won't be planing in, and you will be developing a lot of drag on your arms,
as you slog. You also will be coming in way downwind. The return slogs
are brutal on the arms, and sometimes I've had someone come and take
take over the people drag. Getting started is always the most difficult,
and I recommend a very slow water start so that you have a fair
amount of forward momentum by the time you're in a standing position.
If you're lucky you might be able to hook in.

If you're towing in a whole rig and sailor by yourself, you may just want
to stay in waterstart position and drag the whole way in like that.
Like I said, it's brutal, but eventually you do reach shore.

-Craig

I tried to tow a disabled sailor and rig in for the first time Sunday and I didn’t have any luck. And he had derigged so there wasn’t all the drag of a rigged sail. I went up a board size over what I was sailing, ditching the 85L for the 115L. I also ditched the 5.3 and went with the 6.0 for some power. Apparently these were some dumb decisions as every time I started to put some pull in the rope the nose of my board went under. The 115L is only 7’11”; should I have gone with the longer Carve? And should I have stayed with the smaller sail? I knew the carpal tunnel was going to limit what I could do but it was pretty embarrassing that I didn’t even tow him a foot. Any suggestions for next time?

[DimitriMilovich]

Ken Winner either published or told me about a trick he developed in the Molokai channel when someone broke down during a crossing. After the broken-down person tied their rig up around their mast, Ken tied the tip of the mast to the back of his harness. Then water started and towed. This puts all the drag of the dragee into the harness and into the hook and your harness line, not through your arms.

I had occasion to try this some years back when someone broke down at Sulphur Creek, about midway across the lake on a pretty high wind day. It may have been Tripper. He figures into the story somehow, although my little buffer is hazy, either from age or from Tripper plying me with Wyoming beer. Can't remember details, but do remember that it worked pretty well. Some direction stability problems, maybe resulting from pulling on the mast instead of the nose of the board, but it was far easier than any other tow I'd done before. I seem to think the principle was sound, but might be improved with some kind of line from the nose instead of the mast, if possible. Key thing is to always carry extra line with you, typically wound up and cinched in a little coil on your harness so you're ready for anything.

[darrenfowler]

I recently saw an amazing rescue while in Cabarete. A sailor had his rig seperate from his board right in the impact zone of the reef. The guy was left with just the rig, while his board took off a good 200 yards away from him. One of the guys from the rental place sailed out on a big board and put the extra rig inside of his boom still fully rigged. Then he uphauled and went back to shore with the guy hanging on to the back foot straps. The board was later recovered on the beach.