Protective gear

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

1. Hitting a wall or rock or bridge abuttment at x mph is identical to hitting an identical car or WSer or whatever directly head-on with both doing x mph.

2. Ive never heard of a WSer hitting a rock with his head . . . or even a direct head-to-head collision.

3. We gotta draw the line somewhere or wed be wearing Indy car head gear on our tricycles.

4. Guys . . . its WATER. When I gave up open class desert bikes, I gave up helmets the size of basketballs and the weight of the Shaqs work shoes.

Mike \m/

Rondeauboy · Joined: 06 Jan 2001 Posts: 13

Dude...... dont worry about what looks cool; just go sailing and enjoy yourself! Most likely the only people who are snickering about what you wear are the ones standing on the beach just wishing they were cool enough to windsurf.

There is this guy that comes out and sails his dinghy once-in-a-while here at our local launch, and we affectionately refer to him as google man (due to his ski goggles that he wears). He may not fit the strereotypical sailor image, but you know what? He doesnt care!........ he is still sailing and still smiling.

More power to you, and to goggle man!

Rondeauboy

amarie · Joined: 25 Aug 2003 Posts: 233 Location: Corpus Christi, TX

Youre not the only one. I wear long pants and a rash gard in the summer, and some people assume I have on a long wetsuit in the heat, but its fabric and actually keeps me cool. The booties give me better traction than my bare feet.
I have a foam helmet which is not the safest, but its lightweight and comfortable. Ive tried the hard ones and the strap bothers my neck, and if I buy it and never use it I figure thats no protection at all. The foam one mostly gives me confidence to try things I otherwise would not have, plus I have found that it keeps me warm and protects my eardrums. I dont mind the jellyfish stings, but I do mind getting wrinkles and weird tan lines.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Re: a floatation vest is cumbersome to swim in

I find them a valuable swim aid, whether sprinting for disappearing gear or swimming my gear in from a mile offshore if I milk the evening winds one reach too far. I sink to the point of gagging in anything less than a dry suit, so I need the extra 8-10 pounds of flotation.

The snug-fitting, less-than-PFD vests such as the Ziener, Maui Magic, or a similar DaKine vest disappear when put on and tied down to the harness so they wont ride up. Mine is permanently bungied to the back of my harness, and the harness waist strap engages the vest waist strap when I don the assembly.

Mike \m/

PatrickDietz00 · Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 61

I think what you might be interested in is Gath helments. pretty popular among LOTS of different athletes.

www.gathsports.com

shitan · Joined: 12 Mar 2003 Posts: 271

Traveling at 30 mph means a really good windsurfer, cant avoid a collision with another wsfer as good? and most of collisions happen only in case of jibing, swell riding or on the race track, and in all these cases the domage is not even noticeble.
Right of way was there way before windurfing existed just by respecting it or at least knowing it reduces the risk of this kind of collisions by a million not wearing some space ship protective gear!!
There is way much more risk of injery carrying your gear or even rigging on the nice grass area than sailing 30 knts wind.

Enjoy the rest of the season safely.

gemoore · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 494

Well, Mike, its obvious that you flunked physics. Inertia has a lot to do with the damage to body parts, including the head. Lots of mass, as in a bridge abutment, is bad, yes, but not the same. One cannot count on head-on blows and must also consider indirect hits.

I used to think that windsurfers mainly hit each other in slow mo, or going in somewhat similar directions. Then I was sailing on a reach one day at the OBX, and a sailor on an opposing reach, seemingly a safe distance upwind of me, and he suddenly got launched (from what I dont know). The peak of his mast landed in the water about a foot from my windward rail right as I went past it. He had looked like he was in control, I dont know why he crashed. If his mast had hit my leg it would have been shattered; if his mast had hit me in the chest or abdomen, Id have been gored; if his mast had hit my mast and thrown us into each other it would have been a high speed collision with the inertia of two bodies at something between 40 and 50 mph. Plenty of potential for a serious closed-head injury.

Morals to the story:
1) steer far from anyone else on an opposing reach (even sailors you trust),
2) in crowded waters, you simply may not be able to get away from everyone and will be vulnerable,
3) youre a fool if you think It cant happen to me, and
4) my snowboarding helmet was LESS EXPENSIVE than a Gath watersports helmet, is more comfortable, only a little bit heavier, and FAR more protective.

One doesnt wear protective gear for the likely scenario, but for the worst-case scenario. My simple point is that if you think your cheap flimsy watersports helmet is going to protect you in the worst case...

youre foolin yourself

And your relatives wont be able to say, Nobody ever told him those helmets werent good enough!

spyder · Joined: 24 Sep 1996 Posts: 2790 Location: oahu

Theres a japanese company that makes really cool carbon helmets. I am hoping to find a rep for them.

The helmets are really light and look fantastic..a bit Speed Racerish, or UltraManish but what do you expect from Japan ?!

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Ive heard of very few rigging injuries (one) and carrying injuries (one, but serious), but have seen MANY sailing injuries a helmet would have prevented. Care to support your statistics?

Mike \m/

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Did very well in physics, as a matter of fact. That a head-on collision between similar objects at any given equal speed has the same effect as either of them hitting an immovable object (its not the objects mass, but its immovability, that counts) at that same speed (NOT their closing speed) can be proven several ways, including math, physics, and simple logic. Either way -- brick wall, Klingon force shield, or two heads or cars hitting head on -- a piece of newspaper at the plane of impact is unaffected, so neither car nor head knows or cares whether there was a head, a car, a force shield, or a brick wall backing up that sheet of newspaper.

The math takes longer.

Mike \m/