This video clearly shows why it is so vital to wear a leash. When the paddler does the classic ‘off-the-tail’ wipeout, his board gets propelled away with considerable force. Yet when he’s wearing his leash – the frame on the left – it just comes straight back. Without the leash he has to swim pretty much the entire length of a 25m pool to regain it. If there was some wind blowing, he probably would have lost the board completely.