Broke my toe on Saturday and have been chatting with another poor guy who broke his leg last Wednesday. Got me thinking, wonder what other people have done in the pursuit of happiness on the water.

What's the worst windsurfing injury you've done to yourself?

split my face open when I came down from a backloop nose first and hit the mast.

almost cut my big toe off and had it stitched back on after landing feet first on a reef after a catapult due to hitting said reef.

got a paper cut from the sail rigging once. that wrecked my day more than the 2 above. actually getting my toe stitched did create some contempt for the day.

bugger,

I don't try loops anymore. I almost knocked myself out trying forwards and broke a boom and took the nose off the board. I have come to the conclusion there is a Darwin award if I keep trying stuff I can't do.

I take my hat head off to those that are skilled.

Dislocated shoulder at offshore reef breek (about 6-800m out).
Was about 30-35kn so had to swim for my gear really fast or else drown. 5 strokes of freestyle made the shoulder way worse and hurt like I can't describe.

It was late in the day and only one other guy out, no other options to get back in except sail. I could not move the arm anymore, so he flew the sail for me and then lifted my buggered arm up onto the boom so I could waterstart (so now the shoulder was 3x worse lol).
Waterstart hurt more than swimming as the sail lifted me hard and fast but I hooked in straight away and got into straps pretty fast in that wind.

Weirdly, trying to get out of my wettie kinda put it back in! (By then panadeine forte and Bundy had been used so judgement may have been impaired)

Had surgery and a year off sailing. Previously I had broken my ankle windsurfing and sooked the whole time about missing a season - but this time I was lucky to be alive so didn't whinge (as much lol)

Got bitten on the bum by a Green Ant while rigging up.

Windsurfing:Tore a ligament in my thumb getting catapulted.

Non-Windsurfing: Shattered radial head in left elbow coming of skateboard.

Dislocated knee running into a sandbank in Tauranga NZ
Slipped disc down-hauling at Golden Beach
5 inch Gashed ankle at Lancelin when I kicked the fin waterstarting, worlds fastest waterstart after i saw all the blood
Stood on a Cobler fish in Coro two days later - Other foot
Pumpkin sized ankle after stack with a Kite

Also been bitten on bum by a green ant, but that was my favourite

Macroscien said..

Just broke an alu boom last Saturday and somehow did this ( sharp edges or fin, or shark ? I don't)

I got blown off the water on my 8.6 I'm not surprised you broke your boom with your 8m up, especially given I've got about 18Kg on you

Mark _australia said..

Had surgery and a year off sailing. Previously I had broken my ankle windsurfing and sooked the whole time about missing a season - but this time I was lucky to be alive so didn't whinge (as much lol)

That just put everything in perspective and made my four weeks off the water feel lame (not just my foot). I'm at home feeling a little better about my situation. Thanks Mark.

Broke my leg, split the tibia down the middle. Fractured the tibial plateau, now got two bunnings bones (titanium screws) holding my tibia together.
Grafted a piece of bone from my hip for the tibial plateau.

Can we change this thread to - the best time I've had windsurfing -

As reading this stuff is making my old injuries twitch - there are many, I think I've adequately covered most parts of my body !

This thread is a great cure for feeling sorry for yourself. I feel HEAPS better! Especially thanks to Mark and boardboy!

Came off in gybe and tore MCL in knee in January. Deep vein thrombosis, brace, specialists and rehab later, finally made grand return to windsurfing in August. After 5 days on the water, big stack into boom, tore cartilage in rib cage. Am 8 weeks into an estimated 3 months of recovery. No improvement yet.

It's not windsurfing's fault. I blame the 10-12 hour days in a desk chair copping crap from unhappy people this year. 2013 sucks ass.

Sailing down safety bay (the pond) 8 years ago thought l could make it across the sandbar into the bay but it stopped me so quick broke 4 ribs on my right side took my big toenail off split my lip clean agross not to mention cracked finbox bent boom & torn sail.it took me 3 month's to recover. Ps couldn't sleep properly for a month.

Christmas Day 1978, I wasn't windsurfing, but I was out at Terrigal NSW in a tiny 2 foot surf at low tide with a lightweight, less than 6 foot long single fin surfboard. The surf was small and really hollow, so I started fooling around in it, jumping on and off the board. I should have known better! The fin hit a sandbar and the board stopped dead. I stepped off, raising my arms to balance myself, and the suddenly lightened board flipped up and caught me under my right armpit.

It winded me a bit, but I kept fooling around, then I started getting a 'stitch' in my right side. It got worse and worse, and wouldn't go away, so I got out of the water and walked home to get ready to go out for Christmas lunch with a workmate's family. (I was very single-divorced at this time) By the time Jenny came to pick me up I was almost unconscious with the pain in my side, so she took me straight to Gosford hospital ER.

The doctor took my shirt off and ran his fingers down my right side ribs...
"This one's broken, the one under it's broken in 2 places, the one under that in 3, the one under that is also broken in 2 places and the next one's broken too." Christmas lunch that day was a stale meat pie in the ER department while they strapped up my 5 smashed ribs and dosed me with horse-pill sized painkillers.

There is a good side to this story however... I had to go 'cold turkey' for 10 weeks, no surfing, no drinking, no partying, no misbehaving whatsoever, a dramatic change for me at the time, and a forced opportunity foe me to dry out. The first night I was allowed back out on the town, a mate took me to the Leagues Club Sunday night disco, and introduced a (very sober) me to a delightful young lady who's actually now been my wife for the last 33 years.

Best accident, and best Christmas present I ever had!

Cheers, Glen.

windsufering said..

Pride !

+ 1..
Also stuffed a gybe and the boom got my mouth and broke a tooth off. Cried my eyes out while I sat in the water.. Not from pain but from fear of the dentist bill! Got a cheapie repair for $300 odd - it fell out and got another gratis and so far so good..

Mobydisc said..

Got sunburnt once.

HAHA bought the same for me, took some skin off the bottom of my foot but thats it so far