Laurent Borgna is French, a teacher and he kitesurfs regularly in the north of France… But apart from simply going out kitesurfing, Laurent has also been racking his brains up there for ways to make the sport simpler and safer ! His latest invention, a pivoting leash which is also part of the quick release for it…
Someone had to think of it !!!
Flysurf.com : What’s the principle of your leash ?
Laurent Borgna : "Nowadays you either fasten your leash to your wrist or harness. Nobody has yet offered us (thought of it I couldn’t say) of fixing it in a pivot around the quick release. Clips with an added swivel allow you to untwist the leash after a rotation, for sure, but it requires a human intervention to achieve it. This system turns freely and universally around the bar.
But what makes the system interesting is that the leash itself becomes the release of the quick release. It’s always in the same place and you can find it easily when you need it. You pull from underneath and it releases."
FSC : How did you think of it ?
LB : "Quite a lot of riders use a kind of strap / handle at one end of the bar linked to one of the rear lines that they use at the end of a session when they’re alone / the last one there. This solution requires use of both hands, quick release and handle. My system is derived from this handle strap idea. The idea of grabbing a ball or getting my fingers through a small loop seems pretty utopian : the people who’ We had to try and deal with this kind of moment could tell us a lot about just how difficult it is. Something had to be tried at least."
FSC : You’ve patented your system apparently, what’s the reason for that ?
LB : "In a way it’s to appease my wife, Delphine, who’s always saying I spend too much time tinkering with my kites, I told her this could make us rich !!! In fact the system has at the moment ‘patent applied for’ status. The request is all official, your sources were correct. But it’s not my job. I would have loved to work in a design or R&D office, I have ideas now and then and for once I said to myself “why not try and take this one further ?â€