I've windsurfed for about 15 years and I raced windsurf boards (Formula boards) for about five years. Right or wrong, lifejackets are simply not part of the culture in windsurfing and not required by law in many areas. Most municipalities view a windsurf board as a type of surfboard and have gotten around lifejacket laws on the the theory that the rider could have to "duck under a wave" to get out through the surf (even though 90% of windsurfers never even ride in breaking waves). I can guarantee if the RC had required all windsurfers to wear lifejackets, they would have heard pissing and moaning from every competitor there.

Generally speaking, as long as the rig stays connected to the board, it will act as a sea anchor if the rider goes down and prevent the board from drifting away. Obviously, in this case, the board and rig did separate, but this is actually very rare as long as the equipment is in good condition and properly assembled.

In windsurfing, there are two hard and fast rules - 1) Never sail in offshore winds, 2) Never sail farther from shore than you can swim. A life jacket would have certainly been a good idea, but even with a PFD, the sailor still would have been in a dangerous, life threating situation.

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