Sacrilege?

After i lost a mat in winds i thought that i'd try something a bit different, and PG was kind enough to add a couple of optional extras..... The idea of the grommets wasn't to take the strain going over the falls on a 6 foot wave. I'll still be bear-hugging the mat when this happens. This is just to stop it blowing away again in gale force winds, I hope. And hey, it may mean that I can compete with kite surfers. I've tried a couple of things. 1) Just a rope across the front of the mat, which while it may have given it even more of a pool toy look didn't seem particularly useful. If the mat gets ripped from my hands I doubt that I'll have the presence of mind to grab it. That said it didn't seem to effect riding at all. 2) Just a leash through one of the grommets. This was a complete waste of time, as the leash had a tendency to drag under the mat and slow everything down. Back to the drawing board.. 3) My current set-up. A bridle and leash. It's working for me at the moment, as this keeps everything out of the way and doesn't drag. To be honest after the first few minutes I forgot it was there. I'll add more details as I get out in more conditions. Needless to say, if it's not windy, I take all this stuff off and just surf it clean. But so far, so good.