Paddle board goes flying on windy Christchurch beach, narrowly avoids hitting woman

A Christchurch woman narrowly avoided injury when a gust of wind picked up her paddle board and caused it to fly through the air past her head.

Karen and Kurt Langer decided to brave the wild weather this morning and head out to Cass Bay.

Christchurch was one of the few spots over the country that largely escaped the wrath of ex-cyclone Fehi today, though the region was still hit with strong winds and periods of heavy rain.

Kurt Langer said his wife was determined to get a bit of paddle boarding practise in the strong winds, while he was on baby-watching duties.

"It was quite glassy when she first went out there, but then the wind kind of turned," Langer said.

It was around 11.30am when Karen decided to call it a day and began paddling in to shore. But as Langer watched, a gust of wind propelled his wife forward, right up on to the shore.

"She jumped up on the shore and the board flew after her," Langer said.

"It landed right up on the beach on some rocks.

"It really looked like it flew through the air just a foot away from her," he said.

While the big board landed with a fair amount of force, Langer said only one fin on the board had snapped off.

Langer's wife, Karen, said she felt the board whip past her as she jumped off, but was pre-occupied with the strength of the wind behind her.

"It was the last thing I expected, for it to come flying past me."

Karen said the incident wouldn't deter her from jumping on the paddleboard again.

"I'm used to the wind and the wild weather - I'm from Scotland."