Ke Nalu Stand Up Paddles Presents:
RACING STAND UP PADDLEBOARDS
How To: Choose a board Choose a paddle Train Prepare Race Win!
Racing Stand Up Paddleboards is not only fun, it’s a great reason to train and stay in shape
WANNA RACE? Racing a Stand Up Paddle Board is a worthwhile physical and mental challenge. Here’s how to get started. In this eBook we’re going to give you some information that should make your introduction to SUP racing a little less confusing and stressful, and perhaps more successful. Like any challenging endeavor, success in SUP racing takes time and effort. In the early days of SUP a well conditioned beginner on an unsuitable board with mediocre, poorly fitted paddle could push hard and do pretty well. I’ve seen beginners on a podium! Those days are over. In the first Battle Of The Paddle there were a few race
boards scattered among hundreds of stock surfboards. Now there are hundreds of purpose-built raceboards with a small scattering of stockers. Everyone trains yearround to perfect their conditioning, their technique, and their race strategy. You’re going to be against some very capable paddlers, even if you concentrate on the “open” class races. That’s a good thing, it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun if it was easy. Let’s talk first about choosing a board.
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Ke Nalu SUP Paddles The lightest racing paddles available, with a blade refined by high-tech testing http://www.kenalu.com
Have you ever heard the term “horses for courses”? It means you want to choose your horse based on the race. So before you go buying a race board you need to investigate the races that are near you or that you want to participate in and see what the board classes are. You can absolutely start with what you have, even if it’s a standard surfboard. You’ll be best served by a pretty big one so it will have some glide, but a board in the 11’ range is fine, and if you don’t mind being deal last and just want the experience then you can paddle something even shorter. Racing classes can include Stock Surf, 12’6”, 14 no rudder, 14 rudder and unlimited. But not all races include all classes, and even if they did, you might be the only person competing in that class. That could be an easy way to get a trophy, but in many cases a race group that’s too small gets folded into the next class up, so a 14’ board with a rudder winds up racing with the unlimited boards. Good luck with that. Going Stock Stock Surf is attractive, you can run what you have. But after you’ve struggled to drag a surfboard around a ten mile course you’ll probably be race board shopping. If you do decide to stick with the stock surf class for a while you may be well served to shop for something used, cheap and fast that works particularly well. A
narrow board (26 or 27” that’s 12 feet long with not much rocker can be surprisingly fast. I ran the “Round the Rock” race last year on an old 12’2” X 26 Starboard. I considered it my secret weapon to win the surf class because this board is particularly fast, with very flat rocker and straight rails. I was second in class for most of the race and would have finished there if not for some falling problems in side chop towards the end. The class was won by a guy on the exact same board. Both he and I finished well ahead of a lot of 12’6” and even 14’ race boards. 12’6” Race Boards 12’6” is a class that derives from stock boards but it has transitioned quickly into a highly sophisticated designs because many of the top level races require a 12’6” board to compete in the elite (pro level) class. Race boards in this class generally have penetrating bows, curved “displacement” bottoms and very sleek tail designs. They often have footwells to compensate the instability of narrow shapes. Speed Limits People often expect a race board to be capable of carrying a lot higher speed than a similar length surfboard design. They can’t. There’s a very real limitation to any hull operating in displacement mode (meaning “not planing”). A race board operates closer to that speed limit for longer
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spans of time, especially when paddled by a good paddler. 14’ Race Boards Since the speed limit is a function of length, the longer the waterline length of a board is, the faster it can go--if the paddler has enough power to push the limit. 14’ Boards strike a nice balance of waterline length, weight, and stability that makes them very popular. Unlimited You’d expect Unlimited boards to be the fastest board at any race, and if they have the best paddlers aboard, they are. But unlimited boards require a lot of power to reach maximum speed, They tend to be the choice of heavier paddlers since their size helps with the power to weight ratio. The typical maximum length at this time is around 19’. Paddles You need the best paddle you can afford if you want to compete well. Some people concentrate their investment in a good board for a few thousand bucks, and then use a paddle that’s too heavy, has a poorly designed blade, and doesn’t fit them properly. A good paddle can easily make the difference between running in the pack and running ahead. It’s also the source of a good sprint at the end, since you’ll have energy in reserve if you haven’t squandered it swinging a bad paddle
Race Ready: From Preliminaries to the Day After
live in has few races you might want to organize some yourself. It's not very hard to do today. It will get This section on preparing for SUP more complex in years to come as races will consist of four parts: the sanctioning bodies become Preliminaries--Choosing your more formal and more people start race, your board, your gear. Starting racing. We'll cover setting up your to train. own race in a separate post. Prep--things to do to your board, your gear, yourself. What to bring, Choosing the Right Race what to expect. If you've never raced before you Race Day--Checking in, checking might want to set your sights for out the competition, nutrition and something easy and low key at first. hydration. Getting a good start, Events like "The Battle of The setting a pace, finishing strong. Paddle" in either Oahu, Hawaii or Day After--Gear check, figuring Dana Point, California have huge out how to get better. turnouts and might be a bit much for a first go. But if you want to Preliminaries Depending on where you live, there give it a try then just go for it. might be races every weekend, and Likewise the "Round the Rock" in Seattle paddles around Mercer several to choose from each Island. Lots of people have made weekend. Or there might be only this their first race, but it's long and one or two races a year within reasonable distance. If the area you hard. If something like Round the Rock is going to be your first race
RACE VENUES
Don’t be standing in line when your race starts
There are three general venues for SUP racing: Flatwater, downwind, and channel crossings. Flatwater races can be sprints around buoys or distance races, and boards are generally displacement. Downwind and channel crossing are don with long boards that feature planing hulls for catching and riding swells
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than all the rest of this set of articles will be very important to you, especially the conditioning, choosing your gear, and pre-race nutrition and hydration. You don't want to bonk. I can testify to that firsthand--I bonked so bad on the last leg of the Round the Rock I didn't know if I was going to reach the finish line. People passed me in droves. The perfect first race is something local and friendly, that suits the board you have. Most races charge a nominal entry fee. Race Types There are currently five basic types of races. Closed Course racing is around buoys, usually positioned so that spectators on shore can see the show. they are usually long enough to require some endurance, but short enough that you'll be sprinting as hard as you can for most of the distance. If the course is in a lake or river, the big challenges are speed, rounding buoys, crosswinds, and passing other paddlers. This kind of race is an excellent choice for a first timer. Some closed course races include landing your board and running through a short course between laps. You'll want to know all the elements involved in the race so you can practice each of them. Distance Racing is point to point racing. Some distance races go around a long circuit (like the Round The Rock or the Ross Island Races in Portland) and end where they begin, some start at one point and end at another. The challenge of these races is typically maintaining a good pace for a long time, handling crosswinds and
chop, passing other racers, and in the case of the "out and in" races, dealing with contrary currents or wind. While there is no minimum distance, most "distance" events will be at least ten miles. Downwind races take advantage of wind and swells to make for a very fast pace. Most "flatwater" distance paces are in the 5 to 6 MPH range, while downwind paces can be 10 MPH or more. The difference is in riding the swells. The big challenge in competing in a downwind race is learning to ride swells and becoming efficient at catching them and extending the length of the ride. This is a very demanding form of racing, both physically and from a skills perspective. You need to have a few downwind runs under your belt before you take on a downwind race. Channel Crossings are the most challenging form of race. These are open-ocean races that offer a variety of conditions, from huge windswells to rolling cross currents and waves, contrary and helpful winds, and long distances. Many of these races require an escort boat for each paddler. Channel crossings are not for beginners, you should have numerous downwind and open ocean races under your belt before you undertake one. Classes, Groups and Take a good look at the classes the race offers. If it's a big race there will be more classes. There may also be age groups. Giant races like the Battle of the Paddle and the Columbia Gorge Classic have multiple events around a single weekend.
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It's typical to have a 12'6", 14' and unlimited. Some races have a Surf class, for boards that are true surfboard. Paddling a surfboard around a course is a lot of work, but it can be a fine way to get an introduction to racing. The 12'6 class is often the biggest, with the 14' class close behind. Unlimited class boards are expensive and a bit of a challenge to own and store. Racing boards tend tend to be very single-purpose, and the longer a board is, the more single purpose they become. A fast flatwater unlimited board is very challenging in open ocean swells or downwinders. An unlimited board designed for open ocean is not very fast in flatwater. The difference is mostly in the bow. A downwinder board generally has a planing nose and flat bottom like a surfboard. Flatwater boards have displacement hulls and wave-piercing bows like a canoe or a surfski. In the 12'6" class the racing boards tend to have canoe bows and flattened hulls--a little more of a compromise that lets them be turned more easily without a rudder. The best way to select a board class is to try several racing boards in each class and see how they feel for you. Larger paddlers tend to like the unlimited boards better, small paddlers tend to like the 12'6", though there are exceptions. Larger races also often have age groups. If you're interested in winning a few trophies as well as just competing, it's worthwhile to try to find out where the strongest competition lies. I have a pretty good collection of trophies simply
CHANNEL RACES
because I'm over 60 and paddle an unlimited board. there's not a huge amount of competition in that class, though it's stronger and stiffer than you might expect. For example my competition at the Battle of the Paddle is usually Gerry Lopez, Sparky Longley, and Mickey Munoz. Not exactly pushovers. Training I see the same pattern repeated in every racing venue. People start racing very casually. It's all just for fun. Then they see the front of the pack disappear into the distance and find themselves battling in the middle. They get a little more serious. They start paddling more. They read all of Dave Kalama's paddle technique articles http:// www.davidkalama.com/category/ technique and/or they get some paddle coaching or go to a Kalama Kamp. The next time they race, the front disappears less quickly. Some of the people who were in front of them are now behind them, but some of the people behind them are now in front! Because EVERYONE is training harder and learning a stroke--racing does that. So the true competition begins--you against the people around you, as that little band moves towards the front.
Channel Crossings are the ultimate challenge The big Hawaiian channel crossing races are widely considered to be the ultimate paddling challenge for canoes, surfskis, and now SUP racers. They require a lot of conditioning, practice in similar conditions, and planning since most require an escort boat.
Equipment aside, SUP racing is 1/3 technique, 1/3 conditioning, and 1/3 mental discipline. Let's leave the technique to Mr. Kalama and move to conditioning. If you can't get into the water frequently, then there are some exercises you can do that help you paddle harder and better. Crunches help strengthen your core--but do them right or they just waste time. Squeeze your
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abdominals as you crunch up, and don't just raise your head. Curl hard, if you can talk while you're doing it you're not crunching. Pullups, chinups, rows, anything that has you exercising your biceps, triceps, lats, abs, and your core in general. But nothing beats time on the water. You have to do more than just paddle aimlessly though. Here's my routine. I start paddling against the wind or current, whichever is stronger. Warm up with a steady pace, focusing on technique. I'm working on a Tahitian stroke, so that means reaching hard, stacking my shoulders, engaging my core at the catch, giving a smooth hard pull, then lifting the blade from the water well before it reaches my feet. For a full description of the stroke see Dave Kalama's site, in particular, read The Catch, Adding Power, and Recover. You'll have to click on "older articles" at the bottom of the page to see them all. Once I've warmed up I do hard sprints. I go as hard and fast as I can until my stroke starts getting sloppy. When the stroke first starts to go I bear down, maintain my pace, and just clean up my act. But sooner or later the recovery slows a little, the paddle splashes water, the catch isn't firm and quick. So I slow down to a slower pace and recover. Each time I try to go a little longer in my sprint. The tendency is to make each sprint shorter as you tire. Work against that and try to harder, longer. At some point just before you poop out you'll suddenly smooth out and feel very powerful. You'll be able to maintain a high cadence, good form, and strong
pull. Your board will fly over the water. It won't last long, but I go until I get there. Sometimes I can get two of those if I go far enough. When I first start telling myself I've gone far enough I pick a turnaround spot about a mile further. When I reach that point I pick a spot a half mile further and do at least two sprints before reaching that point. Then I turn around and cruise back, getting a long recovery. About a mile from the finish I pick the pace up gradually, until at the very end I'm going full out. I usually get another of those magic smooth moments at the end, and I can usually maintain it all the way to the beach. Cool off, load up, go do something else. Any day that the wind is blowing hard on the Columbia I try to get in a downwinder. I either shuttle with friends or get my wife to drop me at Viento Park, about 9.5 miles from the Nichols boat channel where she leaves my truck. Downwinders enforce their own discipline as you sprint to catch swells. The swells vary greatly in nature so you have to adapt your technique as you move through different zones of the river. Small, clean swells off Viento need sustained speed and precise steering to get a glide. The big, confused swells at swell city and the hatchery require acceleration to drop in and lots of concentration and balance to contend with the cross swells. The rollers off Wells Island demand good swell reading technique to maintain the glide, and the the little bumps from the Hook to Nichols take you back to sustained speed and precise angles. Lots of variation day to day equals good preparation.
Half This Game is 60 Percent Mental As far as mental discipline goes, I don't think you can do better than to simply read Dave Kalama’s Possessed article. I thought about it recently at a race in the Columbia. In the last mile I made a bad choice about line and current. Bob was just ahead of me and I was closing, but he went tight to the shore to clear some fish nets, and I decided to go further out in the swell and try to catch some glides to make up for the current. Looking ahead I pretty much knew it wasn't going to work, the waves were boiling with current from the river bending around a point--more like standing waves than swells--but I went for it anyway, and lost a lot of ground. Matthew was charging up behind me, encouraged by how quickly he had closed. Time to pull out the stops. I started breathing deeper,
SUP racing gear is simple, but good prep is still a benefit
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concentrated on my reach and stroke, and just started chugging. By the time I was fifty yards from the finish I was head down, paddling as hard and clean as I had at any time in the race. I recall Matt passing me quite handily in the flatwater at the start, but either lots of falls in the swells had taken some of the starch out of him, or he didn't think it was safe to pass with my paddle flailing so fast, and I finished a few board lengths ahead. Next Time In the next segment of this eBook we'll cover prepping your gear for a race, what to expect when you show up, and a checklist to make sure you have what you need. We'll also cover how to make sure you don't have some nagging problem during the race that limits your performance.
Surf Class
PREPARE TO RACE
Even stock surf class boards can be competitively selected. Choose the longest true surf production board available to you. Check the race classification for length limits. Some races specify 12’2” or under.
A Little Planning and Preparation Makes Racing Even More Fun Your Gear Once you've decided what class you'd like to race in, it's time to get your board and paddle, or to prep the one you have.
demoing boards your notion of stability is going to be mostly based on going slow. You won't be doing that in a race. Some people say you can't be fast on something you can't stand on, but in my experience people adapt very quickly and do Time in the not fall more often from boards they water is the consider somewhat unstable as opposed to ultimate prep those they feel comfortable with.
If you're buying a new board don't base your purchase on the board you are most comfortable on. You want the fastest thing you can manage to stand on, and that isn't likely to be the one you feel the most stable on. You'll gain stability with practice, and when you're BOARD CLASSES
After you spend some time on a board you get used to it's movements. A board that is highly stable in
SURF
12’6”
14’
UNLIMITED
Best choice is a 12’ board with straight rails and less rocker.
Purpose-built race boards under 12’6” in length. A common class for elite or pro racers
If you get a rudder board either add a fin box or a way to disable the rudder for class versatility
These are generally 16’ or longer, many have rudders. Great for big people or strong paddlers
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still water can be very cranky in a strong cross chop and may actually be more difficult to stand on than one that cuts through it. Bottom line, it's really just a matter of time on the water.
having to give up on a race because your equipment let you down.
Leash, Camelback, PFD If the race is more than four miles you're going to need hydration. You Once you're satified the paddle is can carry water bottles and grab a fine it's time to prep the grip. If you quick shot while you're gliding tape your shaft this is a good time (Dave Kalama does this) or you can to put on new tape. My preference wear a camelback. The little waist Whatever board you have, flip it is a layer of hockey tape overlapped versions are nice, but for longer over on a pair of sawhorses and 50%, with surf wax rubbed onto it. races you might prefer a backpack give it a good looking over. If you The wax penetrates into the tape. It version. For longer races you might have rough spots, repairs or dings will initially be too sticky, but after also want to add a bit of nutrition to it's a good idea to get them a day it will be just right. . your water. Some of the powders, smoothed out. If you are gels and blocks that endurance comfortable working on your board Race Togs athletes commonly use can upset I suppose there's a race somewhere your stomach. for that matter you can fill and sand these spots. Many people like to give the entire that you'd do in a wetsuit, but I've reading the labels might make you a board a light sanding with 400 grit never been to one. Most times bit sick. I'm not that excited about you'll be in some variant of sandpaper. The slightly rough adding a bunch of processed boardshorts and a shirt that texture slides through the water chemicals to my race routine. breathes. You get hot paddling hard Sometimes I use Hammer HEED, better. If you have gaps or for miles and miles. I generally protrusions in your fin box you but more often I make my own. To wear Lycra Triathlon compression might want to fill it with surf wax. my 1.7 liter camelback I add 1 cup tights with a pair of boardies over Some folks swear by various hull OJ, six packs of sugar, a couple of them. Up top I wear a shirt in some squeezes of lemon, a half teaspoon prep fluids and potions. They've kind of wicking material. I like been used a long time in sailboat of salt and top off with water. The high-visibility colors like neon races. I haven't tried any--yet. best thing about this recipe is you green or orange. You want a good can make it at breakfast from things Now your paddle. First of all, is it sunblock, and make sure you get that are sitting on the table at any the right height for you. If you have good coverage, including odd restaurant. a new race board that's thicker than places like in your ear and under your normal SUP you might need a your nose. Even if it's overcast the Many races require PFDs now. The longer paddle. Here's an article on reflected UV can really toast you, simplest thing is to always bring how to measure your paddle. For a and in the ear is a particularly one. I prefer the waist belt version. quick and dirty approach use Dave sensitive place for basal cell or I slip the belt up over my Kalama's method: With your blade other skin cancers to start. camelback belt to keep it up during at your toes your fingers and palm long races. As long as they don't should just be able to fold over your About half the time I wear start sliding around you won't fingerless gloves. It depends on the notice the thing once the starting paddle handle. length of the race and the condition horn blows. Generally you can just Now check the paddle over of my hands. You can get a sudden attach the PFD to the board and be thoroughly, looking for scratches or blister paddling, I've had them fine. A tiedown or bungie up front is cracks in the Carbon Fiber. Paddles come up in seconds after I switched a good way to stow the PFD. break during races. It's happened to paddles with a friend. I've also had me. Generally they break where nasty ones halfway through a race. If you're not wearing your PFD you there's been damage, like a deep gloves pretty much prevent blisters, should have a leash, and I think you scratch. If you have scratches or but can give you other problems. want one anyway. It's very easy to any sign of damage or weakness Still, for longer races, I wear them. kick your board away as you fall. If you should consider a different nothing else you'll loose time paddle. Nothing more irritating than swimming to it, but if there's wind
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or swells your board can get away quickly. I prefer calf leashes to keep the cord up out of the water. A coiled leash that just barely touches the board is not likely to drop in the water and drag. I make a special racing leash for my race boards using a piece of high-strength line to replace the section of leash that can fall in the water or get wrapped around your board. With this leash having a it wrapped around the board is just irritating--it doesn't slow you down at all. Get all your stuff together in one place--the clothes you're going to wear, your camelback and PFD, your shoes if you're wearing them, gloves, and leash. Get a good night's sleep the night before, pack in a little carbs, don't drink much alcohol, drink lots of water, hit the sack early. You're racing tomorrow. Race Day So, here we are on Race Day. Exciting stuff. You'll want to get to the event venue early to take care of any registration issues, get your gear down to the start line, go through all your stuff, and make sure you understand how the start works. Small events you only need to get there perhaps a half hour early, but for the large events I like to get there are couple of hours early. the registration lines can be VERY long, and registration crew is often a bit disorganized. You don't need to be stressed about whether or not you're going to get through registration in time to start. Breakfast At some races the organizers
actually serve breakfast, but it's generally something pretty heavy, like breakfast burritos. Not exactly the best thing to be eating before a hard race. I'm looking for fuel before a race, and that doesn't mean a lot of protein, fat or fiber. Eating and hydration are issues that you actually need to address for a few days before the race, but we're going to talk about it now.
STARTING
The biggest concern is dehydration. Sports medicine specialists say that losing as little as 1 percent of your body weight from dehydration reduces your performance more than 10 percent, and the effect on balance is even more profound. Drink fluid replacement drinks (commercial or homemade) starting the night before the race to make sure your electrolyte balance is good. Salt your food more than normal and consider adding some Lite salt to increase your Potassium load. This is all especially important if you expect warm conditions. . Don't overdo it, you want light colored urine, not clear, and you don't want to be waking up five times during the night to pee. You need a good nights sleep. In general you want to eat things that are easy to digest. In the 24 hours before your race, avoid foods that empty slowly from your stomach. This includes foods high in fat, high in fiber or processed foods. Your last large meal should be 12 hours before your scheduled start. It's not a bad thing to be a bit hungry before you start. At least you know you won't get stomach
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Don’t Get Jammed You want to be on one side or the other. The pack will generally form into a loose triangle with leaders at the point. The turbulence at the back can be substantial, and it’s tough to paddle cleanly with people jammed around you. A good start is critical--its hard to pass people in a SUP race.
cramps. A liquid breakfast is not a bad idea, lots of people recommend it. I prefer something like oatmeal, but I'll also often drink a smoothie to make sure I'm getting enough nutrients.
Beach Start You need to practice these for the venue and the conditions. Understand everything you might have to contend with. At the battle of the paddle, for instance, the beach is very steep, which means If you insist on getting more solid rough shorebreak. There's also a lot fuel before the race make sure you of kelp and other crap in the water. do it early. Give your body two You should practice your starts the hours to digest it, and drink a lot of day before, but make sure you have water with either a sports drink time to practice some on the diluted 50/50 or half the usual morning of your race--the homemade recipe (To my 1.7 liter conditions can change with tide and camelback I add 1/2 cup OJ, three swell. Generally you do a beach packs of sugar, a couple of squeezes start holding your board in one of lemon, a 1/4 teaspoon of salt and hand and you paddle in the other. top off with water). Keep drinking Run your board into the water hard until just before the start, and visit at the horn, get on your knees and the rest room 1/2 hour before the paddle like hell. Generally there is a start. three stroke rule, but in the chaos of a beach start no one cares if you do Everyone is a little different. It's a three or ten. Just don't stay on your good idea to write down what you knees when the crowd thins or you did and how it worked, especially might get DQ'ed. If you have a fin since the plans that worked are not that clears kelp well then you can as memorable as the ones that start at whichever end is most didn't. I don't need any notes to tell advantaged for the first turn. If your me that I shouldn't drink a bottle fin doesn't clear kelp or you have a and a half of wine the night before a rudder then it's important to find a 30 mile paddle. kelp-free spot to do your start from. You can make one by wading out Getting A Good Start and doing some harvesting, but it It's very hard to overcome a bad will fill back in quickly. start in a SUP race. I'm not really sure why that's so, it's probably Buoy Start mostly mental, but I find it hard to Get out early and line up at the pass people even when I'm faster, most advantaged end of the buoy and once I do get past in many line. Sit down next to the buoy with cases they disappear behind me. your feet in the water and hold your Make sure you know all the details spot. People will try to edge you of the start. Sometimes you're out. Don't let them. Just before the starting between two buoys, start, backpaddle a little, stand up sometimes in a line behind a jetski, and drift to the buoy. Keep paddling sometimes it's a sitting start or a to hold your spot. When you see the beach start. Here's how to deal with line start to drift the starter will each of those: either make people paddle back into line or will blow the horn. Be ready for either. Don't let anyone push
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you away from the buoy or you'll have a hard time paddling back into line. Usually the starter will push folks back once and when they start drifting over the line again will blow the horn. You're not looking for a fair start, you want to be ahead of everyone next to you at the start. If you have clear water ahead when the horn blows then bend you knees to adsorb any bumps from people behind you and paddle like hell. If you can drift across the people behind you a bit it will hold them up. Hey, that’s cheating! No, that’s tactics. Line Start Line starts are usually very uneven. Don't get behind the ski--the turbulence will have you doing balance checks instead of paddling hard. Starters try to hold the line straight but it starts drifting. Usually they'll have the ski driver go side to side to try to get the line straight, then they'll go slowly with the line following and blow the horn. You want to be on the advantaged end, cheating like crazy. When the starter begins to turn straight start paddling medium hard. You'll see other paddlers starting to go at the same time. The starter won't want to have a false start and do all the work of getting everyone lined up again, so they'll blow the horn. You should be paddling like crazy just as they do. Seated Start These are almost always between buoys or markers and they're a pretty fair start. You need to practice getting to your feet and going hard. Other than that just try to get to the advantaged end.
Early Pace How you pace yourself for the race is up to you, but remember that it's hard to catch someone in front of you. For me it's better to go hard at first, then catch a breath and set the pace I want. That usually means going all out for the first half mile. If we're paddling into the wind I like to pull behind someone who is marginally faster and draft them. I don't draft for the whole race, just in the beginning when the pack is bunched up. I stay right on their ass for the first half mile, then I coast a bit and get a drink. If I'm still with them I'll pick up the pace a bit, then coast some more and drink more. I repeat that until I really feel like I have my fill of water, then I pull off to the side and start working on smoothing out my technique. I find that if I ignore the person I've been drafting and just work hard on getting a full reach, a clean pull and recovery, and a good cadence, all the while breathing from my abdomen and engaging my core, I can usually pull past them. Don’t be surprised if they pull in and draft you--part of the game.
other articles, but if you're going to be competitive you need to know what the wind and currents are doing. In the Columbia, for example, races are won or lost by knowing what the current is doing, where the eddy lines are, and what swells will help you. If current is flowing against you it's going to take a very powerful swell to overcome the advantage of an eddy. Your board and your skills are also important. If you're on a planing board then swells are your friend. The current is not so important unless the swells are weak. If you don't know how to catch a wind swell then you'll probably want to look for smooth water.
Finish Hard You need to save some beans for the end. When you're about 3/4 of the way home you need to assess your competition. If you have a good lead on the person behind you, and no hope of catching the person in front of you, then you should probably start cleaning up your stroke and saving energy. Try moving a little forward on your board, making long reaches and Strong Middle If you are in the front third group, it pulling very short. In many cases this will give you a similar speed will probably thin out pretty with less energy output. Check your quickly. In the next third the 6 every so often to see how your packing lasts a bit longer, I think competition is doing. If they're not there's just less difference in the middle. In the last third things thin gaining much then maintain your less frantic pace until you are quickly as well since there are within sprint distance of the end, people who can hardly stand on their board and people who are not then start slowly turning it on. I followed some advice from Dave physically ready for race pace. Kalama about this and it worked so Wherever you are, find a piece of well I'm almost loath to tell you water, set your cadence, and run about it: your own race.
Pick Up The Pace If you just start paddling harder you’ll burn up your reserves and finish slow. You need a progressive and careful acceleration that brings you to a slightly higher, sustainable pace. Start with your breathing. Slowly, gently, increase how deeply you breathe, pumping more oxygen into your bloodstream. When you start to feel a little dizzy or lightheaded, start to reach further and pull a little harder and longer. Don't pull the paddle past your feet, that's just wasted energy, but give it a good, hard pull. Then increase your cadence just a tiny bit. Right about now you'll start feeling really good--strong and fast. Don't overdo it, stay with that pace. You'll probably start pulling away from the guy behind you, and with a little luck he won't have an answer for that. If you're close enough to the person in front of you, you should make sure you pass them when you're going smoothly. No flailing, or they'll figure you’re desperate and chase you down. Stay smooth and efficient and you might drop them. Yaay! Cross the finish line doing whatever you need to do. Races like the BOP have a little run at the end. I generally only run if something large is chasing me, but I try in that case. It's a good idea to practice running in sand a bit if you have to do one of those finishes. I figure anyone that passes me on the run at the end doesn't really count, but that's just me, you should probably give it a serious go. You might pass me in the chute. Then again I might trip you with my paddle.
Reading Water This is mostly a topic for many
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THE PARTY’S OVER So what’s next? So you did better than you expected, had a beer, loaded the boards and headed home. Now what?
at the beginning. You won’t get to a good stroke by starting with a horrible one and improving it.
Well if you’re like most people, you now have the bug. Racing SUP boards is pretty addictive. You might now be thinking about what board you need to get and whether or not you have the right paddle. We’ll cover all that in the balance of this article, but let’s talk first about the most important performance improvements you can make: You.
I don’t have any financial interest in Dave Kalama’s Kalama Male suada Kamps and Klinics, but Quis Dolor I’ve experienced his Set Ipsum teaching approach. I’ll simply say it’s the best way I know of to get a on HTTP:// good start on paddling better. www.davidkalama.com.
Coaching always seems expensive, but it’s a one-time expense and you There are three things you can build on that for the rest of the time improve about yourself to not only you do the sport. If you get serious move up the finishing order but to about racing or just paddling better have a lot more fun doing it. The you’ll go through a lot of boards most important thing is paddle and paddles, and spend a lot of your technique. valuable time learning and practicing. Good coaching at the You’ll see some variation in the top beginning is the cheapest and level paddlers, but that’s mostly easiest way to make the most out of because the sport is young. They all that investment in time and are all converging on an optimal money. I’m terrible at following paddle technique. It won’t be purely this kind of advice, I generally an adapted canoe technique any struggle along doing stuff my way more than the best SUP paddle will and then finally get lessons and be a canoe paddle with a long shaft. have a host of bad habits to And it’s going to take time for the overcome. That’s what I did with convergence to happen, but the Dave, finally getting some private good paddlers are starting with a coaching from him several years good stroke foundation. after I started paddling. It was my secret weapon for a year–the way a It may seem odd, but you can’t fat geezer could beat lots of young, learn a good stroke technique in a fit dudes. I was working half as few hours, any more than you can hard and going faster. gain a good golf or tennis swing in an hour or two. It takes practice and If you can’t make it to a Kamp or attention to optimize your stroke, Klinic, then find a local coach, or but you need to get on the right path study the paddle technique articles
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So that’s one. The second issue is your conditioning. Paddling fast and far takes very specific conditioning. You’ll want to spend time on the water, and if you get a good stroke foundation, and work on perfecting it, then the paddling you do will build the muscles and flexibility you need to compete. But when you’re not able to paddle you should be doing complimentary exercise. You can build a routine for the gym, or try something like CrossFit. You can ride bike, do body weight exercise. almost anything that keeps you off the couch will help, but aim for the core and upper body to optimize the effort. Third is training, which is not the same as conditioning. You need a specific set of training paddles that you do to condition yourself for the races you’ll run. Practice sprinting, practice maintaining a higher cadence, paddle against the wind and current. Go long, go short and hard. Whatever you do will work
better if you have a plan for it, and work the plan. Winning I like to compete, but I also like to win. And I don’t see anything wrong with stacking the deck in my favor as much as I can. My background includes motorcycle and car racing, and the best racers always make sure they are in the best equipment. One of the finest racers ever, Mark Donahue, said that serious racers always want an unfair advantage. And one of the Gurus of racing in the sixties and seventies, Kas Kastner, said “Never be beaten by equipment”, which means both never be beaten by poor preparation of your equipment, and never be beaten because someone else has better equipment. That doesn’t mean you need to have a Ferrari to even play, it means is you’re racing against a bunch of VW Rabbits, you need to have the best Rabbit the rules allow--or don’t bother. You can race a surfboard if you like, in fact I think SUP races should always include a surfboard class, but don’t expect to beat the racing boards. And understand that if I’m racing against you in that class I will have the very fastest “surfboard” I can find. I won’t
cheat, but I’ll have as good a board under me as the rules and my penny-pinching nature permit. After board comes paddle. Yes, the heavy, cheap paddle you bought will do, but the formula for Work is mass X velocity X time, and you’ll be doing a lot more of that than I will with my paddle that weighs 459 grams. Not only that, but my paddle doesn’t wobble, doesn’t vibrate, catches water like I’m sticking it in concrete, releases like it’s scared of water, and is exactly the right height for my arm length, my board, and my stroke. Don’t be beaten by equipment. Other Stuff For training runs and races you want a camelback that sits low but gets the tube to you without fuss. Your leash shouldn’t drag in the water or foul your rudder or fin. A GPS and heart rate monitor are valuable training aids. You can use something like a Garmin 305 or you can have everything in one device with a smartphone like an iPhone. You can use it for a GPS, music, pacing and emergency communication as well. Too bad they aren’t waterproof, but the LifeProof case works very well.
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Work on all that stuff and your next race will be better, more fun. more successful, more satisfying. And above all, enjoy, this stuff is just plain fun.
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