Surfski Knowledge Base

Kevin Olney
01/28/19 #24307

After spending a week and a half on the beautiful island of Kaua’i, I had the opportunity to participate in a local race. I’ve been paddling fairly regularly this winter so, conditioning-wise, I felt pretty confident. Paddling the open ocean is a whole different dimension though. I was excited/anxious/nervous preparing for the race.

The course is 10.5 miles downwind around the southeastern corner of the island. The first mile angles across the swell and is complicated by rebound from the shoreline but after that it’s clean runs all the way to the finish.

There was an early start for the slower boats then the next 30 boats lined up to go. There was 27 OCs and three skis, myself, Dylan Thomas and Wes Da Silva. Dylan and Wes are the top (and pretty much only) ski paddlers on the island. My race strategy was to only go as hard as needed to pace the leaders and follow their lines and, hopefully, make a move close to the finish. As soon as the start whistle blew I went out at a pace around 95% of a Wednesday nighter start. Surprisingly, I quickly found myself in the lead. I figured my only advantages were going to be in the mixed/sloppy or flatfish conditions so I pushed hard for the next mile.

As the runs started to form my lead evaporated. The locals glided onto waves as I struggled to find the rhythm of the ocean. I was being pretty aggressive on the waves and felt like I was surfing well, but the way the locals were able to link waves and use so little energy was impressive. Eventually I was able to coordinate my timing and effort and managed to pull closer to Wes but Dylan had taken a favorable outside line and moved ahead of both of us. The two OC-1s out front, Kaiola and Tyrus, were basically untouchable downwind.

After the race there was plenty of food, drinks and story sharing. The whole paddling community on Kaua’i is incredibly supportive and friendly. Michael Wood has done a lot to build connections for paddlers to find accommodations and equipment. I highly recommend a visit to the island!

Results:

Second start: https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=167668&did=182766

First start:https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=167668&did=182765

KO

Reivers Dustin
01/28/19 #24308

great write up. ever since my first San Fran race I've puzzled about the way to get the most out of waves. That first Champs there was a guy from Fiji who I had paced well until we got rideable waves coming back under the Golden Gate. I watched as he eased away on waves I could not see. He would go hard before the wave appeared under his boat. How. Did he do this by sense of smell? You said it well Kevin. There is a rhythm there somewhere. Last year's Gorge race was another education. The fast OC-1's worked the waves so well. I'm skeptical that someone can tell you or show you how to do this. My hunch is that you grow it, like another bone in your body. From hours and hours on the bigs.

rd

Nicholas Cryder
01/28/19 #24309

Strong result KO. Way to represent.

“Paddling the open ocean is a whole different dimension though.”

This this and this. Every time I hit the ocean, I feels like a whole other sport… yet it's a huge part of the DNA of what we actually do. Encourage everyone who's become competent in the bay or the Gorge to get actual ocean time to fully appreciate the true nature of our sport. You're missing out if you don't paddle in the ocean. The perfect “starter race for strong paddlers” in my opinion is the Ghostrider (Davenport to Santa Cruz), and I am hoping to attend again this spring. It's a chill non-race type vibe, with typically outstanding open ocean conditions and an epic beach party afterwards. It may be run in concert with the US surfski champs (still no race registration up as of this AM tho…).

As for technique; I don't pretend to do it very well, but I have always liked the idea of on-ramps, freeways and off-ramps. Here's a SUP video on the concept. Good stuff. Very practical. https://youtu.be/cJlgLO5CpkQ

Nicholas Cryder

Dennis Mowry
01/28/19 #24312

Way to go Kevin, nice report.
It's nice to see a 70 year old came in 16th.
:D'Mow

michaelwood
01/28/19 #24313

Kevin's somewhat humble and understated in his report. He crushed it considering it was only his 2nd run of his trip. The locals freaked out when he sprinted off the line through 6-7' haystacks for the first mile and left them behind. Another week on the water and they'd be chasing him.
We had steady mid 20'sNNE gusts to 30+ the whole way ,NE ocean swell 8',E ocean swell3', with a 5'wind bump. Pretty sporty. Locals consider this the most difficult of the many Kauai runs. You also get plenty of reverb waves due large majority of coastline has steep cliffs.

Yeah Dennis, there's plenty of fast barnacles over here. Phillip Morgan who you noted got 17th in the race posted a 1:50 at the Gorge last year. A very inspiring and competitive group of older paddlers.