Surfski Knowledge Base

Larry Goolsby 05/05/07 #2900

Great race today on all accounts. Joost did a wonderful job of organizing it and the race was started with only a minor delay because of late arrivals. I don't know the final count in watercraft but it must have been 70+. The weather kind of cooperated with a breeze that was a little stiffer than expected and some chilly temps (I wore poagies). After the race was started, Shaun and I got boxed in by a bunch of singles. Simon was blocking the front of us while we drafted his wake and there were boats on both sides of us. I was getting anxious because I wasn't use to starting the race at a cruising speed but we couldn't get anyone to open a hole for us for the first mile. Finally we got free and the singles swarmed onto our stern much like a dog in heat at a puppy parade. We caught a rower and drafted his stern for over a mile leaving us with Kiesling (K1) and Brandon (on the Vector). Then Rainier Storb came by in a tandem rower and we latched onto his stern. This is about when we lost Kiesling and surprisingly Brandon was still hanging on. Brandon likes to be real close when he drafts so we banged paddles all the way down the lake and back. Once in awhile he would switch to our other side and bang my other blade just to even things out (nice guy). Rainier was laughing because of all the never ending noise that we were making from slapping paddles and boats.

Near the end we broke apart and sprinted for the finish with Rainier holding his lead and Brandon graciously falling back about 2 seconds to let us be the first kayak in. I guess he knew that if he beat us in the last seconds that he would have been walking around the kayak symposium with my Epic paddle parked up his backside. The war canoe with Brian and Idoh did another impressive performance by almost beating everyone (couple of rowers stayed out of their reach) and Heather continued with her plight to 'win everything all the time' and got first in womens.

After Brandon's first place, Kirk did an awesome performance of beating the other top surfski paddlers. Shaun and I agreed after the race that this was our best performance ever in our tandem. All in all a great day to be a paddler.
LG

Reivers Dustin 05/06/07 #2901

Great race by Joe and Mark in the double. I had them in view when they worked with Heather to the island, and had a fantasy of catching up when Joe started having cramps on the way back. But he recovered enough to stay out of reach.

One of our guys smacked a rock at the South of the island. (Was that you Charlie?) So his V-10 came home with a few quarts of water in it. Remember about those damn rocks down there everyone.

Joost made the ultimate sacrifice for us: his timing crew no-showed, so he gave up competing to do race support.

I had a kick afterwards hanging with the Wake Demo show later. Excellent show and tell by Heather and Brandon. I saw a lot more people trying out sit-on-tops after you guys showed them how straightforward the recovery process is.

Naturally there was a kayak-roll clinic a little later on. I have strong feelings about this that I was trying to stiffle. But Joost made a couple of comments and woke me up. Too many people do not realize: when you the paddler are a component of the boats seaworthiness, a layer of safety is lost.

rd

Brandon Nelson <brandon@…>05/06/07 #2902

An AWESOME turnout yesterday with a serious showing of new faces and boats: 2 OC-6's, multiple OC 1s and 2s, war canoes, pedal craft, single and double kayaks, single and double surfskis, single and double rowing shells, K1s, geeez! It's so fun watching our sport explode!

Larry, I owe you some serious carbon, man. It's one thing to ride someone else's wave around the course; I think we've all accepted that as part of racing. Look at NASCAR, road cycling, migrating geese: it's as old as DNA. But by the 125th time our paddles clacked, I knew there'd be an asterisk next to my name on this year's race results. (Any chance we can get Epic to make a titanium leading edge wing blade?)

Reivers, great paddle yesterday and thanks for the words on the show and tell. It was great seeing people lining up to try skis, and it was awesome of Think, Futura and Epic to have traveled in with demo boats.

On your post's last paragraph about kayak rolling and a lost layer of safety, can you explain a bit more what you mean? I'd be interested in a discussion (debate?) about this.

Brandon

Charlie Brown 05/06/07 #2906

I had a great time (fun, not clock) yesterday too!. Being relatively new, I'm still learning some basics. Like how it is so much easier to draft right behind a double!! It seems almost like cheating, except it's legitimate competitive strategy. Regarding banging paddles, I saw Brandon side-by-side with Larry & Shaun (after their turn around the island of course). Is riding the bow wake on the side as effective as drafting from behind, and it that how paddles banged? I guess I'd know if I tried it, but I have tried it a little and haven't noticed it being that good. Riding close behind invites some nose to stern banging. Is that considered out-of-line, extremely discourteous, or just an annoyance that goes with racing?

I really enjoyed Brandon's and Heather's WAKE demo also, and learned another basic about the stability of the resting position. This was great info and an excellent demo.

Reivers, maybe you were referring to another Charlie, cause I have the gray S1-R. I heard someone mention rocks as I was hugging the shore going around the island, but fortunately didn't find any.

Regarding rolling, I think most kayakers regard it as something fun to do when planned rather than as an emergency recovery technique. But every beginner kayaker should have practiced and be skilled at wet exits and re-entry, which is analogous to getting back on a surfski. It took me a lot of practice to learn how to roll in a pool and lake. If I were in a bad situation, I wouldn't fool around trying to roll, certainly not more than once. A skilled kayaker can avoid getting cold and wet with a roll, but no one should rely on it.

Fair warning to all. I'm getting some paddle stroke lessons from Greg Dutton. So if I can catch on to the technique (although I do seem to be having a little trouble doing that), I may be catching up to you someday.

Charlie

Larry Goolsby 05/06/07 #2909

Charlie…As for this drafting thing, it really depends on the situation. Brandon probably got a better ride off of our bow wake than our stern wake. Some boats put off very little bow wake and the stern is the only ride worth catching. So it depends on the boat that you are drafting. The double skis put off a nice wake as do double outriggers. A rowing shell can only be drafted from the stern. As for etiquette, there are no rules. Shaun and I repeatedly bumped the back
of Ben and John's double last year at the Classic until they stopped paddling and yelled at us. Once you get on their stern wake it is easy to overtake a boat and bump into it. Some races don't allow drafting and/or they limit the amount of time that you can be in a drafting position. One of the least respected tactics is to draft someone the entire race and then pull ahead at the last second.

Last year at Bowen Island, a kid named Wesley drafted Joost right from the start and rode him for the full 20 miles only to pass him at the finish line. It was fair but the stronger paddler went away with second place. Another tactic that is useful is to draft someone and then pull ahead and allow them to draft you. You can switch off and save some energy. Drafting is more of a flat water tactic than rough water but two years ago at the Classic, most paddlers got in a conga line in order to have the paddler in front of them block the wind. If you pulled out of the line, you really slowed down.

Larry G.

mike Gregory <falloff999@…>05/06/07 #2910

Hi Charlie,

Your point about drafting has merit. Races sanctioned in this country (ACA and USACK) and internationally (eg ICF) by organizations do not allow rowing shells, single kayaks, and tandem kayaks - oh, War Canoes too- to race together on the same course, because. Well, you know why. This issue, drafting out of class, has been argued on this forum and among the Sound Rowers previously. But, hey, this is the Wild West and there ain't no law west the of the Columbia, right!

Truly though, enforcing a -no drafting out of class-rule in events like the Sound Rowers and many others around, would be nigh on to impossible. So, we have freestyle racing, kinda like Roller Derby with paddles. Like it or not, it is what it is. Keep coming back though, you'll get used to it.

Mike.

josephdbarker 05/06/07 #2911

A few lessons learned from yesterdays paddle.

1. Mark is an animal. When we were warming up in the double before the race I said to Mark (breathlessly) “hey why don't we slow it down to the two hour race pace for a few minutes to see how that's gonna feel.” Without a drop in his 180 a minute cadence Mark's reply was “Uh, I thought this was the race pace?” Uh-oh.

2.“All you need to remember in a double is match the person in front's stroke exactly, you must be submissive” is a great thing to hear before a race, good advice for a newbie. Bad for a guy who is woefully undertrained for a 12 mile race. Next time I'll at least figure out a hydration system and bring some water.

3.Drafting is Heaven when it's Take, and Hell when it's Give. My brand new heart rate monitor settled nicely at 184 when drafting Heather. When I decided it was time to switch and give her a ride it maxed out at 199. Do they make these things that measure HR over 200? After the 2nd time we tried to take the lead she blew by us. We never caught her.

4. Make way for whales. Mike G made like Jonah and didn't heed this one. No-one could make getting swallowed by a 400# monster with 6 riders and an ama look easier. Scary. He never caught us after that.

All in all a fun day. Watch for Mark and I in the double on a Wed nighter soon.

Joe

josephdbarker 05/06/07 #2912

Dang, I forgot to mention lesson 5.

5) Pick the right line. We stayed in close to shore going downwind instead of staying in the middle of the lake like everyone else. Not only did we miss out on drafting the whales and Heather but we didn't get the full advantage of the wind. Lesson learned for next year.

mike Gregory <falloff999@…>05/07/07 #2914

I did catch back to you guys Joe. You were to far into oxygen debt to remember I guess. Mike.