Latest News
On Training: Seeing the Water
The first time something catches your eye before you understand what it means, you almost dismiss it. A change in texture fifty meters ahead, a slight darkening of the surface, the way another paddler two boats over suddenly lifts their pace before you've registered anything worth responding to. It registers briefly [...]
National Series Notebook: A Loaded July
Patrick Dolan flew 5,000 miles from Hawaii to Massachusetts and won the 2026 USA COR National Championships on a grueling open water course against a stacked field of athletes. Five days later, Austin Kieffer won the showcase race at the Gorge Downwind Championships paddlesports festival in the biggest conditions the event [...]
On Training: Physical Integration
The race was two-thirds over and the aerobic system was still running cleanly. Breathing had stayed in control, the stroke hadn't collapsed, and the pace was within the range that should have been sustainable. But something had shifted in the last thirty minutes. A shoulder carrying something separate from the general [...]
On Downwinding: Leveraging Energy
The difference between flatwater paddling and downwinding isn't subtle. Grinding a flat stretch is the opposite: all work and no rest, every foot of distance earned stroke by stroke with nothing free about it. Catching a wave takes a handful of hard strokes, sometimes just one, and then the boat rides [...]
On Training: Efficiency and Friction
During any long session or race, most of each stroke converts cleanly into forward motion. A small fraction gets diverted into correction, stabilization, and adjustment. Some of that cost comes from outside: the ocean pushes, the boat responds, and effort goes toward holding a line and keeping the hull settled underneath [...]
On Racing: Finishing Strong
Finishing well has little to do with who is most tired. Everyone is tired. What separates paddlers at the end of a race is not how much they have left, but how clearly they can still act with what remains. The finish is rarely a single effort. It is a sequence [...]
Surfski Reviews
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2017 Think Ion 3G Elite Surfski Review
I have a long history with Think surfskis dating back to 2007 when I purchased my first Evo 1G. Since then I have owned numerous Thinks in all layups including Evo 1G/2G's, Uno 1G/2G, Legends, Uno Max 2G, Ion 2g/3g, Big Eze. There has been a Think in my garage [...]
South African, Ian Black’s SEL 2G Review
I couldn't wait another 2 days for the truck to deliver the boats, so I borrowed a trailer and drove to the depot in peak traffic to unpack the crate and bring them home. At first sight I could see the effort put into the preparation of the craft and [...]
Ninja and Swordfish.Much Fun!
I made a road trip down to Mark Ceconi's (SurfskiRacing.com) neck of the woods, combining a business trip with a paddling session. While I had planned on paddling both Friday evening and Saturday, I arrived at Mark's too late to go paddling. However, the evening was far from lost. While [...]
Nelo 560 Review
FIT The bucket design of the 560M is an ergo design, it's a narrower fit for smaller hips but it's tapered to also accommodate larger hips. HANDLING SPEED Flat water speed was the easiest to compare: The 560M is amazingly faster: I don't feel bored, and it doesn't feel like [...]
The Green Machine: Vajda Hawx Elite Review
A number of years ago Mark McKenzie ,co-owner with Mark Smith(pharmacist by trade), of Elite Ocean Sports, US distributors of Vajda skis and K1's, called me to discuss options for purchasing another ski. As I recall Mark, an ex cyclist, and novice surfski paddler, and veterinarian from South Carolina wanted [...]