Most paddlers learn to think about downwind paddling in terms of waves. You catch a wave, you ride the wave, and you look for the next wave. Wash, rinse, repeat. That model works well enough at first, but it starts to fall apart as conditions get more complex. Many of [...]
Nothing in training happens without stress. In the absence of a stressor, our system remains exactly as it is. But stress alone is not improvement, and in an ocean environment, misunderstanding that difference is one of the most common ways capable paddlers stall or break down. Stress is simply load [...]
Most races are decided long before the first buoy or the first run. They begin in the final minutes before the start, when paddlers are already spending physical, mental, and emotional energy, whether they realize it or not. The start line is not a pause before the race. It is [...]
It is common to hear paddlers describe a downwind run as having “good conditions” or “bad conditions,” as if the ocean environment were a consistent entity. That shorthand is convenient, but it hides away so much context. Anyone who has paddled the same route on different days knows that it [...]
Many athletes think racing is mainly about physical fitness. They train harder, go longer, and arrive at the start line believing the strongest engine will win. Of course, sometimes it does. But more often than not, it doesn’t. Ocean racing, especially in surfskis, rewards the complete operator: people who have [...]
