Most paddlers arrive on race day with a reasonably-informed view of the conditions. They’ve checked forecasts, studied wind direction, and looked at tide charts. All of that is useful—until the horn sounds. Once the race begins, conditions stop being information and start being experience. What matters then is not what [...]
Editors Note: 2026 Nationals is hosted in collaboration with the Blackburn Challenge. Register today at capeannrowingclub.com! The first boats arrive before the light changes. Trailers in the parking area, hulls upright, paddles still banded together. A few athletes are already on the beach, not warming up, just watching the water. [...]
No two races present the same problem. Course length and conditions matter, but the character of the field often matters more. Strategy that works perfectly in one race can fail completely in another, not because the paddler raced poorly, but because the context changed. Large fields create compression. Starts are [...]
Drafting is one of the defining features of surfski racing, and also one of the least openly discussed. Everyone does it. Few talk about where the lines are. The result is a quiet tension between what is allowed, what is smart, and what feels right on the water. From a [...]
Races are rarely decided in the long, steady sections where paddlers settle into rhythm. They turn instead on brief moments of compression—approaching a buoy, rounding a mark, accelerating after a turn, or managing a transition from one condition to another. These moments are short, but they magnify both good and [...]
