On Racing: Current, Tide, and Timing
Current is the quiet architect of many races. Unlike wind, it rarely announces itself. There is no sound, no visible force—just the subtle difference between working hard and going nowhere, or moving efficiently with effort [...]
On Downwinding: Decision Scope
Around the ninety-minute mark, a bump builds ahead and gets left alone. Not because of anything physical. The opportunity was real. But a sprint that reads as obvious on a twenty-minute run reads differently when [...]
On Training: Recovery and Adaptation
The main concept behind "training" of any sort is that damage accumulates when work occurs, and adaptation happens during recovery. There's a well-established process at this point for optimizing our adaptation mechanism to quickly achieve [...]

Nationals: Shifting Context
The first thing you notice at an unfamiliar venue is the water: how it flows, how the wind sets up, how the waves stack, whether there's chop on top of swell or just one or [...]
On Racing: Wind Direction and Strength
Wind strength gets the headlines. Wind direction decides the race. Many paddlers fixate on how hard the wind is blowing, yet struggle to explain from where it is actually affecting them once they are on [...]

NK Rapido Surf Ski Review at 40 miles
Review by Wesley Echols Intro I got my NK Rapido, Carbon Lite layup(Green Tip) at the Run of the Charles Race in Boston, Massachusetts on April 27th, 2026. I had previously paddled the Storm for [...]
On Downwinding: Preparing for Wind, Without Wind
Not every downwind season begins with downwind conditions. In many places, spring offers fragments rather than full runs: partial wind, confused chop, short fetch, or days that never quite organize. It is easy to treat [...]
On Equipment: Leashes
"I'm a good swimmer, I'll be fine." The boat is five feet away, then ten, then fifteen. The hull is above the water, catching air, rolling with the waves. You are floating in the water, [...]
On Training: Endurance as Structural Tolerance
Something went in a shoulder during what should have been a recovery paddle. Not a hard session, not a race, just an hour on flat water at a pace that required nothing in particular. The [...]
Nationals: Shared Uncertainty
There are paddlers in the launch area you've never raced before. Names you've seen in results from the other coast, or heard mentioned by someone who trains differently, in water you've never paddled. They're rigging [...]
Latest News
Sakonnet Race: A Turn for the Worse
I've had enough. I'm tired of constantly explaining that the Sakonnet River Race takes place in the ocean. One year I had T-shirts printed up that said "The Sakonnet River Isn't", but this might have been too subtle - people kept spinning me around by my shoulders to read the rest [...]
Sakonnet River Race 2020
I have been paddling on the Sakonnet River launching from McCorrie Point since I first started paddling my P&H plastic Capella over 20 years ago. The Sakonnet with its small bay conditions is a perfect training grounds for all things paddling. Its complexity of waves increases slowly over six miles until [...]
OluKai Lowcountry Boil Paddle Battle 2020
A few weeks, on September 12, 2020, 129 paddlers completed the long and short courses which were held in Hilton Head, SC on Scull Creek. This is primarily a SUP race but like so many races over the last few years, these SUP races will have a surf ski class. I [...]
2020 Sakonnet Surfski Race Video
https://vimeo.com/459969590
Jamestown Double Beaver: Overjoyed
The Jamestown Double Beaver is the longest-running surfski race in New England, with several competitors from the 2013 event still trying to get back to shore. For the 13th consecutive year, race organizer Tim Dwyer scrambled to the top of Beavertail Lighthouse, raised a conch to his lips, and issued the [...]
2020 10 Mile Double Beaver Race Video
https://vimeo.com/446280717
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Surfski Reviews
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Nelo 550 Surfski Review
My Search of the "Perfect" Surfski My search since 2003 for the "Perfect" surfski has gotten easier with so many surfskis brought to the market since then, most notably in the last two years. Before 2003, I paddled and raced sea kayaks since 1993. My surfski experience started off with [...]
Stellar SR Surfski Review
https://picasaweb.google.com/Surfski14/StellarSRSurfski# (Disclaimer: I am the Northeast Surfski Rep for Stellar). The best way to decide on any ski is to gather as much information as possible from paddlers, manufacturers, websites, then paddle all the skis [...]
Stellar Elite Low Volume (SEL) Full Review
Stable as V10 Sport Ultra, Fast as V12, not Quite but not Far off. I know the above statement for some will be hard to believe especially since I am the Northeast Stellar Rep. However, my reviews have been substantiated across the world. My advice to any paddler is get [...]
Epic V10L Ultra Review – by Wesley Echols
For several months I paddled a fiberglass ‘performance’ layup V10L. What immediately struck me back when I owned that boat was how comfortable the cockpit is. The bucket is very shallow compared to the other High Performance Skis (HPS), however, your feet are below your seat. Because of this, leg [...]
Stellar Double (SE2) 1st Impression
Maiden Voyage I am not sure who was more excited me or Tim(my training partner) over the arrival of the new Stellar double(SE2). The SE2 is just one of the new models coming out for Stellar this year. My previous experience in doubles was demoing two popular models [...]




















