On Downwinding: You’re Not Surfing
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 [...]
On Training: Stress and Adaptation
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 [...]
On Racing: Starting Right
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 [...]
Blackburn Challenge to host 2026 National Championships
The American Canoe Association has selected the Cape Ann Rowing Club's Blackburn Challenge as the host venue for the 2026 USA Canoe Ocean Racing National Championships, placing one of America’s most iconic open-water races at [...]
USA Surfski Paddlers @ 2025 ICF COR World Championships
The 2025 ICF Canoe Ocean Racing (COR) World Championships were held in Durban, South Africa this past October. Worlds is the pinnacle international competition for surfski paddlers all over the world, in addition to World Cups [...]
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Canadian Surfski Championship Video
1st Annual Canadian Surfski Champs – August 23, 2014 from Deep Cove Canoe & Kayak Centre on Vimeo.
Cape Cod Downwind: Turtles All the Way Down
The inaugural Cape Cod Downwind race (the name of which has been something of a moving target, starting with "Buzzard Bay Race", briefly passing through "Sherwood's Fun Time Paddle Paddle Paddle Jamboree" before settling on - in my mind at least - the final moniker). We'd be paddling from Stony Beach [...]
East Coast Surfski Championship by Dana Gaines
On August 25th I received a Facebook message from Ken Cooper: "Dana. Going to Lighthouse race ?? I'll do the V8 14 mile if you do too." In fact I had just booked a steamship reservation that morning for passage off Martha's Vineyard on Sept. 5th, with Lighthouse-to-Lighthouse as the objective. [...]
Cape Cod Downwind Surfski Race, Great Venue!
A few years I met oceanographer, Chris Sherwood who was then paddling a red Eddy Line sea kayak. Chris came over to my place to demo a few skis and see what all the excitement was in paddling a ski. After that day Chris was hooked. Fast forward a few years [...]
A Hot Success! 2014 East Coast Surfski Championship, the Lighthouse to Lighthouse Race
History of East Coast Surf Ski Championship Several years ago, on a winter's training paddle while passing under the Newport Bridge, I specifically remember coming up with the idea of having an East Coast Surfski Championship (ECSC). I knew that I did not have time to create another race so I [...]
A Midwestern Perspective on the US Surfski Championships by Zach Handler
Wednesday Wavechaser Race Last year, in my first US Surfski Championships, I made the mistake of racing my guts out in the Wednesday Wavechaser race. I placed really well against international superstars (who were treating the even like a warm up), but then felt flat when the real race rolled around [...]
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