SurfSkiRacing.com – Page 39 – #1 in Surfski News, Reviews and Used Surfskis For Sale

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, [...]
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 [...]
On Racing: Expecting the Unexpected
The forecast you checked the night before is completely different when you wake up. The wind has increased, the swell period has changed, and there's a conversation happening near the water's edge about which direction [...]
On Downwinding: Reading Lines
The line appears before the decision to take it is fully formed. A shift in the water texture, maybe forty meters ahead, something about the way a long roller is organizing at an angle to [...]
On Training: Chain of Fools
The stroke catches and the boat runs. There is a feeling to it, a brief firmness in the water that holds long enough for the body to push through, and the boat moves with more [...]
Nationals: Meet the (Blackburn) Challenge
Every local racing community has a structure. You know who the fast paddlers are, roughly how you stack up against them, and what a good day on the water looks like for you. That knowledge [...]
18th Sakonnet River Race 2026
The 18th Sakonnet River Race went off without a hitch with a small group of New England surfski paddlers. Conditions were ideal for the 9.4 mile course. It was not the total grind up to [...]
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 [...]

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Racing in the Deep South:Gator Bait Race by Joseph Di Chiacchio
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Racing in the Deep South:Gator Bait Race by Joseph Di Chiacchio

Race Reports

Racing in the Deep South:Gator Bait Race by Joseph Di Chiacchio

I’ve heard it said that “the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.” For most of 2014, I have looked forward to and planned to line up for the Tybee Island race in Georgia. Unfortunately, events conspired to thwart my attendance. All dressed up and nowhere to go; [...]

Canadian Surfski Championship Video
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Canadian Surfski Championship Video

Race Reports, Videos

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
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Cape Cod Downwind: Turtles All the Way Down

Race Reports

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
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East Coast Surfski Championship by Dana Gaines

Race Reports

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!
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Cape Cod Downwind Surfski Race, Great Venue!

Race Reports

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
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A Hot Success! 2014 East Coast Surfski Championship, the Lighthouse to Lighthouse Race

NE US Surfski Race Reports - 2008, Race Reports

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 [...]