SurfSkiRacing.com – Page 53 – #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 [...]

Latest News

Dana Gaines wins 22nd Oar and Paddle
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Dana Gaines wins 22nd Oar and Paddle

Race Reports

Dana Gaines wins 22nd Oar and Paddle

Dana Gaines wins 22nd Oar and Paddle By Ralph Stewart August 29, 2012 Dana Gaines Dana Gaines of Edgartown, Massachusetts, added another winner's medal to his expansive collection with a dominating performance in the 22nd annual Oar and Paddle Regatta Sunday morning in Oak Bluffs. Gaines, competing in a light, [...]

Nahant Bay Cup by Greg Lesher
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Nahant Bay Cup by Greg Lesher

NE US Surfski Race Reports - 2012, Race Reports

Nahant Bay Cup by Greg Lesher

A record group of 25 skis, a kayak, and an OC-1 converged on Fisherman's Beach in Swampscott for the Nahant Bay Cup this past Saturday. Race Director Mike McDonough greeted us warmly as we trickled in on the cool, overcast morning. The ocean conditions were mild, to say the least. The [...]

Great Stone Dam Classic Race September 9, 2012
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Great Stone Dam Classic Race September 9, 2012

NE US Flat Water Race Reports

Great Stone Dam Classic Race September 9, 2012

This will be a fun and exciting flat water race. It lines up perfectly in the race schedule being 5 days before the Lighthouse to Lighthouse race the following weekend. Francisco Urena and Shawn Burke are the Race directors so the race is expertly organized and fun for all ages!! Hope [...]

Excellent Turnout at Nahant!
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Excellent Turnout at Nahant!

NE US Surfski Race Reports - 2012, Race Reports

Excellent Turnout at Nahant!

While most of us wanted conditions, any kind of conditions, the other few who like flat water, got their wish at Nahant. Their was barely a ripple in the bay, on the 9.41 course and that is no exaggeration. Despite the flat conditions, we all had a great time. 27 paddlers towed [...]

Updated: Double Beaver – Some Rough Water Pics – By Alyce Dwyer
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Updated: Double Beaver – Some Rough Water Pics – By Alyce Dwyer

NE US Surfski Race Reports - 2012, Race Reports

Updated: Double Beaver – Some Rough Water Pics – By Alyce Dwyer

The pictures I took last week from the shore of the Double Beaver Race definitely did not give a good representation of the "real conditions". Fortunately Alyce Dwyer was able to take some great shots from the Dwyer's boat. Still many more to come, plus a video, but wanted [...]

What an Oceanographer Thinks About in a Surfski – By Chris Sherwood
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What an Oceanographer Thinks About in a Surfski – By Chris Sherwood

NE US Surfski Race Reports - 2012, Race Reports

What an Oceanographer Thinks About in a Surfski – By Chris Sherwood

Tim Dwyer and I were talking post race, and he teased me about being an oceanographer and overthinking the whole thing. In my defense, here is what I was thinking about during the race. Chris Sherwood after completing his first "Double Beaver" At the start, lots of people lined up on [...]