SurfSkiRacing.com – Page 56 – #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

Essex Record Turnout-Course Record Shattered!
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Essex Record Turnout-Course Record Shattered!

NE US Surfski Race Reports - 2012

Essex Record Turnout-Course Record Shattered!

Sunny day in Essex, Massachusetts with a record turnout for the race. The race committee(Donna,Rich,Bill,Chris,Dave, and many more did a wonderful job of putting on this event again so thanks to them from all us who did not thank them in person. The High Performance division which includes K1's, Unlimited [...]

Plum Island Beach Lighthouse Race-Great Training!
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Plum Island Beach Lighthouse Race-Great Training!

Race Reports

Plum Island Beach Lighthouse Race-Great Training!

Yesterday was Demo Day for the Kayak Centre in Wickford, Rhode Island. I thought it would be a good idea as part of the Demo Day to get a race in two weeks before Essex and one week after the ROTC. This course is one of my favorites; 8 miles, scenic, [...]

The ROTC 19: My Race – By Mark Ceconi
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The ROTC 19: My Race – By Mark Ceconi

NE US Flat Water Race Reports

The ROTC 19: My Race – By Mark Ceconi

Sandbagging (a.k.a. ‘cherry picking’): knowingly entering a given class utilizing the unfair advantage of age, boat and/or fitness, often resulting in under the breath grumbling and well-chosen expletives regarding one’s character from fellow competitors. The 30th Annual Run of the Charles Race, or ‘ROTC’ for those in the know, took place [...]

6 Mile Race – Run of The Charles 2012 – by The Webmaster
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6 Mile Race – Run of The Charles 2012 – by The Webmaster

NE US Flat Water Race Reports

6 Mile Race – Run of The Charles 2012 – by The Webmaster

In each of my 4 years racing kayaks, I anxiously look forward to the ROTC (Run of the Charles). Its a great event - many different races, categories and spectators all coming together at Herter Park in Cambridge - the finish line of the world famous "Head of the Charles" Rowing [...]

19 Mile Run of the Charles(ROTC) 2012
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19 Mile Run of the Charles(ROTC) 2012

NE US Flat Water Race Reports

19 Mile Run of the Charles(ROTC) 2012

The Run of the Charles is one of the largest kayak races in the United States. Living near Boston has it's perks: flat water, ocean, World Champions :New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, Celtics, the storied Boston Marathon, and all the happenings and diversity a big city has to offer and [...]

Achilles Kayak Team at Shark Bite Challenge, Dunedin, Florida – By Gary Williams
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Achilles Kayak Team at Shark Bite Challenge, Dunedin, Florida – By Gary Williams

Race Reports

Achilles Kayak Team at Shark Bite Challenge, Dunedin, Florida – By Gary Williams

Last weekend the Achilles Kayak Team competed in the annual Shark Bite Challenge race event in Dunedin, FL. This is an open water race on the Gulf of Mexico that attracts surf ski, kayak and paddleboard races from the region and further afield. Our team comprised of 2 [...]