WA
42 posts
Friends convinced me to enter Ocean Classic marathon but know sweet f.a. about the race or if strapless surfboard would be ok to use. I'm looking forward to the challenge but a fast rider I'm not although I can do downwind quite fast. I like to ride downwinders strapless in the waves and don't use straps as I'm notorious for ankle injuries. Do other people do this race strapless or should I just get straps and give 'em a go?
WA
247 posts
Will be much slower strapless, would go strapped, do the run several times before the race day. The legs are quite long, so practice 2 km runs, as far downwind as you can, both directions.
WA
3510 posts
I did the very first Lighthouse 2 Leighton strapless on my normal surfboard because that was all that I had at the time, that is what I felt comfortable on and I was happy to be just completing the crossing.
I actually went better than I expected and finished in a fairly reasonable time (finishing in the front half of the pack with a time of 33 minutes), however there is no doubt you can go faster strapped.
Every race I have done since then be it L2L or LOC has been strapped, even though I always kite strapless when not racing.
If you want to just finish the race then by all means just do the race strapless, however if you do really want to see how fast you can go get some straps and start doing some high speed downwind runs.
Cya up there.
