Hi guys and all the best for 2011. Advice would be appreciated. When paddling upwind. Is it better to head directly in to the breeze or tack as in sailing. I paddled across a bay yesterday with about 10 - 12 knots of southerly blowing directly against me. I felt that tacking made it a bit easier. Is there a technique?
Any feedback appreciated.

cheers

at least the paddle back was cruisy

bigmc said...

Hi guys and all the best for 2011. Advice would be appreciated. When paddling upwind. Is it better to head directly in to the breeze or tack as in sailing. I paddled across a bay yesterday with about 10 - 12 knots of southerly blowing directly against me. I felt that tacking made it a bit easier. Is there a technique?
Any feedback appreciated.

cheers

at least the paddle back was cruisy

Hi bigmc,

I find just paddling directly straight into the breeze far easier then tacking. Paddling directly into the breeze allows the nose of your board to stay straight and you can push thru any chop abit easier. Side on is harder as the chop will try to steer your board to.
but all this depends on what size raceboard and what type of race board you are paddling.
Certain race boards will cut thru wind and chop with easy but others not so good.

Boards like the 14ft naish javline is a great upwind board, it cuts into wind and chop so easy but is tippy for some.

stuff like the Naish Glide 14ft is nice and stable but the nose rocker catches the wind but when you turn around it will be super fun.

Heaps of other race board examples but these 2 differant boards give you a good idea.

Hope this helps.

XX angie

small paddle helps try the naish 7' well priced at $270 reduced diametyer shaft still flexes when you lean onit

Get yourself a few downwind course options !! Problems solved ! And heaps of fun!

My boards are for surfing... 8'5 & 9'3. I can only tack upwind cos of the yaw. But when I tack upwind & do it right, I can paddle upwind ok. Hard work tho'

Technique I learned from some seriously good French SUPrs. If the wind is strong, yes, do tack. But drop your leeward (offwind) foot back slightly, so that your shoulders are now more parallel to the wind, thus reducing the wind resistance from your body. If the wind is strong, you should also move out towards the windward rail - indeed, in really strong wind your windward foot (i.e. the one nearest the wind) can be right out on the rail, and your leeward foot on the centreline. This is because if the wind is pushing you, you will have a lot of weight on your leeward foot, so if it's on the centreline you won't then sink the rail and fall in.

Once in this position, you should be able to stay on that side and just get stuck in, until you choose to 'tack'. If you find that you're in that frustrating zone whereby your paddling isn't quite exactly matching the turning force of the wind, so that so that for every 10-20 strokes on the offwind side, you're having to put in just a couple on the windward side to regain your correct course, then introduce just a little bit of ‘bow stroke' action into your paddling; i.e. put the paddle into the water a little further away from the board and pull it towards you at the start of the stroke. This is actually a lot easier when you're in this side stance, as you're sort of pulling the paddle more towards your body. You should find this very comfortable, pretty much just as efficient, and most importantly, it means you can stay paddling just on the one side. By adjusting the amount of bow stroke , you can maintain this entirely asymmetric (i,e.; one-sided) paddling across a wide range of wind strengths and directions.

It takes a little bit of practise, but once you've cracked it you can really motor upwind this way.

Hi all happy NY , for me on a 11'6 tacking is the best , must faster.

cheers .

For upwind paddling - I think short fast strokes in the power zone (2 feet in front of your toes to your toes) keeps your momentum going. It may not be sustainable for long periods though, and you might need a rest.

Of course, you need to mix up the tempo to suit the chop/swell.

Simondo said...

For upwind paddling - I think short fast strokes in the power zone (2 feet in front of your toes to your toes) keeps your momentum going. It may not be sustainable for long periods though, and you might need a rest.

Of course, you need to mix up the tempo to suit the chop/swell.

I think your opinion on the 'power zone' being so close to your feet is going to change the more you paddle in that big canoe Simon.