SUP Sprint Racing

I beat Dave Kalama at the inaugural Big Winds SUP race in the Columbia River Gorge at Hood River. Finished about five minutes ahead of him–long enough to get off my board, walk up to the deck above the river and take pictures of Dave, Robby Naish, and Michi Schweiger crossing the finsih line. So I’m going to share my simple recipe for how to beat these guys:

1. Good board
2. Lots of practice
3. Short race
4. and most importantly, a ten minute lead.

Here’s a blow-by blow of this very fun event.

I heard about the Hood Sup Series on the last possible day–a press release posted on the Standup Zone (http://www.standupzone.com) said it was June 18th, and that Dave Kalama, Robby Naish, and Michi Schweiger would be there. The prospect of a race sounded great, and it just happened that I didn’t have anything too pressing to do that thursday night. It’s an eight-race series, which sounded even better. Hood River is 72 miles from my house–about an hour and 20 minute drive if traffic is good, but planning to arrive at 6:00 PM could be problematic, the freeway that heads up the gorge gets jammed with traffic at rush hour. So I left at 2:00 PM for a 6:30 race meeting, and arrived way too early. I got signed up, drove down to the Hook where the race was going to start, and just hung out. I should have brought a sail–any sail, and sailed my 12’2″ starboard, which is great fun.

I had plenty of time to look over all elements of the course, which is pretty short–about 2 miles. The prevailing summer wind in the gorge is against the current–west to east–which punches up nice standing swells for jumping with your windsurfer or kite. And the wind is frequently strong enough to blow a dumpster across the parking lot (which I witnessed years ago at Rooster Rock). The race started with a run along the inside of the hook, carrying a buoy on the port side, sheltered from the gale by the large berm of this artificial peninsula, then turned the corner into the face of what felt like at least a 20 knot wind.

The run to the next buoy was also against the wind though it might be buffered slightly by Wells Island just to the west if you took the proper angle, and from my windsurfing experience I knew there are some funny currents close to Wells that might help or hurt. Once the buoy near Wells was rounded it’s a straight downwind run to the event center slot. This is an odd place. Right off the end of the parking lot called the Event Center is a sandbar that kitesurfers use to launch. The sandbar goes well out into the river. Near shore there is a twenty foot gap in the bar that’s about six feet deep at the center. It’s rocky near the shore and shallow near the bar, so you have to go through this section with some caution and precision. It also angles somewhat to the current.

Once through the gap it’s a short spurt to the next buoy which you take on the starboard side, then a sprint crosswise and slightly against the wind to the bouy at the end of the inlet, around another buoy to starboard and a sprint more against the wind to the finish buoys.

I waited around on the hook for a while, then realized I had more than an hour to the race meeting, got bored and cruised up into Hood River. What a lively place Hood River is during the summer. Stuff going on everywhere. There was a skateboard clinic going on, crowds of great-looking active people wandering around. Like a ski town in winter, only in a lot less clothes. I got an ice cream at Mikes–one of those “gotta do it” places. Like eating breakfast at Bette’s in Hood River.

Didn’t really need an ice cream just before racing, but what the heck.

I wandered back to the hook and people started showing up. Soon there was a surprisingly large crowd. I had jersey number 46, and there were a lot more people that signed up after me.

You can see my Starboard Point to the left hand side of the launch area. Most folks were on standard boards, though the Naish crew had what looked like Glides. Looks like I brought a gun to a knife fight, but really, with my weight on it, the Point is no faster than the 12’2″ Starboard that I also brought. The advantage is that it’s a lot more stable and it has steering which is handy upwind and for rounding buoys, so I decided to use it. I also brought my S.I.C. F18, but elected not to use it, both because it would seem like overkill, and because I suspected it’s thick sides and long length would be hell in the crosswinds.

After a brief meeting the ladies and juniors took to the water and were off quickly in surprisingly good order. The Men’s group was starting five minutes later, so I got onto my board and got a good position in the lineup, on the inside of the group. On the horn I started paddling like heck, but a small group of lightweight younger guys (actually, I think everyone was younger) got a fine start and pulled away smartly. I redoubled my efforts, bounced off another determined paddler rounding the buoy, and headed for the hook in about tenth place. As soon as we rounded the end of the hook the wind blasted right into our faces. I crouched down and stroked hard, and was surprised to see most of the guys drop to their knees and continue paddling. I didn’t do that–two reason: 1. It’s called Stand Up paddling, and 2. I wasn’t sure I could get up again. So I pushed on, managing to pass a few people and using my rudder to get a good line to the buoy. When I finally rounded the buoy the leaders were about 50 yards ahead. They popped to their feet and started really moving. I was paddling hard but the long pull had taken a lot of wind out of me. There were some tiny following swells being created by the wind on the outside line, so I paddled out and tried to catch some even though their angle was wrong–they were angled towards the middle of the river. I recalled what Jeremy Riggs told me once about riding swells at an angle making you faster, so I tried it in these ankle-high swells and it worked! I was able to catch quite a few runners that let me catch my breath and helped me haul in the leaders. I passed four people quickly and had just three in front of me. As it happened, I was on a swell when I passed the guy in third, and he yelled “Holy s&@t, you’re leaving a wake! How are you doing that?”

I figured I’d explain later.

We passed quite a few of the women and juniors, but off in the distance I could see that there were some serious contenders that we were not going to catch in such a short race. When we reached the slot I was ten feet behind second and perhaps thirty feet behind first. We rounded the buoy and I started stroking hard in the crosswind. To my surprise the guys in first and second dropped to their knees again and started stroking hard. I thought they would surely be disqualified, but continued to press hard. I didn’t lose any ground, and when we rounded the buoy onto the final upwind leg I gained a few feet and started thinking I might be able to at least take second. I started to close, but the wind picked up, and my progress slowed a little. By the time we went through the finish line buoys the gap was back to ten and thirty feet respectively. I cooled down, paddling a little in the basin, and then decided I should get some pictures of the other finishers, since I was carrying my iPhone in a waterproof bag.

I got up to the deck above the finish line just as Dave Kalama approached the finish line. “How cool is this”, I thought, “Not only did I beat Dave to the beach, but I can get a photo documenting it.” Believe me, it’s not likely to happen again. At Maliko I’d need about an hour head start.

Dave K catches his breath after the finish line while Robbie Naish strokes to beat Michi Schweiger.

Dave Kalama, Robbie Naish and Michi Schweiger

Some of the ladies make their way to the finish

The after party at the Pourhouse was really fun. Lots of nice folks. I talked for quite a while with Dave and Michi as well as some of the other competitors and a delightful couple from Arizona who have a house in Hood River. They even offered me a bed for the night in case I celebrated a bit too much, but I did more talking and eating than drinking, so I was fine for the ride home.

In all, an excellent first effort for Big Winds. I thought the race was going to be too short to be fun, but actually it was very interesting. The upwind legs made it tough and the short length made all-out effort a practical strategy. I certainly didn’t have anything left in reserve. Their organization was excellent too, and the party was a hoot.

For those of you that might be put off by the knee paddling, it won’t be a problem in the future. I sent Big Winds an email suggesting that they either not permit knee paddling beyond five strokes (as most races do to let racers get back up after a fall) or let everyone know that it’s OK. I got an email back immediately from Steve Gates saying: “This was the first SUP race we’ve put on or been in and we never even thought about knee paddling. But we did have a discussion about it earlier today and agreed it will not be allowed in the men’s divisions in future races.” That’s a good approach. While there were plenty of capable women and junior paddlers that didn’t knee paddle, some of them would have had a very tough time in the strong winds.

I’ll be making as many of the remaining seven races as I can manage. If you’re anywhere in the area you should too.

For more info click HERE

Advanced SUP Techniques

Written by Tom English
www.AlohaWealth.com

When people ask me why I surf with a paddle, my response is usually, “because it’s fun”. But when I think about it, it is really about the speed and power that a high performance board and paddle make possible. The paddle allows you to lean into turns harder and gives you more control. I think of the Rolling Stones classic, Let it Bleed, “We all need someone to lean on, and baby you can lean on me”, when I’m leaning into a turn that wouldn’t be possible with out the paddle.

You will find some advanced Stand Up Paddle surfers doing certain turns without the paddle, but in Stand Up Paddle Surfing, the spectacular, ripping, slashing stuff is all about the paddle, and rightly so. Not only is the paddle the key to extreme lean angles, it’s also a tool for tuning your turns, recovery, and either slowing or speeding your board–abilities that traditional surfers largely do without. The richness and radical capabilities that a paddle adds to standard longboard repertoire is already making the best SUP surfers stand out. And it’s really just early days–there’s so much more to come.

Here are a few techniques that I have learned by talking to and watching some of the best surfers in the world. Some were discovered the hard way, by trial and error. I will attempt to tell you the dynamics of these techniques, but you should understand that the key to these maneuvers is time in the waves, working to perfect them. I can give you some idea of where to put your feet, where the paddle goes, and when to turn, but muscle memory, coordination and experience is the only way that you will really own advanced maneuvers.

Don’t neglect the “working to perfect” part of that statement. Getting into waves and surfing for fun will improve your abilities but it takes a very long period of time. You have to have some idea of what you are trying to accomplish, and at least SOME of the time work towards perfecting particular moves in order to make rapid progress. The pioneers of surfing invented all this stuff without knowing what was possible, or perhaps more importantly, what was impossible. But that took decades. We can learn from them quickly if we pay attention to what and how they are doing their dance.

Take off Fade

A fade is a turn that starts off softer and higher in the wave than a true bottom turn. Paddle with your feet in your surfing stance, not parallel stance. Set your board up to glide towards the peak of the wave. As the curl approaches, pressure the inside rail hard, swing your shoulders into the wave, and change directions leaning on your paddle. Notice the flex of the paddle in this picture. Note also that the turn is well underway before the board reaches the bottom of the drop.

When you fall in a fade it will almost always be on the inside of the turn. There are three likely flaws:

• You didn’t maintain pressure on the rail, and the board straightened out while your body was still extended into the turn
• You leaned too far for the sharpness of your turn
• You didn’t swing your shoulders and press on the paddle hard enough.

When you do this turn right, the board will come up under your feet as the turn finishes. Keep your ankles and knees soft at the end of the turn to allow the board to come back under you.

Bottom Turn

The paddle can be used as a pivot point so you can compound the speed generated from the drop into more speed. This allows you to make sections that would be impossible without the paddle. You can also use the speed to propel yourself straight up to the lip. Drop into the wave with your knees bent, hips and shoulders level, looking down the face. At the bottom of the wave set your inside edge, place the paddle into the wave and lean on it. The harder you lean on the paddle, the sharper you will turn, leading to more speed. Trial and error will help you develop a great bottom turn combining power and style.

Notice that the turn is being initiated at the bottom of the wave, the board is trimmed somewhat flat to maintain speed but the inside rail is carving. the paddle is digging at the face, providing a pivot point that slings the board around. You enter the turn with your body centered, and as you set the rail to turn and plant your paddle you bend your knees and ankles to power into the turn. as the board reaches the tightest part of the turn, your shoulders should be facing the wave and the rail should be evenly weighted between your front and back foot. As the board starts to climb the face the wave will add power and increase board speed quickly. It’s the tightness of the turn around the pivot that adds speed. The more gentle bottom turn done without a paddle lets the board track further from the base of the wave, which means the board slows before the wave catches up and the face starts adding power.

Typical flaws for bottom turns are:

• Placing too much weight on the back of the board, which pushes water and slows the board.
• Keeping the upper body pointed down the line at the apex of the turn, which ends the turn too soon and compromises balance.
• Not leaning hard into the paddle, which opens the turn, allowing the board to get too far from the wave face, causing the board to lose speed.

Note in the picture above that the rider is nearly at the apex of the turn. His shoulders are turning to face the wave. when he reaches the apex they will be squared to the wave. His paddle is firmly planted, digging hard in the wave face. His speed is maintained because he is very close to the base of the wave, the board hasn’t swooped away from the wave before the turn was initiated.

Cutbacks

The cutback is where you redirect the speed generated by a proper bottom turn. Proper use of paddle allows you to carve cutbacks with grace and power. My favorite cutbacks are the “Butter the Muffin”, “Layback Carve”, and the “The Snap”. All turns rely heavily on the paddle. The techniques are similar, but use different amounts of speed and torque.

All cutbacks tend to lose speed, both because of the direction reversal and because the bottom of the turn is executed past the base of the wave. The more aggressive the cutback, the less speed is lost.

Butter the Muffin – A hot muffin that melts butter as you effortlessly glide the knife over it is the inspiration of our first cutback. Think about that while performing this turn. You will need a fast, down the line wave and a proper bottom turn to set up this turn. Place the paddle into the water behind you and gently lean on it as you place your board on its rail. This turn is the most gradual of cutbacks and looks and feels great when performed properly. Keep the image of the knife (your paddle) gliding across the muffin in your mind as you lean into this cutback. This turn takes up a lot of real estate, sometimes 20 yards onto the shoulder of the wave and another 20 yards back to the curl.

Notice the back foot planted firmly on the inner rail, and lots of heel pressure making the rail carve. The paddle is steadying the turn, and providing a dragging pivot. Pressing outward with the rear foot will tighten the turn, but can drop you into the inside.

Butter the Muffin doesn’t require the commitment of the next two cutbacks, and so it’s the first backside paddle move you’ll be likely to learn.

Layback Carve – Leleo Kinimaka demonstrates this classic turn which allows you to carve hard on a fast moving wave using the paddle and your body as leverage to redirect your speed back into the curl. This turn uses much less real estate than the “Butter the Muffin”. Place the paddle sharply into the wave behind you set your board on its edge. Bend your knees and place your body over the edge of the board and lean on your paddle. A low center of gravity is critical here. Increase the pressure on your paddle and get your body as low as possible to create a pivot point at the top of the wave. Your butt, back and paddle can actually be partially submerged in the breaking wave. Turn your head back to admire the spray. Trial and error is really required here to teach you the proper amount of speed and torque that is possible.

You will generally fall to the inside on this turn, mostly from simply not committing fully to the turn. You need a lot of rail pressure, and you need to maintain it until the board comes back under your body. Bending your knees deeply is also critical. The momentum of this turn will not return your body to vertical, the board has to come around. If it doesn’t swing sharply enough you’ll be left hanging out over the wave–briefly. Note how Leleo bends his knees to gather the board back underneath him.

The Snap – A snap is a 180 turn executed on the wave face. Here Kevin Coffman executes this tighter version of the Layback Carve. Approach the steep part of the wave and lean hard on your paddle with your body over the edge of your board. Put as much weight over the fins as possible. This can also lead to a fin drift if you crank the turn hard enough.

This turn is executed mostly in the tail. The forward section of the inner rail is free of the wave, waving in the air, as in this photo.

Your back foot drives the board through the turn, spinning it around your front foot. The rail angle needs to be extreme. This is not a great turn for single fin boards, though they can certainly execute it in the right hands. Thrusters or a quad setup will help you by keeping a fin buried in the water at even an extreme lean angle.

The snap is executed with full commitment. You don’t lean into the turn and carve the rails, you dig back and pull the nose around.

All Together

All these turns get linked together into a sequence on the wave. Here’s a full sequence of turns on a nice wave. No shortboard surfers were injured in the filming of this sequence. The first turn looks a bit reckless due to foreshortening by the telephoto lens.

Take Off Fade

Setting up–notice the surfer stance, knees bent, shoulders and hips level, board trimmed flat to accelerate down the face

Changing trim–the board is still trimmed mostly flat and weight is even front to back feet, but he’s starting to bring some weght to the inside rail

Down the line–shoulders squared to the wave, look down the line, bringing the paddle forward

Toe pressure–flex the knees and ankles, applying more pressure to the rail, continue bringing the paddle forward

Picking up speed–rail pressure continues, weight balanced front to back, Shoulders facing forward in preparation to swing

Oops–He’s flattened out the board in preparation to swing. A natural reaction, like swinging your car a little right to turn left. Perhaps not necesary, but no big deal. On the plus side he has brought the board squarely under his hips, and he poised to put power into the turn

Leaning in–Preparing to plan the paddle, toes pressing the rail, knees soft

Plant and push–the paddle is starting to dig, providing focus for the turn. shoulder are swinging into the turn, knees and ankles pressing the rail down, the board is trimmed to carve with weight still largely equal on front and back feet

Dig and push–this body angle would be unlikely for such a relatively soft turn on a longboard. The paddle is enabling the weight to be hard on the rails, head and shoulders extended well over the rail

Recovering–Paddle is still planted hard with lots of pressure, knees and ankles soft but keeping the rail planted and carving. Weight is still fairly evenly distributed, making the board turn on the rails rather than swing on the tail

Recovered–the board is back under his hips, paddle still planted to stabilize. Shoulders pointed into the wave, the board is almost completely under his hips.

Butter the Muffin

Preparing to buttah–board trimmed mostly flat, running up the face

Drag and shift–plant the paddle, rotate weight to the heels. For a tighter turn, step the rear foot to the backside rail

Backside paddle–allow the paddle to track behind the board to the back side, dig hard. Lean back against the rail and the paddle. the knike starts to butter the muffin. Weight is fairly even front to back–this turn is also on the rail.

Recovering–soft knees and ankles combined with paddle pressure allow the board to slide under the hips and recover balance. Board trimmed flat and gaining speed

Bottom Turn

Gain speed–the board is trimmed mostly flat, accelerating down the face. Hips and shoulders flat, Weight centered on front and back feet

Still accelerating–board trimmed flat, even weight, swinging paddle forward to plant it.

At the bottom–board is at maximum speed for this angle, paddle ready to plant, weight even front and back

Stuff and go–paddle planted hard, press hard on the inner rail with toes, knees forward, ankles forcing the inner rail down. Shoulders and head starting to swing into the face

Digging the pit–Max pressure on the paddle to pivot around it, The board is clear of the face of the wave, running on momentum. Shoulders have swung towards the face, maintaining pressure on the rail. Weight slightly favors back foot

Recovering–starts relaxing rail pressure, the board is coming under the hips

Recovered–board is trimmed flat, gaining power from the wave face. You’ve gotta wonder–does he have enough speed to clear that section

Running–faded turn to gain some speed in front of the foam

Swing and drive–another soft turn to chase the shoulder

Almost there

Traversing whitewater–pressing the paddle back into the whitewater adds stability and keeps the tail of the board light to maintain speed. Whitewater pushing the tail down is what usually dumps surfers in the soup

Reaching to plant–with the shoulder near, he starts to pull up into the face in preparation for a snap.

Paddle Snap

Boiingg–The snap is done on the steepest section of the face of the wave, shoving the nose around with the back foot. Here the paddle is planted, he has stepped back in preparation to get weight on the tail, and is ready to shift weight back. At this point the board is still mostly flat because his weight is still distributed front and back.

Whang–leaning back hard into the paddle and shoving hard with the rear foot, weight heavily on the rear foot, allowing the board to pivot on the front foot.

Recovering–paddle still bracing, the board is starting to come under the hip. at this point the knees and ankles must go soft to let the board slide under your hips

Almost there–residual rail pressure start the board carving and lets the rails dig, where before they were sliding. Still bracing on the paddle because the board is not fully under the hips.

Recovered–the board is trimmed almost flat and is accelerating in the steep face of the wave

Turning Out
Turning out is just a bottom turn that doesn’t end. You simply keep the rail planted until you are facing out of the wave and drive over the lip.

Bounce to reverse–as the board comes fully under the hips he starts to pull the paddle forward and shift weight towards the toes to start another bottom turn. The board is trimmed flat and accelerating down the face

Leaning and digging–the paddle has swung forward, pressure hard on the rails from the ankles, shoulders squared to the hips and pointed down the line

Accelerating down the face–weight slightly back, pivoting around the planted paddle

Maintain the turn–instead of flattening the board at the base of the turn, you simply keep the rail carving until the board is facing out of the wave

Over da lip–as the board comes over, the board will unweight and try to shed you. Planting your paddle to the inside is a good plan

Adios

Have fun with this stuff, but practice moves too. The rapid improvement in your surfing will make it all much more fun and enable you to take on tougher condition

Summary

All advanced moves require time and effort to perfect, and they all are just starting points. As you perfect your own style you’ll add personal characteristics to each manuver that will not only make your results more consistent, they will lead to new ideas to try. SUP surfing is a new sport, as good as the top level SUP surfers are today, understand that there is a very long way to go.

Back to the Future

Regular readers will probably notice the paddle test is back, replacing the Laird Hamilton article. The load times for Ke Nalu have gotten horrific, and I’m working on a new interface to fix that. I think everyone will like this one better anyway, it give quick access to lots of content, and it’s got a cleaner look. But the big difference will be load times–with DSL or other high speed internet the load time should be less than five seconds.

Should be up in the next few days. In the meantime, get out and paddle!

Back to it

Tough week, but I’m back home and getting back into the things I do, including Ke Nalu. I’m working on a new set of instructional articles and some fun stuff. Still looking for any and all contributions of articles, photos, great places to SUP surf or paddle.

All the best to all of you. Don’t forget to have some fun today. This ain’t a rehearsal, this is your life.

New Toy: Foote KeNalu board

I asked Bill Foote to build me a board and asked Diane to design the graphics. I’m delighted with the outcome, except that I haven’t had a chance to do much more than paddle it around–the surf kind of sucks lately. Here’s some pics (as always, the pictures are letterboxed–click on any picture to see the full size version:

I did the mat myself. Started with a Hawaiian Island Surf and Sport mat and whacked it all up. I wanted it a bit wider in the tail and a little longer, so this is my artsy way of accomplishing that.

Diane found the Gecko on a tattoo art site. We printed it out in tiles and traced it onto rice paper. I used acrylic paint to fill in the black, but unfortunately used a Sharpie for the outline. When Bill tested the art it blew all over the place, so Dave the Painter had to redo it in a much more difficult manner–hand masking it.

Nice shape, yah? Hmm, maybe I’m spending too much time on Maui. I’m getting sun tan lotion off my hands.

A bit of rocker in the tail too. Makes it turn nice when you step back. The board is 10’11″ by 30″. A little concave under the feet, going to a slight V and flattening out in the tail.

Beach start. I do like having a pretty board to look at while I’m paddling.

Up and away

She floats, captain. Taking a bit ‘O water amidships, but nice and stable

If we only had a wave

Learning From The Masters–In Photos

Laird Hamilton at Peahi

What could you possibly learn from Laird Hamilton? The guy is way beyond the understanding of we mere mortals. That’s not just goofy hero worship. Not only is he an ultimate waterman, but he’s a visionary. He’s helped to birth multiple water sports including tow-in surfing and the renaissance of stand up paddle surfing. He was the first person I ever heard say that nearly anyone could do Stand Up at some level. His first production board was aimed not at the absurd level of expertise that he and his friends are capable of, but at the absolute beginner. He charts his own course, and we all wait to see what he’s going to do next.

But the answer to the first question is: Plenty. As a very simple example, look where his rear foot is in the picture above, and look where his weight is applied. His foot is slightly towards the inside rail, all he needs to do is shift his weight to his toes to press the rail down and turn the board, but his weight is still centered, keeping the board trimmed flat and letting it accelerate.

Now look where his weight is–his foot hasn’t moved, but the board is carving hard. This technique of anticipating a turn with foot placement but not initiating the turn until you are ready seems critical in controlling our big boards at any level. Stepping forward or back on the board, shifting a foot to one rail or the other, all without shifting your weight, is the way to maintain precise control. If you step and shift weight at the same time you’ll probably over control the board which generally means you’ll fall.

Fully committed to the Turn

Observe where his weight is applied, he’s cranking the rails hard and has his weight fully in the center of the turn. Look at where his hand is on the paddle–slid way up the shaft, with the blade skimming the face of the wave, not dragging to slow him, but cutting to act as a stabilizer. Of course he’s done this a thousand times, and it’s as automatic as sneezing, but his actions show us what we need to learn.

Cutting back on the face

Now his weight is back over the center. The board is trimmed flat. You can tell from the slash above his head and the blade angle that he’s been using the paddle to brake a little to hold in the pocket. The paddle is extremely versatile. You can speed up, slow down, stabilize, lift the tail of the board, steer from the nose, any number of things that a prone surfer has to do differently or do without.

Dropping in

Wide stance, centered on the board, staying low.

Bottom turn

Pay no attention to the tons of seawater over your head… Where was I, oh yeah, notice he’s moved his foot to the inner rail to push this turn hard.

Pushing Hard

Look how much force he’s applying to the board, he’s blowing water off the bottom, and his paddle is planted as a pivot point stabilizing him so he can press even harder on the rails. look at the bend in the paddle.

Finishing the turn
Note the foot position, on the inner rail, weight centered over the turning rail, paddle skimming for stability.

A boy and his playground

Here’s an interesting paddle-handling sequence at Ho’okipa:

Skimming the paddle to steer from a forward position

Dragging and skimming

Dragging to stay in the barrel

but sometimes ya just surf

Here’s a move I copied from watching Laird and others and have since perfected to a degree for myself. For me it’s not anything this elegant, and so I call it the “whitewater flail”.

A prone surfer facing a closeout this size would be wise to dive into the face of the wave. If they try to run down the face their speed will slacken just as the lip falls on them. Not a good thing. Generally a ticket for a free ride over the falls.

But Laird uses the power of his paddle to stay ahead, and then presses the paddle back in the whitewater to lighten the tail and simultaneously keep the nose from being pushed under in a power pearl.

Your success in staying on the board in the turbulence may not be as high as Laird’s, but you won’t be going over the falls–that’s already done, finis, pau, over.

Guy must have feet like a gecko

We’ve got a lot more of this coming, courtesy of Darrell Wong, a tremendously talented photographer. You can see more of his work at www.darrellwong.com. In the next installment we’ll look at some astonishing power turns by Robby Naish (yes, he’s a hell of a good surfer, that should come as no surprise) and flatwater strokes perfected by looking at some of the best racing paddlers in the world, including ocean canoe paddlers.

In the meantime, have fun, paddle hard.