Paddling upwind

[1paddle2paddle]

Anyone have any tips for paddling into a headwind, or a sidewind/headwind (assume from the 10:30 or 1:30 position on the clock)?

I was paddling into a pretty stiff wind coming at me from approximately the 10:30 position and will I could paddle on the right side of the boat OK, but as soon as I switched over to the left side the boat would immediately begin to turn to the right.

I experimented with doing a modified J-stroke on the left side, reaching the paddle away from the boat to plant and then pulling back towards the boat.  It helped a little, but was not really able to get the boat moving.

I have the Vortice, and it has a ton of rocker and no rudder (just the fin), a recipe for a miserable upwind experience.  No glide into the wind and the inability to paddle much on the left side was really challenging.

[StandUpPaddleSurf.net]

I am hopefully going to alleviate the paddling upwind challenge by getting an SIC S-16 catamaran. 

[1paddle2paddle]

Its a brutal undertaking.  Had me wishing I was on my surfski,

[StandUpPaddleSurf.net]

On the Hawaii Kai run it sometimes takes me 10 minutes to go the last 1/4 mile.  That's not the norm, I'm just really slow upwind. 

[starbolt]

One thing which will help is moving forward on the board (as much as possible) as the tail will turn so that you stay pointed into the wind.

[1paddle2paddle]

On the Hawaii Kai run it sometimes takes me 10 minutes to go the last 1/4 mile.  That's not the norm, I'm just really slow upwind. 

As the wind turns more northerly I think that is the norm.

I was about as far up as I could go on the board, at some point it felt like I was just pushing water as the nose started to submerge.

[PonoBill]

Upwind and crosswind are where rudders rule.

[Lobes]

Its a tough one, short of getting on your knees or stomach theres no easy way to do it. Try shorter more rapid strokes, remember to keep the blade of your paddle close to the water on the return. Also use a smaller paddle size

[noa]

Upwind paddling is great training. I've often been droped off earlier on my run, paddled the remaining distance upwind as a warm up and then turned around and did the whole downwind stretch.
Personaly I would love to be able to paddle the whole downwind run upwind first. That way there is no need to mess around with the whole car situation  and I would not feel like I'm cheating by getting dropped off. Problem is that paddling around ten or more km upwind in anything above even 15 knots takes way too much time and energy. So for a longer upwind stretch I guess sit or knee paddling would be the only practical option.
There is still a lot of experimentation to be done.

[Takeo]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who struggles paddling into the wind.  On my F14 into winds 20-25 mph+ it's such a workout.  The wind is the first challenge, the second challenge is the chop coming in all different directions, some swamping the nose, some hitting me from the side.  I too found that if I move too forward, the nose gets submerged and when a small wave hits, its goes over the entire board. If I stand in the middle or far back, there is a constant pounding of the chop on the rocker.  None-the-less, it's a great workout and the reward is the ride back with the wind.  I find that these conditions definitely make me a better paddler really quick. 

[JonathanC]

I'm with Noa on this one, get a real buzz out of "earning" a down-winder by doing the hard yards upwind first. Agree about standing further forward if you have a displacement piercing type nose on the board, helps you track and maintain your course. The other thing I do is short strokes and high stroke rate, really reaching to twist the the torso and get the paddle blade in as far forward as possible. I think that having the paddle enter so far forward helps the board track - almost seems to pull it straight even in a slight cross wind. I think a bigger fin helps you track straighter too and is a real help going upwind because of this.
The other thing to experiment with is slightly steering the board by depressing the rail as you stroke, different boards react very differently to this. Some boards will easily allow you to steer with this weighting and of course if the wind is coming off centre you can exaggerate the effect on one side - seems to work most effectively on displacement type hulls. Maybe I'm a little strange but I'm finding I really enjoy the satisfaction of going upwind and trying to perfect the technique to make it as fast and easy as possible, I think a large part of it is maintaining momentum and for me that means high stroke rate and quick side to side paddle changes.

[downwindaddiction]

only good thing about an upwind leg, is anticipation on the downwind to follow.

[robcasey]

I paddle upwind a lot, often to get to my starting spot to do a downwinder. Today I paddled upwind near shore in order to surf windwaves near shore 5min from my house in Seattle. Wind was a northerly 21 knots.  Not fun for sure. 

A few tips for paddling upwind:
- sit down to reduce wind resistence with legs out like in a kayak, slightly bent.  Bring your lower hand to just above the blade, the higher hand 2' above.  Paddle with the upper arm nearly straight forcing your torso to add power to the stroke.  Looks like an outrigger stroke.  Works well. 
- paddle prone - best method to cut wind resistence, but obviously tough if you're not used to it or in shape.
- use a break-down kayak paddle, then store it under bungis on your board for the downwinder. 
- avoid it altogether.  check the wind direction before you go out via NOAA or a similar service. 
- definitely great for race training. 

[bing]

I do a combination, sitting, kneeling and then standing.   I to have a Vortice and ride it as far forward as
I can upwind.  BTW Rob - great day downwinding in Puget Sound today.  There were some 2 to 3 foot rollers near
Three Tree Point.

[SEA]

A friend of mine who is sponsored by Naish shared a tip with me when doing down wind runs ,I tried it and it works really well.  This mostly applies to Down wind boards i believe (never tried on a surfing SUB). I tried it on my 14' Glide. 

EXAMPLE :  you are doing a Hawaii Kai run and your coming around Daimond head , heading for Kaimana beach. The wind is coming off shore and hitting your right side pushing you out to SEA as you try to paddle parallel to shore.

SOLUTION:  put more weight on your Left Rail which will lift up your Right rail off the water and paddle on your left side .  You will see your board begin to turn towards shore and into the wind (which is hitting you on your right side).  This works very well.

When my friend told me this trick the first thing I thought was ,  It defies all logic. However when I tried  , it works !!!!