mile times and contest

[1tuberider]

A friend of mine and I paddled offshore around mussel rock and back.  Its around a mile offshore.  Paddling out we were in a head wind of 5 to 7 knots and we were making good time but not pushing it and it took 22 minutes to get there. 

After we made our turn I turned on the juice and paddled hard back to see what kind of time we could do it in and to be competitive.  It took 15 minutes to get back and I was stroking hard enough that he could not catch me till we both surfed in on the same wave.   

What kind of times should we be shooting for?  The distance is right at a mile offshore.  I paddled my 12'6 starboard and he had an 11' custom.

My friend Rynn told me that this paddle will be for a race event to precede the annual surfing contest he runs. He will also have a surfing event in the contest for the sup.  Plans so far are for sup's on Friday  and the surf contest Sat and Sunday for the longboarders.  I hope it happens, and if you are interested in coming, contact the Noll surf shop in Crescent City to get more info.  The contest is usually held the end of September or early October. 

[stoneaxe]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news. I ride a 12-6 Starboard also. A 15 min mile with a 7 knot tailwind is slow. I haven't done it with a stopwatch so I may be mistaken but I think i do that in under 10 mins easily. Did you have sidebites in, or any chop to slow you down? I've also been training for distance for the last 4-5 months so that could be the difference too. How long have you been shooting for speed?

[1tuberider]

Thanks for the reply stonaxe.

I know little about speed paddling.  So a slow time is a starting point, but yes the water was lightly choppy and the wind was more side than behind us coming back. 

So we were probably not pushing it going out as we were talking and staying in the slicks which was not a straight line, but coming back in I pulled alot harder, no talking till we got near shore and I heard my bud say "all right you win" but I thought he was just trying to sucker me to slow down.  Anyway we landed at the beach together cause he caught a wave to catch up and we rode it together in.

We will be doing it again so I will work on improving time. 

It was also fun to do this paddle.  A mile offshore adds some thrill, plus the muscles still feel tight.  Ended the paddle with a surf session. 

Under 10 minutes in a mile, that paddle must be a blur.  I'll have to work on gaining a stroke when I switch hands. 

[greatdane]

I do a 8 mile roundtrip paddle up here.  In glassy conditions my record is 1 hour, 36 minutes.  In rough conditions it is 1:52.  I am also paddling a 14' Vortice though.  Borrow someones GPS unit and measure your distance... you may be paddling farther than you think.

[PonoBill]

I did eighteen miles (I'm training for Soneaxe's Cape Cod paddle) yesterday in a little over three and a half hours, including a brief stop for lunch (two bars and some water). Favoravle current going against a lingt wind in one direction, strong wind against the current coming back. As far as I can tell I'm paddling about as fast as a fat lady jogs.

I left the side bites in to add to the training. This afternoon I'm going to take them out and do 25 miles--at least that's the plan. I'll try to get a good time.

[stoneaxe]

I don't know that much about it either tube. I think a big part of what helps me is that I'm fairly tall and have a broad back so I make a good sail.... I'm definitely getting interested in the racing side of the sport though. A lot of the paddling I do has nothing to do with surfing so it would be good to have something to work at. I'd love to try my hand at something like the Maliko to Kahalui but I think the comparison of what I do on the east coast and that would be like a pony ride compared to a thoroughbred race.

Take a look at the spot your taking about in Google maps. You can find the real distance or at least get close.

Good to hear you're training hard Bill. I think I'll tie some monfilament to your leash plug. and just take it easy for the challenge.

[1tuberider]

Thanks for the tips. 

I paddled around three miles yesterday, but since I was solo I stayed along the beach.  It was a great workout but not the same as going offshore.  I keep getting sidetracked by taking waves.  I feel it is part of the workout but it effects my time unless I get a really long ride the direction I am paddling.

The contest is happening.  October 3rd for the sup and the 4th and 5th for the longboarders.  Now I need to practice paddling everyday to improve endurance.  I will post more about it in the event section.

[surfpainter]

1tube, Whats the water temp there?

[stoneaxe]

I look at surfing as interval training.....also too much fun not to do....siren song of the waves and all.

I also wouldn't worry about timing yourself too much until you start to get closer to the date. Focus on the workout and building your core and shoulders and the timing will come. A 1 mile race shouldn't really bring too much endurance into play. One way to max out the effectiveness of your training time is to go upwind. My favorite workout is upwind against heavy chop. If you have a day with heavy onshore winds punch through it for 1/2 mile or a mile and then sprint back downwind, repeat until it feels like your arms will fall off. I think this is my most effective training...gets every muscle in the body working...makes you really get used to swinging your paddle around to maintain balance, and it will get you used to that sprint for the finish.

[1tuberider]

Water is quite warm now at 57.  I have been trunking it with a 1.5 mil vest. 

My take on this paddle thing is if I have enough left in me to surf after the paddle, then I did not work hard enough.  So I am going to like sprint paddle and work on endurance after I surf and then crawl home.

[wadadli_waterman]

I am interested to know what unit of measure is being used for distance.

By miles does everyone mean a nautical mile or statute mile?  There is a big difference; approx. 1.2 statute/1 nautical mile.

I base my routes off a nautical chart so I go off nautical miles(based on one minute of a degree of arc).  Our regular South Coast run is 8 nautical miles or 9.6 statute miles.

[stoneaxe]

I was talking statute. I grab my distances from google maps.

[PonoBill]

So it looks like Dave Kalama did the nine or so miles from Maliko to the harbor in about an hour (as I recall, that's about the distance).  The ordinary humans did it in about two hours.  I think we can safely assume 9 MPH is top speed for any human being on about any board that doesn't have a motor. With a tailwind and glide-able rollers. That means we normal human beings are stretching it to claim to hit 5 MPH on a non-race board.

[stoneaxe]

I'm getting excited then.... Based on google maps and the clock in my truck. I did 5 miles in about 55 minutes tonight and that was with a slight headwind for a good part of the paddle back. Clock was at 7:30 when I got out of the truck...took me a few minutes to unstrap my board and gear up, get to the water. Truck clock read 8:33 when I got back in and I had already loaded my board on top. So shore to shore time was considerably less than 63 mins. Might have been an hour but definitely no more. I WAS paddling at my max the whole 5.

The point was tested at 7.64 mph on flat water with no wind and I've heard it said that there is actually not a lot of difference in the 12-6 and the point on flatwater. Not sure how true that actually is though.

[Tom]

Does anyone use a handheld GPS? The prone paddleboard racers I know do & I'd think it would be a good training tool for SUP as well.