Drafting Etiquette

[teamalty]

  A little over three years ago I picked up SUP. Before that I struggled with the outrigger and surfski groups and their "Better than thou" attitudes and the politics. So when I entered my first SUP race, I was blown away by the LOVE.

  Three years ago during most of my races, no drafting was the norm. Paddlers finished, embraced one another, and shared race stories. No complaints of this or that. Last year was totally different. Sure, there were the embraces, and the shared stories, but there was more. The banged boards, the yelling at other paddlers, the bad feelings about the on-going drafting problem. We even had our first disqualification because of drafting, and everyone went, "Why her because there were so many others". Why was she singled out? The sport has changed. Good or bad, it's not the same.

  Another example of how much fun it was a few years back was my BoP experience. Just the thought of being in the biggest and best brought out the butterflies. To race with over 300 paddlers in one race where maybe a 100 was a max for me, was daunting. I kept thinking what's going to happen at the first buoy turn? Well, it happened, and surprised is an understatement, and the reason I love this sport. There had to be over a 100 paddlers hitting that turn at the same time: crashing, banging, and falling the, BUT not one derogatory word was spoken. All I heard was, "You OK?", "Can I help you?", "Do you need any help? and then quiet until the next turn, and the next turn with the same results.

  I came back to the beach with a grin that lasted a month. It's the people who make our sport, not the rules, the elites, or organizers--the people. We may not be able to bring back that LOVE again, and the sport will change, but I miss the early times.

Until we make drafting legal for all, or do away with it, we will continue this struggle. With so many races, I can pick and choose, and so can you.

Oh, yeah that race around the rock will go down as the ugliest ever done with drafting or no drafting. Anyone who finished is a champion.

[PonoBill]

PBill, why do you think it's "a fundamental requirement" Did you mean fundamental skill? I'm not familiar with the race. All I know it's a 13 mile ocean race.

It's uphill both ways. Always tough, and you go around a long island so you're guaranteed one upwind leg, unless the wind direction changes, which it always does. You'd think one year the direction change would yield two downhill legs, but it never has.

I'm not claiming the organizers require it, I'm saying I require it.

[greatdane]

Had an interesting race on Saturday that called into question many of the drafting issues in this thread... GorgeBob was there & maybe a few others from this thread...

I did a write-up on it, sorry for posting a link.... But there are some decent pictures too...

http://www.paddlesurfnorthwest.com/2013/04/gig-harbor-2013-race-recap.html

I'm still on the fence about drafting... it's a huge pain for race promotors to enforce, but I think it will be up to us as racers to self-enforce and call-out the folks that abuse it regularly.

[Sup Mark]

Excellent thread on drafting! We are still in the "Love Phase" up here in the frozen northland on the SUP scene but as a winter nordic ski racer (think frozen water SUPing!) we have similar situations in our ski racing.  The parallels are too numerous to list but nordic ski racing has been around for a long time and worked out most of the kinks and SUP will too. Top level races have judges and juries but in the big (5,000 participant) races stuff happens and you just have to think about why you are out there...I'm helping organize a race this summer so your input on this topic is great. By the way it's snowing again tonight so smile when you put the board in the water as I will probably be out skiing tomorrow!

[peterp]

Had an interesting race on Saturday that called into question many of the drafting issues in this thread... GorgeBob was there & maybe a few others from this thread...

I did a write-up on it, sorry for posting a link.... But there are some decent pictures too...

http://www.paddlesurfnorthwest.com/2013/04/gig-harbor-2013-race-recap.html

I'm still on the fence about drafting... it's a huge pain for race promotors to enforce, but I think it will be up to us as racers to self-enforce and call-out the folks that abuse it regularly.

Your blog sums up beautifully how drafting adds tactics and mental stress to a race - well done on outsmarting the younger guy - you described perfectly how to win a race even with a draftee on your tail.

We race like that every week and the juniors are learning every time, making them smarter racers.

To sum it up: If you lose a race to a guy thats been drafting you, its not his, nor the organizers fault.....

[Chilly]

Peterp, I view it differently. Although Greatdane played is smart it was his better conditioning that won him the race - IMO. I don't have a problem with drafting, but drafting without etiquette among athletes or rules can get out of hand and lead to problems. Like you said, "drafting adds tactics and mental stress to a race". I get my fair share of mental stress at work. I just want to race hard and hope that the best athlete wins. I've been lucky,, the races I have attended the athletes have been some of the coolest people I have met. So maybe it's not a problem, I just want to keep it that way.

Greatdane, nice write up on the race.

[teamalty]

  Beau's blog and race write-up was right-on for explaining drafting when done fairly--the tension was explained fully. And anybody that can hang with Beau, deserves second place.   

  Where the issue could have been is if he got an unfair advantage by drafting the (normally) faster surfski to make his break. If that's the case, some could make a case he wasn't drafting fairly. However, the racer's pre-race meeting would have explained the rules like vests, leashes, course, and rules for the race. If drafting was allowed, great. Beau, not sure of his feelings about drafting, added to this thread the tension one feels trying to shred a drafter.

  Making drafting fair seems to be the concern: learning the skill and using it isn't. Most see it as sexist and unfairly enforced according to the rules. The idea that the racers take care of the problem, is the problem. Bad feelings, dinged boards, and complaining is NOT necessary if drafting was either allowed or not allowed. I for one would have like to have heard from Dustin, Beau's competitor. Smile.

[greatdane]

Thanks for the kudos guys. It was a fun, albeit stressful race, but that's why it's called racing and not knitting(-:
Honestly, I missed the pre-race meeting, but I've yet to be at a multi-craft race up here that had a single drafting rule. That said, it probably wasn't ethical for me to draft an OC1. But had I moved left I would have been behind a K1, had I moved right I would have been behind a OC6. Either way, I'm in someone's draft until the race spreads itself out.

I think drafting has its place and makes for fun racing... but maybe not always fair. And like I said before, it would be a nightmare to enforce and patrol.

I have found myself many times behind my teammate Cyril who is undeniably faster than I am. I am strong enough to sit in his draft (barely) but I cannot pass him to give him a rest unless he allows it. I have therefore sat in his draft for large portions of races. The crux comes at the finish, where I have never tried to out sprint him after he has done all the work. It's just not in my DNA. How you race & the decisions you make in the heat of battle say a lot about you as an athlete and a person.IMO (-:

[pdxmike]

Thanks for the kudos guys. It was a fun, albeit stressful race, but that's why it's called racing and not knitting(-:

I know someone who tried knitting while he was doing a downwinder, but the nose of his board kept pearling. 

[FB1]

http://www.ridingbumps.com/2013/04/19/an-introdution-to-drafting-for-the-sup-racer-and-prone-paddle-racer/

Here is a good link to most aspects of drafting.

[gorgebob]

Beau great write up. I was at Gig Harbor and the course with the side winds added a touch extra work. I drafted on two legs and ran my own course on the other three. At the end after drafting Patrick for a lap we went into a sprint to the finish and I sweaked out ahead. Patrick was on a 12'6" and can bouy turn perfectly. I felt some guilt but would do it again being twice his age and on a 14 .