Topics

16

Downwind and Racing / Downwinding the SB Ace off shore with a Naish - Vid

« on: April 30, 2017, 08:17:01 PM »

I headed out to our South Lamma Highway downwind run last month with one of our locally supported youth Naish Riders for an off-shore training run. We did not expect much wind so I took the Ace..

...and the wind picked up, and we had blast... and one fall each..


Sail Systems 3rd Person Mount + GoPro Hero 5 Black

17

Downwind and Racing / Downwinding NSP and SIC Unlimiteds - Vid

« on: March 17, 2017, 08:56:17 AM »

We had one of those days where at the start of the downwind run we thought maybe the conditions would be too big for our unlimited boards. But as it turned out the wind was strongest at the beginning of the run. Not though before we got the 3rd Person Rig on the NSP Travis Grant 17-10 from the SiCMaui Bullet 17-4.


GoPro Hero 5 + Sail Systems 3rd Person Rig

18

Downwind and Racing / 4 Person Team Dragon SUP racing - vids

« on: March 07, 2017, 11:50:12 PM »

Just a couple of vids from the Dragon SUP competition we had in Hong Kong in November last year. We had pretty simple rules which required competitors to be required to be standing as they crossed the start and finish lines only, and there to be minimum of one female per team.

In the early heats, teams stood the whole way round the course (400m with one 180 deg buoy turn) but by the final each team had figured out the fastest combination of kneeling and standing.


The Final


One of the early heats

It will be interesting to see how this form of team racing develops.. it is a lot of fun.

19

Downwind and Racing / Sunny Downbreezer in the dugout - Vid

« on: March 03, 2017, 06:01:52 PM »

Sometimes everything comes together and conditions are perfect for a morning downbreeze paddle on the Ace..

And then you fall in for no apparent reason..


GoPro Hero 5 with Sail Systems 3rd Person Mount
Board 2017 Starboard Ace 14 x 27"

20

Downwind and Racing / 25 knot open ocean downwinder - Vid

« on: February 12, 2017, 01:42:54 AM »

GpPro Hero 5 Black + Sail Systems 3rd Person Mount
Music: Heatwave - MuttonHeads Remix - Julien Creance

21

Downwind and Racing / Downwinding - How to unstick a 14' board in 25 knot offshore conditions? - vid

« on: February 07, 2017, 04:05:06 PM »

We had two great sessions this past Monday on a near shore run with little fetch and then on an offshore run with ocean (ground swell). What was interesting was I seem to find it harder to unstick a 14' board than a longer one and get on the plane in these off-shore conditions (see vid below), but not at all in the near shore where this 14' skipped from glide to glide with ease.

I'd be interested to know from those more experienced than me what I am doing wrong. On this 14', I felt in order to catch the faster moving waves in the higher winds I needed to stay further forward, but when I stepped back, the board stalled... probably stepping back too early or I'm just not light enough on my feet. Or I just wasn't paddling fast enough. The board is the Blue Planet Bump Rider 14 x 27". In these conditions I know I would have no problems unsticking my SIC F16v3 or the SIC Bullet 17-4 which being longer I think does not stall so easily when you step back (due to the longer profile) and they also force you to stay way back to ensure the nose of the board does not plow into the wave ahead and there is a bigger surface area to catch the wave going under you..

Be interested to hear your comments...


GoPro Hero 5 Black with Sail Systems 3rd Mount (which had been moved off centre by an earlier fall)

22

Downwind and Racing / The South Lamma Highway Downwind Run with Robert Stehlik - vid

« on: February 06, 2017, 06:58:54 AM »

I've finally managed to put this video together having been away for a while. When Robert was in Hong Kong, we did not get good downwind conditions until his last full day, and so we headed out to our best run, the "South Lamma Highway" which is approximately 3.75 miles / 6kms off the South Coast of Hong Kong and has good Easterly ground swell as well as wind swell. The wind on this day had a bit of north in it so the ground swell did not exactly line up with the wind swell but it was a fun sunny day.

We actually did 2 runs, where I wore the 3rd Person Sail Systems Mount for the beginning of the first run, and then Robert wore it on the 2nd 1/2 and the 2nd run. So Robert is always paddling the 2017 Blue Planet Bump Rider 14 x 27, while I am on the Polka Dot SICMaui F16v3 and the footage includes shots from Robert's head-cam. We try to stay friendly with the Marine Police here, and so wearing bright coloured tops and PFD's are one of the things we do here (although not law) as technically we are paddling in a ship anchorage where ships are constantly moving around.

What you will notice here is the difference between an experienced and very fit downwind paddler (Robert), and an older, less fit, but high enthusiastic paddler (me).



Music: Echo Children by Death Ships

23

Downwind and Racing / Robert Stehlik - Downwinding and Touring in Hong Kong

« on: January 27, 2017, 11:20:18 PM »

Robert Stehlik of Blue Planet Surf in Oahu, was passing through Hong Kong last weekend, and a bunch of us had the pleasure of paddling with him in the waters around Hong Kong, including two days when we went touring and 2 days of downwinding. Vids are coming later, but here are some pics of Robert on his Blue Planet Bump Rider 14' x 27" (2017) on our "South Lamma Highway" downwind run on a beautiful January day. The wind strengthened throughout the run. It was great having Robert around to impart some paddling and downwinding tips to our crew.

24

Downwind and Racing / Epic 38 knot French Downwinder Vid

« on: January 18, 2017, 06:41:13 AM »

Came across this today on YouTube... Worth watching through to the end which shows how difficult it is to a) beach land in winds like this through the surf, and b) what happens when you try to carry a board in these strengths of winds..

25

Downwind and Racing / When it all comes together...

« on: January 17, 2017, 05:57:35 AM »

Sometimes you just get lucky. The wind blows hard and the sun shines at the same time. Despite a mediocre forecast, we had a day like that today. And it is day's like this that despite everything that is going on around the world, makes you thankful for everything we have. Particularly when you are so excited to get out on the water and you forget to attach your floating spec savers to your glasses/specs, and you fall in and they don't come off...  At least this time, I'd remembered to put the phone in the waterproof pouch.. 

26

SUP Safety / Downwinding safety - Rendevous points along route protocols

« on: January 08, 2017, 07:20:13 PM »

I'd be interested to know what others are doing in downwinders to ensure safety and all paddlers present at planned  "rendezvous" points along the way

In our 10km downwind run "The Port Shelter Express" we have 2 Rendevous meeting places along it. The first is behind a small peninsula that juts out into the run and has a small lighthouse on it and we can all gather behind the peninsula out of the wind. The 2nd is when we get to a point parallel to the start of an island before the last technical portion of the run where there is a groundswell coming in from the left to contend with.

When we did this run we set out with 6 of us, and at the first Rendevous point only 5 of us turned up. We waited for 5 minutes and then 2 of us clambered up the rocks to see if we could see him but there was no sign. After 10 minutes a Surfskier who started after us came by and we asked him if he'd seen our friend. He had not. We then attempted to call one of the paddlers relatives who was at the start with us but could not get through. We also did not receive any message or call from the paddler and could not reach his phone.

The wind was too strong for us to paddle back up to the start and with paddlers getting cold we decided to head as quickly as we could to the finish.

Fortunately when we arrived at the end of the run our friend was already on the jetty. He had rightly decided conditions were too wild for him and had headed for the shore shortly after starting. He'd found his phone was dead so could not call us so took a taxi to our ending point to meet us (also the right thing to do). We were all mightily relieved to see him. 

After this situation we are reviewing our safety protocols as clearly this could have turned out differently. I'd be interested in hearing what is best practice or what others are doing with regard to Rendevous points, buddy systems, phones, walkie talkies etc.

27

Downwind and Racing / Downbreezing Scotland - Loch Lomond

« on: January 08, 2017, 03:18:20 PM »

One of the great joys of the Zone is meeting other Zoners or friends of Zoners and paddling with them on my overseas trips. In 2016 I managed to downwind or downbreeze in New York, Sydney and here on Loch Lomond, Scotland. I have friends who head to golf clubs around the world when they travel to pick up a game, but for me there is nothing better than heading to a lake, river or ocean with some like-minded and friendly locals who know the water and conditions.

It was a shame that wind did not kick in as we expected, but it was a great wee downbreeze journey all the same and I even got to paddle the Naish Glide GTW 14 x 30" midway


GoPro Hero 5 Black - headmounted

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Downwind and Racing / Winter Monsoon Downwind Vid - Best conditions of 2016

« on: December 28, 2016, 06:33:01 AM »

Yesterday we had probably the best conditions of the whole year. Not the strongest wind of the year which happened in January, but strong enough, and blue skies, and warm for this time of the year. Made for one epic day downwinding. Several guys did the run (10km / 6.4kms) twice, it was that good. Hope the video below captures the essence of the run and the awesome conditions. It was that windy, that the GoPro Hero 5 did not record any sound..


Sail Systems 3rd Person Mount + GoPro Hero 5 Black

29

Downwind and Racing / Same run. Same day. Different boards - Downwindy-breezer Vids (x2)

« on: December 22, 2016, 07:40:26 AM »

I was fortunate to downwind / downbreeze the same run twice on the same day with two different boards this past week

Run 1: 2017 Starboard Ace 14 x 27 (“The Dugout”)
Run 2: 2015 SIC Bullet V1 TWC ("The Surf Machine”)

The wind was a little stronger on the 2nd run but interesting to see how the two boards differed and performed. I like both, but they really are different animals, and although I’d say the grin factor is overall the same for each board, the bits that make up the grin are different.

Run 1


Run 2


Wishing everyone a Happy Holidays, and for those who downwind, better downwinding and longer glides in 2017. And for those that don’t yet downwind, a chance to try this amazing sport in 2017.

30

Downwind and Racing / One SUP 17'7 Unlimited downwinding VID

« on: December 20, 2016, 11:55:06 PM »

Not seen one of these in the flesh yet, but from the vid, they look like the SIC Bullet 17'4s