The smokin spring and summer Maliko report

[ericspin]

Love that video.  Bet I have watched it 10 times in the last few days.  Seems like it was linked on surfski.info or somewhere the other day.  Wish I could learn to employ that leg pump in my stroke.  He is smoooooth.  Next to paddling ski/SUP I love to watch videos of others doing it with grace like this guy.  Enjoy your class with him. I cannot even imagine how cool that would be.

[pdxmike]

L--I was already getting intrigued with surfskis, then you had to post that "Paddling with Zsolt" video. 

I know I sound like a broken record, but that stroke is exactly like swimming.  Watch how his front hand stays completely still way out in front while his stroking arm pulls through.  It's "front quadrant" swimming--the idea being that a good stroke is not like a windmill, it's keeping your forward arm outstretched, and pausing your hand, while your other arm moves through the stroke.  You don't move your forward hand much until your other arm has completed its stroke and is already well into its forward recovery. 

There are drills to help with this--"catch-up stroke", where you don't pull your hand back to start your stroke until the other arm has moved all the way through the stroke and has come back to touch the forward hand.  Some people do it with a tennis ball, so the front hand holds the ball until the other hand has come forward to take the ball.

One coach of mine had us swimming with broom handles.  You hold it with your hands at either end, and swim.  It forces you to hold the front hand forward and still until the other arm has recovered forward.  It looks almost exactly like Zsolt's stroke.  Just never try it doing fly--you'll break your knees.

All of this gets back to what PB has been talking about in regard to the importance of the catch, and getting a smooth deep catch before applying power. 

[Strand Leper]

Amazing video of Zolt... it looked effortless... it was mesmerizing.

Thanks for posting it.

Tim

[Tecpartner]

I'm working on the leg pump too.  Definitely don't have it, but occasionanaly getting in a few pumps just right. 

We have a race Saturday morning.  I get too choose SUP or ski.  9 miles and crossing a harbor at mid tide; I think I'll take the ski.  I'm liable to get stuck paddling in one place if I take the SUP. 

The amazing thing about that Zolt video:  It was taken in 2007, and he's been working on that stroke ever since. 

[LaPerouseBay]

My new wing blade, a Kajner 4, arrived last Friday.  I'll post pics of it one of these days. 

Ski is huge in Hungary.  The website for Kajner describes the Kajner 4 blade as suitable for a woman.  That's about right.   

Did a ton of paddling this weekend.  Overtraining is easy to do at my age.  I feel fine, but need to curb my enthusiasm in the water or pay the price.  So I went shorter than usual Monday.  4.5 mile downwinder in light conditions was perfect to get me in the water.

The ski was behaving very odd in the light downwind waves.  I couldn't get it to turn very well.  About half way into the run I finally told myself, 'well, some days you got it and some days you don't'.  The ski was running pretty fast as the boat angled across the waves.  I'd have to smash the pedal to the floor to get it to straighten the boat.  After the run, I noticed a piece of foam jammed in my rudder.  The boat goes tail first on the truck.  I jam foam in to keep the rudder straight.  Forgot to take it out before the run.

I was damn glad to see it in there.  It explained the erratic steering.  It was just tight enough to prevent the rudder from holding straight, but would slip left and right if you mashed the pedal full left or right.  Good training to relax and go with the flow.  The angles across the shoulder high waves were very interesting.  It's good to know how the ski's behave if you really need to go side on to the waves in a hurry.  May come in handy with the whales. 

Check out the odd path.



 

[ericspin]

LPB, how do you discipline yourself to not _overtrain_?  I wish I had that kind of restraint.  My old road cycling brain always tells me that if I am not going to exhaustion I am wasting my time.  Guess that's why I am battlling a sore shoulder right now.  I get all excited about being able to _upwind_ in the ski and let the distance get the best of me most times. 

Never have seen one of the Kajner paddles in person but I hear they are pretty similar to the Epic paddles but less expensive.  Are you aware of Patrick Onno?  He makes some beautiful paddles and I have been wanting to contact him about making me a small or small-mid wing for the long distance days.  I currently paddle an Epic mid wing and toward the end of a 20 mile paddle I can really feel it.  Too bad I'm not 30 years old anymore....

[1paddle2paddle]

Hey LaPer, that is a funny story.  Many surfskiers keep a piece of foam with them on runs in case the rudder cable breaks so you can wedge the foam in to keep the rudder straight.  With a free swinging rudder the ski is nearly uncontrollable.  Of course you have to remember to remove the foam before your run.

Riding bumps on the ski is of course a bit different than on SUP.  Because of the minimal amount of rocker and nearly full displacement hull, it is nearly essential to angle the bumps rather than go straight down - going straight down almost guarantees burying the nose in the bump in front of you.  Also, with the faster speeds of the ski you can railroad bumps much easier so you need to focus on a larger area in front of you - maybe two to three bumps ahead to choose the line which gives the best push through the series.

On the Mako XT I had this issue where when I would be riding down the face of a swell which was coming from my left (bending in from Portlock, a regular occurrence on the HK run), if the top of the wave crumbled it could fill my cockpit with almost a small bathtub amount of water, immediately killing my glide and taking me a little while to get the water out of the boat.  So what I learned to do is to lean the boat to the right away from the wave to prevent the wave from depositing a massive amount of water in the cockpit.  Counter intuitive since I was leaning towards the downhill side of the wave but the technique worked.  For whatever reason the "bathtub o water" situation never seemed to happen on the V10 so I do not need that trick anymore.

I'd be interested to see that Kajner blade.  I never upgraded from my Fenn mid-wing.  A very mild wing blade.  Since I almost never do flat water on the ski I kind of like that the blade does not grab as much water; it allows me to achieve a higher cadence and not try to pull as much water each stroke.

[LaPerouseBay]

The Kajner is high quality at a good price.  The size I have is just a tad smaller than an epic mid, with a similar shape.  The epics are about 3 oz. lighter (advertised weight),  Some refer to the epics as a Ferrari, the Kajner a Toyota.  The paddle is a lot better than I am and should last for many years.  It has a very nice lever lock.  Good traction on the textured shaft.     

An elite paddle like an Onno sounds great.  I'll bet they are light as a feather.   

As for overtraining, I  watch my weight.  If it goes down too far and won't come up within a day or two, I rest. 

All systems go with the free swinging rudder. Very light wind tonight.  It was flat early, but the light wind created some small bumps about half way across.  Ski's are a blast in small conditions.



   

[1paddle2paddle]

LaPer, the difference between the two pictures tells the most complete story of the rudder's function.  Skis are helpless without the rudder.

I tried an Epic blade once - they seem to lock into the water when planted.  If I had good stroke technique I'm sure the Epic blade would give me all the bite I would ever need.

Skis probably have their biggest advantage in flatter conditions.  When its all surfing the really good OC-1 paddlers are right there with the fastest ski paddlers.  What I love about my ski is the ability to brain damage OC-1 paddlers once past Black Point - the waves space out and speed up, and the V10 can drop into waves most OC-1s could only dream of catching.

[Tecpartner]

  I have a small-mid Onno and a mid Epic. The Onno wings are very nice.   Pat makes them functional pieces of art.  The shaft is a little narrower.  They have the lever lock for adjustments.  The Epic blades do have a very solid catch.     I have an older version Epic with the "legth lock" ferrule.  If I brace too hard the feather angle changes, and then on the next stroke I go right over and into the water.   I use an odd feather of 35°.   

Based on Mike's input I may try a Turbo wing next, if I don't get a Ke'Nalu SUP paddle instead.  (Choices, choices...)

[pdxmike]

   

Looks like they just installed lane lines at Maliko.

[PonoBill]

Not maliko.

[LaPerouseBay]

South shore PDX.  'Maliko' may be in the title of the thread, but it's been completely hijacked by the ski's.  I'll put a big stamp "not maliko" in future runs.  

Your comments about front quadrant swimming are a useful reminder to keep the top hand out front.  That sets up the ability to rotate.    

It's not easy to remember all the cardinal rules of form on a ski when downwinding.  It's getting better fast though.  As a beginner, I should be on flat water - with a coach yelling at me.    But downwind is all I have in the afternoons.  Hundreds of oc-1 runs on the course is a big help.    

When the line on a wave is correct it allows the paddler to relax.  Power needs to be on call for acceleration into the next glide.  When the paddler can relax, sit up and rotate, wonderful things happen.  The wing blade catches the water and the core delivers effortless power.  That power opens the door to faster links.  And round and round she goes.    

Late evening tide is draining the south shore.  This makes it very tough to get glides.  

Unless you have a ski.  

What I love about my ski is the ability to brain damage OC-1 paddlers once past Black Point - the waves space out and speed up, and the V10 can drop into waves most OC-1s could only dream of catching.

Brain damaging oc's is my life's goal.  Nothing gives me more pleasure.  Some 6 man crews were training last night.  I heard them behind me for awhile.  Not sure who it was, but I'll find out.  They were back there for about 10 minutes and I'm not sure what their workout was.  But the draining tide may have had me out front for a while.  I can't wait to find out.  Those guys all want to kill me already for my oc-1 shenanigans.   

Epic is developing a v-14 for flat water.  Almost zero rocker.  Our district rep may have one for the MCKC series.  We have an old salt in a big Fenn that wins all the ski races.  Richard may get him in the 14.     

[1paddle2paddle]

Good form on the ski is definitely a balancing act when surfing bumps, as your hips have to boogie with the ocean while continuing to paddle.  Lots of body English which makes that rigid upright posture difficult to maintan.  Also, the upright posture actually makes the paddler more top heavy and more likely to flip.  Like you said, I try to emphasize that upright posture in flatwater, but it usually goes to hell once I get in the bumps.

This video is a good example of how skis can scamper about catching and railroading bumps:



Because burying the nose in the swell in front really slows it down, on the biggest bumps I try to keep the ski on the top of the bump, delaying the "dropping in" part as long as possible as this seems to give the highest overall speed, compared to dropping in and then quickly slowing down.

I think the V10 Sport is competitive with good OC-1 paddlers, but the with the regular V10 (or other racing ski) its game over.  Its really not fair, which makes it all the more enjoyable.

[JonathanC]

Hey LPB,

What a long way you have come in a month. Read back to a post in late September where you were just starting and now you are brain damaging OC's ....or at least working on it!

Good on you for putting in the hard work to get to that point, looking forward to hearing that you have done your first Maliko run