Anyone ever use a drogue chute/sea anchor?

[pdxmike]

I've got to say that I'm a bit amused that people spend thousands of dollars for the lightest, most hydrodynamic SUPs and then figure out ways to slow them down. I'm paddling for fun so I'm clearly not at the training level of many racers here, but it did strike me as funny.

It is ironic! I chuckled at your paragraph.

For some reason this reminds me of when my friend got a really expensive Italian bicycle, way lighter and faster than the one his wife had (they went on road trips together).  Then when it arrived he noticed it didn't have any lugs for attaching a pannier to it, so his wife also then had to carry all their combined gear on her heavy bike.

[Deadbait]

When my kids were 5 & 7 y/o, (6 years ago) I used to take them out on my Ocean Kayak and their favorite thing to do was jump out and hold on to a rope and have me pull them around with their life jackets on.  That was a real muscle burner.

Now my younger son loves to ride tandem on my 11'6 sup.  Sometimes he likes to paddle, sometimes he doesn't.  When he doesn't paddle, he is putting his hand in the water because he thinks it is fun to feel how fast we are going.  The extra weight and resistance you can really feel.

So if you have kids, use them for training.

[greatdane]

Last year I towed a stranded wind surfer to shore, after the wind died on him.  It was only about a half-mile, but oh man it was a brutal pull.

I also discovered that leaving your leash rapped around the tail and fin ads an incredible amount of drag, also quite by accident.