How's my speed?

[supthecreek]

I'm a huge advocate for smelling the roses and enjoying flat-water exploring...
But... I'm as competitive as everyone else, so I usually spend part of every paddle putting in some serious effort. It's fun and it's good training for my surfing.

I only own surf SUP's.

I have only paddled 2 racy type boards.... Weed's 12'6 Naish Glide, for about 10 minutes and localkine's 12'6 for about a mile.

I always paddle alone. I have no reference for what decent paddle speed is.

So... yesterday, I turned on my MotionX and recorded part of the inward leg of my session.

Conditions:
31 degrees
0 wind

Equipment:
64 year old engine
250 lb + full 3/2 wetsuit & wool hat
9'10" x 33" Fanatic Allwave Surf SUP... set up with 2x5" side bites + 5 7/8" center fin
Cabrinah Carbon Composite Paddle

The entire trip was 5.1 miles...
I enjoyed a casual paddle outbound. I even snuck up on a seal that was floating around upside down in the calm water, I stood and took pictures of her as she swam right at me. She didn't know I was there till she almost ran into me.
(She's not dead... just smelling roses'- seal style) see pic.

I recorded the last 2 miles with MotionX
The 1st minute was gettin up to speed and the last 2 minutes were taking the Iphone out and pausing the MotionX program as I drifted to the finish.
In the middle, I was fooling around with 1 sided paddling, to see if I could keep up the pace.

I'd love to do the same run on a race board to feel the difference.
However....I am a fan of flat-water paddling on surf SUPs because it is a great workout and really helps you fine tune your paddle technique. I can paddle on one side for as long as I want and still maintain a straight track... this is important when paddling for waves.

So....Hows my stats?

[mik911]

That's pretty good for a surf sup!
I avg 4.5 mph on  race style sup, touring at 80% effort.

Personally, I hate distance paddling on my surf sup. Like I always say.....You can certainly run a marathon in army boots, but it's much more fun and faster in Nike Airs.
The glide, max speed, and ability to catch little bumps on a race sup, cannot be duplicated on a surf sup. Regarding the 'workout', I definitely get a good workout on my race board.

When I do any kind of low milage (2-4) on my surf sup, paddling from break to break, looking for waves, I remove the side bites to reduce drag. Just want to maximize efficiency.

[PonoBill]

It's fine, pull those side bites and you'll go a little faster, especially if they have typical toe-in. They're just brakes unless you're surfing. The max speed doesn't mean much, currents, wind and GPS weirdness all tweak it. Your average speed is pretty good considering you were smelling the roses.

If you're looking for something to compare to, in fairly flat conditions (Willamette river in the winter--still tidal but not much current or wind) I did 4.5 MPH average for a six mile paddle that was 3 down and 3 up the river. That's on a Starboard 12'2" which is a surfy shape but actually pretty competitive to a 12'6" cruise/race board. That was a couple of years ago, I'd like to think I'm faster now, but I might be kidding myself. These old engines don't really keep getting a lot better with time.

[lucabrasi]

So....Hows my stats?

I would have to say.......Old Guys Rule.

[Chilly]

Your speed looks really good! I think the biggest difference you will feel on a race board in flat conditions like that is how quite they are.  You get a good rhythm going and the sound of the water passing by the board is very calming, but you have to be careful that it doesn't put you out like that seal. 

[TWsup]

I have a 9-2 Allwave that I SUS in crap waves in Sweden, and play around on when my 7 year old boy paddles his 9-0 Keiko. it's quite fun to do freestyle moves on AW in flat water. agree it promotes good paddle technique.

then I have 12-6 Bark competitor for flat water distance and DW.

think of it this way. a MTB will be great fun on a road ride, give a good workout. but the FEELING of riding a top quality race bike is a completely superior experience. it's the same thing on sup. the glide, sound, tracking and overall experience will be better, much better.

I'm planning/dreaming of a 16 ft board now....

[supthecreek]

Thanks for the feedback

I would certainly get a dedicated flat-water board if I could afford one....dang... I missed the "good deal alert" Thread
It would make the long upwind portions easier.... but I am happy enough just plugging along for now.

[stoneaxe]

I'll bring the 14 and 12-6 down someday and we can go for a cruise. Not as fast as race boards but you'll see a big difference.