Author Topic: Can Crossbow Turns Replace Buoy Turns Completely?  (Read 5364 times)

LoudounSUP

  • Malibu Status
  • **
  • Posts: 95
    • View Profile
Can Crossbow Turns Replace Buoy Turns Completely?
« on: January 03, 2021, 06:53:03 AM »
I've just completed by first 6-months of SUP. I'm hooked! Nevertheless, still a lot to learn. I never mastered the buoy turn (never really got the courage to try and now the water is too cold) but I did get fairly proficient at crossbow turns to the point where I can change direction rapidly with usually one or two strokes. My question is...for racing, will this single turning capability be enough? Are there times when a racer must have an effective buoy turn in their quiver?
SUP in Nordic Virginia
2018 SIC X 14'0 TWC
2019 SIC RS Air Glide 14x28

PonoBill

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 25864
    • View Profile
Re: Can Crossbow Turns Replace Buoy Turns Completely?
« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2021, 09:39:55 AM »
I suspect you know the answer--buoy turns are faster but potentially wetter. Fiona Wylde's version of a buoy turn is the quickest 180 turn I've ever seen--one stroke, bam, done, but you have to have Fiona's balance to even try it. At the clumsy geezer end of the spectrum I can do buoy turns, but not in the fall, winter, or spring.

You can do 90 degrees with a crossbow sweep that continues from the twisted, blade reversed side, back across the bow to the normal side, using the braking force to start the turn and finishing with a sweep that gets you moving again. Any cross-bow turn relies on braking force to start the turn. But if you try to extend that into 180 with a second cross-bow move you aren't moving much at the start, so there's not much force helping the turn, so it's slow.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

 


SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal