Hey Guys
I made a quick vid from last weeks sprints in Germany. There was a strong field in this race including Danny, Connor, Zane, Casper, Beau, Jacko, Jake, Titouan, Dylan and others
It was a really fun race and well run event and was awesome to see 5 of the top 10 guys on Starboards
Cheers, Trev
looks like it would hurt, a lot Interesting mix of technique. I like yours and Danny Chings. Would like to see some slow mo of some paddlers going flat out. Nice work.
Supracer.com said he was on a 24" 404. Ching uses more rotation than most of the others and maintains an incredible cadence. I don't think the bouncing up and down has much to do with the boards, thats more down to paddlers technique. In canoeing they try and keep the vessel steady and Ching seems to do this as well. Having said that the "bopping" technique seems to work well for the likes of Connor, Zane and our local kid Dylan.
Definitely the fastest 200m sprints we've seen but I think we need to make mention of the wind - there seems to be a 5-10knot tailwind which is not huge but had it been a headwind it could have cost as much as 5-10secs (semi-educated guess) - the wind was a big factor in the 200m sprints we've done and a favourable gust even makes a difference so real record's should probably be recorded in less than 2-4knots to be comparable.
We have a 200m back and forth course which I occasionally use for interval training and I have a GPS device which works on start finish intersects and gives me my time immediately after I cross the finish so I've experienced the effect of wind with some degree of accuracy. My best is 1:03 with a solid tailwind........so just a tad off the pace there mate......
It's not a very pretty paddling technique when it's pushed to a frantic pace like that.
I'm thinking the 'bopping' thing might be something that is just like we do on a windsurfer when pumping the sail to try and get onto the plane in light winds and by un weighting the board with each pump we try and unstick the board from the water.. Connor does it a lot on downwinders when he's trying to catch a runner.. Be bends his knees.. pushes on the board and springs up just as he puts the power into the stroke so the power from the stroke is pushing an unweighted board forward.. Some may think this bouncing and bending technique is because of an effort to dig the blade deep while using as shorter paddle as possible.. Maybe it's both.
Really really good info for a spastic like me thanks guys. The bouncing does clearly work as someone like Connor who does it wins plenty.
Be interested to hear what Pete dorries thinks???
Trev keep doing what our doing will be winning races on the world stage in no time
I asked Danny why his board was bouncing less and he said it has to do with his technique not the board. He was riding a proto 24 inch wide 404 v3 board. He explained his technique but it is not so easy to describe it. As far as i understood, In the power phase of his stroke he is moving his hips very fast towards the paddle and meanwhile pushes the board forward with his legs. By doing so the board does not slow down much in the recovery phase.
bit of a spread for the times... Danny Ching did it in 47 seconds and the guy in 11th place took 39 hours!
No one ever remembers who came 11th.