Surfski Knowledge Base

Racing Technique Page

Rod Russell

Wash riding, we should practice it as much as possible. Note the wake that’s coming off the nose of the lead boat. Someone once explained to me that you want to position yourself (1st wash position) so that the wake comes just under your bum ( or there abouts) - when you are in the right spot you will “feel it”, it’s a noticeable less effort required.
Any other input paddlers?

Tommy Yonley
Sometimes, you can be in approximately the right spot, but not relax and not gain much benefit. So I think it helps to practice the idea of relaxing and hopefully seeing HR drop—but you have to be careful to dial in the right position. The wake positions move with speed and even water depth.
If for some reason you start to fall off the side wake, you can move outward to get back on the wave, then move diagonally forward back to the desired position.

On the V, sometimes, you can ride further back than you might think and it’s a great rest, but you have to be very careful about not falling off since it’s a lot of work to jump back up over that wave from the back. Stability is also more of an issue back in the V, so again one should practice relaxing.

Tommy Yonley

One other comment is that if you’ve been going at a sustainable pace beforehand, you can paddle very hard for ~10 strokes and it doesn’t hurt you.

So if you fall off the wake for some reason, it often pays to get back onto the wake with urgency by pushing down at max effort right away to force your way back into position.

It takes a lot of effort to get over a wave quickly, but it takes a lot more effort to get over a wave slowly.

Ivan Lawler
All these %ages are hugely dependant on how well you use the wave you are riding on. Don’t worry about the detail just go out there and practice, move around until you find the sweet spot. Conditions may well dictate where that is, so too does speed, the technique of the lead paddler, weight, and other stuff. You are just trying to reduce your workload by as much as possible.

Paddler Brett
Ivan Lawler yep, I guess the message for those who look at what we’re doing and wonder whether it worth learning is that there’s a huge advantage to being able to master wash riding. I still know guys that have been paddling and racing years that avoid the V wash because it’s too bumpy/Uncomfortable for them (which usually reflects they are in a boat that’s not stable enough for their level of skill)

Brad Fothergill

Ivan Lawler Reason for me asking about side vs behind (non-V) is that I paddle alone 99% of the time so when I get a chance to draft, maybe a couple of times a year, I’d like to know which would be most practical. Thanks 😊

Ivan Lawler
Brad Fothergill learn to feel waves by riding behind first. Once you have the feel then move up to the side where you add the complication of learning where to position yourself.

In K1 the side wash is ultimately better but in a ski I personally find the back wash equally effective anyway.

Robert Hartman

Ivan Lawler esp toward the end of Chattajack when ridden by Carter!

Matthew Solly
I all way have taken as the front wash comes off the nose of the leading boat and to ride it your nose sit were the lead paddlers paddle goes in the water.

Pedro Monteiro
I'm not a very experienced paddler but I think v wash is more closer to the lead boat as shown in andy schemas. In the photo the last boat is not catching a good wash. My experience is on k1 i river, not k2, nor sea.

Andy W. Stephens
Yes Pedro. I sit about 10 to 30 cm behind the lead hull, and stick like glue unless I am capable of doing a turn on the front. NOTE: I am usually in a single file situation, not a V-wash.
As the hulls are travelling at the same speed you won't tend to damage anything if you bump!

Pedro Monteiro
Andy W. Stephens ok but I need an email to send it. It's epub….. I tried to send to the group…

Bruce McManus
I have found that if I am in the position directly behind then I have to watch that my paddling doesn’t get exactly aligned to the puddles from the paddler ahead. If I end up where every catch is in the aerated water then I pause to get out of phase. Does anyone else have this feeling?

Andy W. Stephens
Pérez-Landaluce et al (1998) investigated: stroke rate, blood lactate, heart rate, power output, and rate of perceived exertion. They concluded that “wash riding” involves a saving in energy cost of between 18% and 31.9%, depending on the position. Here are some pictorial representations of their numerical data.

Andrew Ingpen
one thing that i have always wondred about is the % drop to a secondary wash - why is that perceptible drop present - is it the leading boats wash interfering with the primary wave from the boat being hung off?

Ivan Lawler
Andrew Ingpen pretty much, yes. The waves don’t all align kindly.

Andy W. Stephens
Reference I used to prepare the diagrams:
Pérez-Landaluce J, Rodríguez-Alonso M, Fernandez-Garcia B, Bustillo-Fernandez E, Terrados N., 1998: Importance of wash riding in kayaking training and competition. Med Sci Sports Exerc., 30(12), 1721-4.

Merrill Johnson
Wind must be a factor. Drafting in bicycle racing the sweet spot changes all the time w the wind, feel is your best indicator. Echeloning in a cross wind has to help.

Bill Milne
Ifs it windy or wavy, much harder to wash as waves dissappear the wash

Paul Tomblin
If you’re not getting soaked by the spray off the guys paddle, you’re not in close enough.

Paddler Brett
This is my experience in a K1 in a group at marathon race pace.

Paddler Brett
And in another session

Matthew Skeels
Andy. Please share….

Brad Fothergill

Any idea on the ‘percentage reduction’ when drafting single file? One behind another - VS the side draft? Thanks

Andy W. Stephens
And…

Terry Smith
Andy W. Stephens that's cool. How do you get blood lactate levels while paddling?

Andy W. Stephens
Terry Smith , if you look down further (or is it up?) you will see the original reference to the technical paper by Perez-Landaluce et al, 1998: Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 30, No. 12, pp. 1721-1724, 1998.
Use “All comments” to view the string of comments, not “Top comments”.
With so many comments, it is getting difficult to see the set of 4 diagrams I made from Perez-Landaluce's numerical data. Let me know if you have any difficulty.

Kan Waranon

Luke Dalton
Riding the wash is the easiest part, it’s negotiating through the rotation of the “diamond” between those pulling and those sitting in the prime positions where it gets interesting. I didn’t realise the energy saving could be as high 30%, I would have guesstimated 10-15% on the side wash and 15-20% on the centre wash. Andy W. Stephens if you have a copy of that paper could you please DM it to me. Really interesting.

Pedro Monteiro
Luke Dalton send me your email. It's an epub

Mike Aronoff
Great illustration, thankyou

Andy W. Stephens
And finally…