In this podcast I sit down with Matt Drayer who is part of a small team including Greg Barton, Jesse Lishchuk, and Geoff Pearson who are dedicated to promoting surfski development in the US via the Ocean Racing Committee (ORC) which is part of the competition arm of the American Canoe Association (ACA).

Matt and the team have been hard at work over the past year building out a National points based ranking system that allows competitors around the country to submit race results from any surfski race and earn points. They are also launching a pilot program to establish an athlete classification system, that will allow paddlers to progress along a continuum based on race performance over the long term. Last, but not least, the ORC is very much involved working with the International Canoe Federation (ICF) on the Surfski World Championships that are now held annually. This year they will be in Madeira Portugal.

In this podcast we cover Matt’s background, as well as go into detail on all of the above and what has inspired Matt and the team to take on this intitiatve.

If you aren’t yet a member, we encourage you to check out the ACA website and offerings. The organization has been around since 1880 representing a broad spectrum of paddle sports. In the last few years they have made a concerted effort to recognize and embrace surfski paddling, and they can bring a lot to the table to help us all promote this sport that we love so much!

If you have any questions or suggestions for Matt, he can be reached at : [email protected]

In this podcast I check in with Brendan to review how the past 10 weeks of training have gone and what I need to focus on in the final four weeks leading up to the Gorge Downwind Champs.

If you missed Podcast Episode 43, I would recommend checking it out, and don’t forget you can download the training plan there. But if you’re limited on time, you’ll still learn a lot from this discussion where we cover:

• What a good threshold interval session looks like
• Trying to maximize speed/distance per stroke at a given cadence
• Experimenting with paddle length and stroke length
• Cadence ladders and simulating downwind
• Different options for V02 Max work
• Benefits of Creatine for paddlers
• Brendan’s view on Beta Alanine and Beet Juice
• Protein requirements and maintaining strength as you age
• Why training with cadence is so much better than heart rate or speed for measuring level of effort

In this episode of the Peak Paddle Performance Podcast, I reconnect with Dr Brendan O’Neill creator of the Vaaka Cadence Sensor. In 2019 Brendan graciously put together a 14 week cadence based training plan to prepare an intermediate level paddler for racing the 14 mile Gorge Downwind Champs. COVID disrupted everything, and I never got around to publishing the plan as I originally intended. In 2021 I was planning to be back at the Gorge and so dusted off the plan, and loosely followed it. I had great results, so in 2022 I used it again, at around a 65% adherence.

In 2022, at the age of 48 and after 15 years of paddling, I set several personal records. This made me a believer in the methods and approach that Brendan outlined, and I thought it would be a disservice not to share his detailed knowledge with the paddling community.

This is the first of a few coaching sessions that I’ll record with Brendan. You can click the link below to download the training plan and tweak it for your needs. The plan is a great start, but it is not a replacement for working with a coach. I highly recommend finding a coach if you want to take your paddling to the next level.

This year I’m hoping to follow the plan 100% and am super excited to see what kind of results I can achieve

In this podcast I interview Giant Fish founder Scott Darling. Scott launched the initial Giant Fish collection of paddling shorts, pants, and tops in the summer of 2020. Right at the height of the Covid pandemic. Of course it wasn’t planned that way, but despite all the obstacles, the product spoke for itself, and quickly became a go to piece of kit for paddlers in the Pacific Northwest. It has been growing steadily from there.

As a long time dealer and huge fan of both Vaikobi and Mocke, I wasn’t thrilled to have a new competitor enter the space. But after meeting Scott for the first time in 2021, and talking with paddlers using his gear, I was definitely intrigued. It took another year before I met Scott again, and this time decided to purchase some shorts and a top. I used the Giant Fish shorts, pants, and tops this past fall and have been very impressed.

In the short term, there is probably a negative financial incentive for me to have Scott on the podcast and promote his products. But I believe that the more creators like Scott who invest their passion, time, and unique skills into the sport, the more it benefits all of us and enables greater overall growth. Starting any new business is incredibly challenging, and the paddling world is no different. I believe we have to all support each other.

Use this link for $20 off any Giant Fish Order

I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I did!

We’re back with our most frequent and popular podcast guest, the infamous Oscar Chalupsky. It’s always informative and exciting to catch up with Oscar and this podcast is not exception.

If you haven’t read Oscar’s book, order it now, it is an absolute must read. If you’re like me, you won’t put it down until it is finished. I’ve known Oscar for 10 years, but reading this book, I realized there is still a lot I don’t know. Oscar has led an action packed life and this book is his best attempt to tell it all.

In addition to discussing his book, we cover much more including:

• Paddling out through surf breaks – something many paddlers in the US don’t get a chance to practice enough
• Incredible paddling conditions in Brazil
• The Nelo Paddle race in Malaysia
• Winning Molokai at 50
• The Shaw and Partners Investment in Surfski in general and specifically the Western Australia Race Week

The title of this podcast says it all about Oscar. They Said….

• You can’t paddle with low elbows
• You can’t go fast in a stable boat
• You can’t paddle with zero feather
• You can’t race on no carbs
• You can’t race with no liquids
• You can’t win a world championship race at 50

Over and over again, Oscar has challenged the conventional wisdom and proven it wrong. Here’s to hoping he doesn’t stop! No Retreat, No Surrender

On October 8th the Great Lakes paddling community suffered on incomprehensible loss when Nick Walton succumbed to hypothermia in a downwind race on Lake Michigan. Nick was a professional canoe racer and over the past couple of years had discovered a love for surfski racing. You can read his full obituary here

I was a participant in the race and have spoke with many of the racers since the incident occurred. This podcast is my best attempt to explain what I know from this very tragic day.

There are lessons to be learned from what happened to Nick, and my sincere hope is that these lessons will save many lives in the years to come.

My sincere condolences to Nick and his family.

Below is the YouTube recording of this podcast. As we get into the podcast I use my Garmin track to show the race route and provide more context to the location where we were racing.

This podcast was an experimental downwind jam session. The idea was to setup a Zoom call open to any and all paddlers to join and share their stories and experiences around downwind paddling. We got off to a rough start when the initial call was highjacked by hackers, but were able to regroup and have a great session.

I was hopeful that we could share video over the Zoom call and narrate the paddling. That sort of worked, but I missed some key optimization settings in Zoom which resulted in the video recording being choppy, so I haven’t yet posted the video to YouTube.

We had a great group of participants from the US and Canada and they shared a wealth of experience that I feel will be helpful to those just getting into downwind paddling of any kind.

My guest on the podcast today is long time friend and paddler Rob Hartman.

Rob is a husband and father of three girls. He works full time as a software developer, plays the Upright Bass as an accomplished jazz musician, and has long been one of the top masters paddlers in the US. In recent years Rob has competed primarily East of the Mississippi, where he is a top contender in any race he enters. His most recent racing efforts were focused on the Chattajack where he narrowly missed the overall Surfski win when Carter Johnson came off his draft to outsprint him at the finish.

In our discussion we talk about Rob’s first exposure to kayaking in an old school fiberglass surf kayak. Rob talks about his early days as a teenager fearlessly playing in the cold and crazy surf on Lake Michigan. This ultimately led to a couple of Sea Kayak races, which led to Rob joining the US Canoe and Kayak Team and training and racing with them for a couple of seasons.

One of the things that has amazed me the most about Rob is his ability to consistently paddle at a very high level despite the demands of family and career, and of course aging. At 52 Rob is as fit as ever. What became a key theme in this podcast, as evidenced by the title, is that there is no shortcut. You’ve got to show up and consistently do the work if you want the type of results Rob has been able to achieve.

I always enjoy spending time with Rob, and this podcast was no exception. It went a little longer than most, but we had a lot to catch up on. I hope enjoy the discussion as much as I did.

P.S Below is a little bonus if you want to see Rob in action on the Bass. He doesn’t know I’ve linked this, and would probably be embarrassed by it, but it is a great demonstration of his humble talent!

My guest on this podcast is Matt Murphy. Matt is a Naval Architect and Ocean Engineer by trade, who grew up in and on the waters of Northeastern Canada. After school, Matt made his way to Houston, Texas where he currently lives with his wife and four kids.

Matt has a very diverse paddling background spanning both racing and multi-week adventures. In this podcast we cover much of Matt’s paddling background and the paddling scene in Houston and across Texas, but most importantly we talk about the work Matt has done helping to build the American Canoe Association (ACA) surfski education curriculum.

The ACA serves as the National Governing Body for paddlesports (Sprint, Slalom, Paracanoe) for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and as the U.S National Federation to the International Canoe Federation. They have recognized Surfski as a unique discipline and are excited to support it’s growth both through competition and education. Matt has worked extensively over the past four years along with Ben Lawry to develop a four stage curriculum of education including the following:

• Level 2: Essentials of Surfski
• Level 3: Fundamentals of Open Water Surfski
• Level 4: Downwind Surfski
• Level 5: Advanced Open Water and Downwind Surfski (Under Development)

The ACA is hopeful to start certifying surfski instructors across all major regions of the US. If you are interested, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Matt

• Fort Myers Level 3 Instructor Certification March 11-13
• Website: http://www.shamrockpaddling.com (note: don’t be confused when you land on his social media and website, Matt has also launched a product for Standup Paddle Fishing – but this is the same guy)
• Instagram: @ ShamrockPaddling
• Facebook: ShamrockPaddling
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/hikNNrDDqto

In this podcast episode I had a chance to connect with Rod and Barry of ThePaddleChannel. Rod and Barry have progressed from SUP to OC to SURFSKI and their YouTube channel documents, in full transparency, the trials and tribulations of their journey along the way. They are both super passionate about paddling and more so about downwind. Their videos bring a great perspective that should resonate with both new paddlers and those transitioning across paddling disciplines.

Many of you may have heard of the Carolina Cup, which is one of the biggest paddle events in the US (possibly just behind the Gorge and Chattajack). This race is put on by the Wrightsville Paddle Club which is about a 45 minute drive North of where Rod and Barry paddle at Carolina Beach.

Rod and Barry have an 8 mile downwind that they typically run starting at Fort Fisher and finishing at Carolina Beach or in the Carolina Beach Inlet. This run takes advantage of the the prevailing south/southwest winds that run throughout the summer. There aren’t any points, bays, shoals, or other factors to greatly influence the wave conditions along the route, so conditions remain pretty consistent. The biggest challenges are in launching and landing. The launch is directly off the beach, so there is often a surf break to navigate. They have the option of either finishing on the beach or in the inlet, both have their pros and cons which we discuss in detail during the podcast.

Carolina Beach is a busy beach town in the summer, but in the spring and fall things quiet down, but the water is still warm and the wind still blows, making this an excellent time to take a paddling vacation. There aren’t many other paddlers or paddle businesses in the area, so your best bet is to take your boat, but you can always get in touch with Barry or Rod and they will be more than happy to help you with finding a boat if possible.

The detailed Google Maps discussion starts at around minute 24:00 on the video and in the podcast.

I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Carolina Beach is now on my short list of downwind destinations. I really like the idea of an April or May trip when Lake Michigan is struggling to get above 40 degrees 🙂

In this podcast I’m joined by Reivers Dustin, who at 70 years old, is still every bit as passionate about downwind paddling as anyone I’ve met. Reivers is highly regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Bellingham surfski community.

This story started out with my intent to explore the downwind paddling in Bellingham Bay. Anyone who has raced on the West Coast, knows that there is some serious talent developing in this hotspot and I was excited to learn about the paddling conditions that are making this possible. But in speaking with Reivers, I soon realized the story of Bellingham’s success in creating a sustained paddling community, is much more than the downwind conditions. I’ll leave the details for the Podcast/YouTube, but to summarize, I believe the five key elements in Bellingham are:

1. An extremely welcoming community of paddlers who go out of their way to introduce newbies. This is supported by a simple but effective message board that greatly facilitates communication and open discussion (side note: feel free to join this message board, there is a wealth of information on it)
2. Although there are no significant dealers or retail shops in Bellingham, there are reps for all the major brands who have boats available to be loaned out
3. A large multi-sport team race (Ski to Sea) that includes an ocean paddle as the last of 7 events. This is the event that first brought surfskis to Bellingham Bay, and continues to be a big motivator for interest in performance paddling
4. A long running Wednesday night flat water handicap start style race. This works very well as a non-intimidating, safe, fun way to introduce new paddlers. They can spend the time needed developing fundamental skills, power, and fitness before hitting the ocean
5. Technical, but not massive, downwind conditions that provide plenty of challenge even for experienced paddlers to continuously hone their skills and build the fundamentals to paddle anywhere in the world.

I don’t have the data, but would speculate that Bellingham has the highest per capita number of surfski/OC paddlers of anywhere in the US. They have achieved this despite not having a big ocean sports / surf heritage, and water temperatures that are always cold (see below). I find this all quite impressive.

If you are interested in visiting Bellingham, it is no doubt one of the best outdoor active sports towns in the United States. In the same day you can shred powder in the morning and surf runs in the afternoon. if the wind doesn’t blow and the powder isn’t dumping, there are endless hikes and world class mountain biking everywhere. Below I’ve pasted a promotional video for the Ski to Sea race, as I think this tells the Bellingham outdoor story much better than I can with words.