It's still sweltering hot outside and only a few people volunteered to go out for practice Wednesday night. We had enough paddlers for one two man boat and the six man boat. Saki also joined us to try out my Huki/Futura S1-A surfski. In the six man were Tara, me, Jack, Nigel, Neil, and Bill. It was so hot Neil thought he would be cooler with his shirt wrapped around his head as a bandana. See photo to the left. It was great having Jack in seat 3 and Tara in seat 1. Jack is a former olympic paddler and he coached several people to the olympics. Tara is just an awesome paddler. They helped me work on my stroke and my transition. Sometimes I think I've got it and other times I just feel sloppy. I found out last night I was reaching too far into the water with the paddle and I was pulling back before the paddle was firmly planted, which caused a lot of splashing. While we were paddling the outrigger Saki was close beside us keeping pace in my surfski.

The S1-A is a very particular surfski. It's 18'4" long and has a mere 16" beam. It's rated as an expert ski, which means that it's very tippy. Saki_paddling_3But if you are the right size and right body type, it will embrace you willingly and perform like the perfect surfski. It will accelerate with lightning speed, edge smoothly, and idle calmly. If you are the wrong size, it will spit you out like a bucking bronco. When I took it to Lake Anna last spring for CPA's annual SK102 event about half a dozen people were unceremoniously dumped in the Lake by the S1-A.



Last night while we were doing our Wednesday night team practice Saki got to really test his ability to paddle the S1-A without the disruptions of the wind and waves we had last Saturday for the KIPP paddle. I made sure he had a paddle float because the S1-A is more difficult to remount than his C4 and before he set out he said he was prepared to spend a lot of time in the water. But that never happened. He just glided away and quickly got up to speed. Even though he's taller than me (like everyone else), Saki and I just happen to have the same inseam which means it's sized perfectly for him. And I think he would agree that it is the perfect surfski. As he was coming in to the beach after practiceJack_coaching_saki he said he couldn't believe how stable it was. That's the magic of this ski. It's truly a stable, fast surfski ... for the right person.



After practice Jack took a few minutes to work with Saki on his stroke and body rotation. Not that he needed any modifications. He's already fast in his Futura C4. But there's always room for improvement. And it's hard to turn down coaching from a former Olympic athlete and coach!

-Susanita