My Tips for Paddling Upwind

[leong]

A few days ago I went paddling in a protected bay. That day the wind was especially strong (wind was about 22 knots with gusts to about 30 knots). After paddling directly downwind about 5 miles, I turned around for the return trip, paddling directly upwind. I made a few changes for the upwind leg:

1. I shortening my stroke.
2. I choking up on the paddle (holding each hand closer to the blades).
3. I increasing my normal feather angle from 30 degrees to 60 degrees.

I didn’t have an identical spare paddle with me that had a smaller blade size,. But if I did:

4. I would have switched to the smaller blade-size paddle.

The wind wasn’t too strong for me, but if it was:

5. I would have started tacking (padding upwind in a zigzag pattern going diagonal to the wind).

Any comments on any of my personal tips for paddling upwind? Especially, what about number 4? Why would I want to switch to a smaller blade size for the upwind leg?

Edited February 14, 2015 by leong

[PeterB]

I have found that tacking just a bit- just a small angle adjustment so as to not paddle directly into the wind- was beneficial.

Yes, paddling into a headwind is one area where an unfeathered blade (the fad these days) can be at a disadvantage; the dry blade in the air catches a lot of wind. Its admirable that you can change feather angles mid- trip; thats unorthodox but it is a good exercise to be able to paddle according to the feel of the blade in the water rather than some preconditioning. But then again, muscle memory and preconditioning is a big part of paddling. There is the risk of slicing a stroke while paddling with an all-new feather angle.

Interesting that choking up worked so well for you - it would indeed increase torso rotation and that's good, but also require a higher angle stoke : dry blade higher in the air, catching more wind. Paddlers often change to a lower angle stroke in strong wind.

[kate]

Choking up on the paddle would make it easier to control if wind is tugging on the blades. The farther the blade is from your hand, the more difficult it is to overcome the wind's force.

#4 is one reason why I like a greenland paddle (less wind resistance) and why storm paddles are used (serves as both #4 and #2).

It might be boat-specific but I find it less arduous to paddle directly into the wind. The slightest tack and I'm pushed farther and farther off-line, as more of the boat is exposed to the wind. Directly into the wind, only the width of the boat - 21" or so, instead of 17' - is exposed, and it's shaped to cut through water or wind.

Personally, I would have started the trip on the upwind leg, thereby knowing that I'd definitely have the energy to make the return trip....

[leong]

Personally, I would have started the trip on the upwind leg, thereby knowing that I'd definitely have the energy to make the return trip....

Kate,

Yes, of course, but I had a destination in mind (a yacht club was selling a sailboat part that I need) and I knew from experience that I could make it back.

The comments by you and Peter are good; however, I chose tip’s 1, 2 and 4 to satisfy a more fundamental mechanical principle. I’ll discuss what that is later … I’m hoping someone else chimes in with the principle.

Hint: Think of riding a bike uphill.

-Leon

[leong]

Its admirable that you can change feather angles mid- trip; thats unorthodox but it is a good exercise to be able to paddle according to the feel of the blade in the water rather than some preconditioning.

Peter,

For years I paddled with a 60-degree feather angle and changed to 30-degrees about a year ago. So, for the return trip, I felt confident that I'd have no trouble using 60-degrees. In fact, if I were more confident, I would have switched to 90-degrees.

-Leon

[Paul Sylvester]

Given the company I keep I find myself paddling in wind and kind of enjoy the workout.

You are spreading your hands and changing blade size to shift gears and most likely increasing your cadence.

When going up wind I make no paddle or feather changes. I use a 60 degree Nordkapp straight shaft. The easiest thing is to make sure all parts of your forward stroke are done correctly and to power head first into it. Remember to keep good posture so as not to compress your spine and change your rotation efficiency.

If the fetch has the waves up I try to time my strokes to power down the waves to save some energy. I will choke further up or down on the shaft (for short periods) to work my muscles in different ways but that is more to break the boredom and strain.

In a group that is slower, (when possible) I prefer to keep my own pace and paddle up into a protected area and take a break. Tacking seems counter productive because you would be dealing with wind and waves on the front quarter and getting tired sooner.

The Greenland storm paddle with a sliding stroke would seems to best choice to play with and might make it easier to keep your head down.

It all gets back to the basics and the perfect and consistent forward stroke can be elusive.

my two cents.

[Brian Nystrom]

A Greenland "storm" paddle works very well into a headwind, provided that you're familiar and comfortable with the required sliding stroke. If not, it may reduce your cadence and hinder your progress.

A full-length GP already has less wind resistance than a typical Euro or wing paddle. Plus, the fact that it works well with a low paddle angle allows you to reduce your profile and keep the paddle down in the lee of the waves, further reducing wind resistance.

I completely agree with those who favor paddling directly into the wind, as there is no benefit to tacking in a kayak; we don't have the advantage of a sail. The only time I've found it beneficial to paddle off-wind is when the waves are coming from an angle to the wind. Finding a balance between heading straight into the wind and straight into the waves is key in those situations.

[billvoss]

When the wind comes up, personally the first thing I do is switch to a Greenland paddle if not already using one. Though I used to play with feather angle and paddle length before I used Greenland paddles.

If waves permit, I almost always try to adjust my stroke so that my paddle enters near the top of a wave and I am always paddling downhill. That does not change when the wind picks up.

Assuming the destination I prefer is directly upwind. If the wind "was too strong for me" meaning paddling directly into the wind was not making progress, or worse was not maintaining position, then I would certainly try a different plan if possible. Though I'm not confident that tacking would be a viable plan for making progress up wind. Picking a different destination that was not directly up wind would usually be wise. Paddling from wind break to wind break is sometimes possible.

If I can make progress paddling directly into the wind, I usually try to "sprint up hill." Basically paddle as fast as I think I can sustain to minimize my time fighting the wind. So I keep as vertical a stroke a possible. However, high winds are often accompanied by conditions which require bracing and/or directional correction strokes. The can push me all the way to a "sliding" style extended paddle sweep stroke on one side with a more vertical or minimal stroke on the other if that is needed to maintain direction.

In theory the sliding stroke can also help keep your paddle blade low and thus less affected by the wind. In practice I have not yet been caught in wind strong enough for that to be an issue with my Greenland paddle. Though I can remember fighting the wind catching my Euro before I had a Greenland paddle, which is why I used to play with length and feather.

[Doug]

I had an opportunity to paddle in the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth across from the old prison, against the current at full force and into a sustained 30-35 mile an hour wind with higher gusts. Fortunately I was paddling one on one with "Master" Greg Paquin of Kayak Waveology. I was paddling his Romany Surf for the first time which wasn't custom fit to me yet. He put me through drills leaning forward, keeping my paddle stroke low and in front of me. Very short strokes again may I add that were always forward of my leaned forward position with a low angle stroke slightly above my deck. Not much body rotation was going on here but I was able to maintain control in the strongest winds and matching current. I maintained a slow forward pace with my paddle feathered my customary 40 degrees. After that day, my confidence in wind and current increased greatly.

Doug

[josko]

If waves permit, I almost always try to adjust my stroke so that my paddle enters near the top of a wave and I am always paddling downhill. That does not change when the wind picks up.

Bill, I can see the sense in above when paddling downwind/downwave, but not upwind. Could you help me out a little bit?

[brambor]

I'd say leaning forward would probably give you the added percentage versus tacking. In addition I also read the waves I'm paddling against and optimize my stroke on the downward slope of the waves, essentially trying to always paddle 'downhill'.

At some point however paddling into the wind is so annoying that I just deploy my chute and call for a rescue. (JK!)

[leong]

I had an opportunity to paddle in the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth across from the old prison, against the current at full force and into a sustained 30-35 mile an hour wind with higher gusts.

Doug,

In general, the changes we are discussing for paddling upwind don’t apply to paddling against a current. I’m almost sure you realize this but I don’t know whether others realize this.

I agree with all of the tips posted so far. Paul hit one of the nails on the head when he said “You are spreading your hands and changing blade size to shift gears and most likely increasing your cadence.”. I beat this to death in the following analysis about the Hill Equation for muscle contraction.

Mathcad - Paddling Muscle Mechanics.pdf

Some other comments follow:

I agree that “tacking” back and forth upwind with a kayak is not too good an idea. Perhaps if you can’t make any headway it’s a reasonable thing to do.

Kayak Navigation By David Burch, has some good information about paddling upwind (or downwind). Especially Figure 5-4 which quantifies upwind slowdown. For example, suppose you can paddle at a sustainable 4 knots in still air. A 25-knot headwind will slow you down to approximately 1.7 knots. A drag program I wrote gets about the same approximate answer.

The short stroke serves two purposes: 1. To increase cadence and 2. To make up for the loss of a glide between strokes when paddling upwind.

Almost all of the tips that have been discussed in this thread for upwind paddling improve both hydrodynamic efficiency and muscle mechanics efficiency. With one exception: a slipping blade is hydrodynamically less efficient than a locked blade. Nevertheless, for upwind paddling the Hill’s Equation argument wins out over hydrodynamic efficiency (see the attachment).

-Leon

Edited February 18, 2015 by leong

[Doug]

Doug,

In general, the changes we are discussing for paddling upwind dont apply to paddling against a current. Im almost sure you realize this but I dont know whether others realize this.

-Leon

Leon, the method I was describing is what I was suggesting for paddling up wind. The fact that there were periods of time also against the current was only a description of the environment we were in some of the time. When paddling up wind, I am describing short strokes in front of you as you lean forward at a low angle. It works great but I find the decreased torso rotation using a low short forward stroke does take a toll on your body over a long period of time.

Am I missing something in what you are asking for?

[leong]

Leon, the method I was describing is what I was suggesting for paddling up wind. The fact that there were periods of time also against the current was only a description of the environment we were in some of the time. When paddling up wind, I am describing short strokes in front of you as you lean forward at a low angle. It works great but I find the decreased torso rotation using a low short forward stroke does take a toll on your body over a long period of time.

Am I missing something in what you are asking for?

Doug,

It was clear to me that your tips were for paddling upwind, not upstream. I was just trying to reduce the risk that some newbie might misinterpret and conclude that, for instance, they should use short strokes with less rotation when paddling upstream. You are not missing anything.

-Leon

[Paul Sylvester]

Doug,

Some of the tricks you describe work great for turning and correcting strokes into the wind.

[billvoss]

Bill, I can see the sense in above when paddling downwind/downwave, but not upwind. Could you help me out a little bit?

Hi Josko,

Actually the technique works best when short steep waves are coming at you roughly head on. I do not use this technique if the waves are coming from astern.

I originally wrote:

If waves permit, I almost always try to adjust my stroke so that my paddle enters near the top of a wave and I am always paddling downhill. That does not change when the wind picks up.

I can see how my original description is a bit vague. Let me provide more context and detail. I learned this technique during my first year of paddling. During an early Boston Harbor trip that year I heard the leader describe timing his paddling to match the waves, and frankly I thought he was crazy. The Boston Harbor waves were quite confused for a beginner like me, and I felt much more comfortable keeping a steady cadence like I would on a bicycle while ignoring the waves. Even if that meant I sometimes tried to plant my paddle in the trough between waves.

However, later in the year the same paddler was along on an AMC trip and the group was paddling back to the put-in almost directly into some very regular short steep waves. He told us the waves were perfect for this technique, and a few of us accepted his instruction. The gist of it is simply to adjust your timing so that your paddle enters the water at the crest of a wave. The stroke itself basically stays in the crest of the wave as the wave passes under your kayak. To me it feels like I let the wave lift my kayak up, then I paddle at the very top of the wave completing the stroke as my kayak goes down the back of the wave. After that I'm immediately setting up to spear the top of a wave on the other side. The waves set my cadence, though I don't have to spear every wave if I don't want to.

That AMC group became incredibly spread out. The few of us "paddling downhill" pulled way ahead of the people plodding in the back of the pod. Since then, I often find myself surging to the front of a pod when the waves are particularly well suited to this technique. I suspect that part of the reason is simply that with the waves setting the cadence I'm having fun, I'm staying interested and so I paddle faster. Paddling in the crests may also help with quickly and fully submerging the paddle blade compared to occasionally paddling in the troughs. I'll let Leon and others play with the physics. I just find it fun and apparently more efficient.

The water must obviously be bumpy to use this technique, but not so bumpy that the waves surf you backwards like they would breaking out through a surf zone. It is easiest if the waves are coming at your bow. With practice you can spear the crest even in a beam sea. If the waves are coming from astern you are usually better off trying to catch short surf rides instead, which has a very different timing.

[josko]

Bill, I try to do just the opposite, i.e. try to plant my paddles in the troughs when paddling upwind, and I've worked to get it to work in an expanding range of wave conditions.

The reason for this has to do with wave orbital velocity: when one looks at a float on a (deep water, non-breaking) wave, its' motion is that of a circle. On the peaks, it moves with the velocity of the wave; in the troughs, it moves in the opposite direction.

So now if one dips a paddle in the crest, one encounters water moving in the direction of the wave at wave crest's velocity. A paddle dipped in the trough encounters water moving in the opposite direction. If paddling upwind, water in the troughs moves in the direction of the boat, and water in the crests in the opposite direction.

I think leong once had a brainteaser that illustrated that it's more efficient to place the paddle in water which is moving in the direction we want to go than in still water and even more than in water moving in the opposite direction.

So I've worked to adapt my cadence to dip the paddle in the troughs whenever possible when paddling upwind. It would seem to me that trying to place it in the crests is counterproductive. Of course, there may be added efficiencies in stroke kinetics, but I don't see them. Admittedly, it's frequently easier to revert to a more efficient and regular cadence than trying to time it to place paddles in troughs, but I try to adapt whenever possible and have found it worthwhile. Clearly, when paddling downwind, the opposite applies, and I'd want to plant my paddle in crests.

On a related topic, I've learned to note water velocity past my paddle when surfing and use it as an indicator of positioning wrt the wave face. Also, note that water under the bow and stern may be moving at drastically different speeds (wrt the hull) when surfing. Understanding that has helped me vastly to avoid broaching.

Edited February 20, 2015 by josko

[billvoss]

Bill, I try to do just the opposite, i.e. try to plant my paddles in the troughs when paddling upwind,

I'll experiment with that next time I'm in the appropriate conditions. I don't know if the awkward reach down into the troughs will be more than compensated for by differences in water speed or not.

[josko]

I'll experiment with that next time I'm in the appropriate conditions. I don't know if the awkward reach down into the troughs will be more than compensated for by differences in water speed or not.

I think it's fascinating, too. I wonder if any of the good paddlers on this board can chime in. Is there agreement on a coaching direction for forward stroke going into chop?

[leong]

Josko and Bill,

Regarding where to plant the blade when paddling into wind-generated waves in deep water:

To be honest, I’m not sure whether it’s better to plant in the wave crests, troughs or just anywhere to maintain a steady cadence. Based on the water motion illustrated in Figure 2 of this, the following are my conclusions:

1. If you plant in the crest, the water is moving in the same direction that you pull the blade. Accordingly, there is less force from the water on the blade. This not only allows a faster pull (higher cadence) but also helps to “lock” the blade.
2. If you plant in the trough, there is a strong force opposing your paddle stroke. This probably results in greater blade slippage, reduced cadence and an initially high jolt (sudden change in velocity) to your muscles that could wear you down.
3. For choppy and confused water Figure 2 might not be so simple.

Given that 1 and 2 are correct conclusions, it seems like planting in the crests might be more efficient. A problem might be that increasing your cadence may move you on the power curve to the right of the sweet spot where your power is at a maximum (see the second graph of my Mathcad attachment [attached here again], Power Curve and Hill Equation Hyperbola). That is, as you increase your cadence your available power increases until a maximum power is achieved. Any cadence increase beyond that reduces your power output. Also note that the Hill Equation and its resultant power curve is specific to your own fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscles.

My SWAG is that there is no definite answer. The problem is too dependent on conditions and the paddler. Perhaps the best way to answer the question would be to paddle various ways into the wind while watching the ground speed on a GPS (and do this for various wind and wave conditions).

I would like to hear from others with more experience.

-Leon

PS
Regarding my paddling trip that resulted in this thread: I was too concentrated on staying upright so I didn’t notice how I planted the blade. I doubt whether my stroke was coordinated with the wave action.

Mathcad - Paddling Muscle Mechanics.pdf

[NateHanson]

I am in the habit of spearing the tops of waves in rough conditions, particularly in beam seas where stability can feel harder to find. More than hitting the crests, I'd say I'm avoiding the troughs. Every forward stroke provides a bit of support, and in rough conditions it's a substitute for bracing - A missed or slipped stroke can be a quick way to capsize in steeper conditions, so by planting strokes in the crests you're ensuring that there's water there to support each stroke.

Upwind or downwind I don't pay much attention to where my strokes fall with relation to the crests.

[leong]

I am in the habit of spearing the tops of waves in rough conditions, particularly in beam seas where stability can feel harder to find. More than hitting the crests, I'd say I'm avoiding the troughs. Every forward stroke provides a bit of support, and in rough conditions it's a substitute for bracing - A missed or slipped stroke can be a quick way to capsize in steeper conditions, so by planting strokes in the crests you're ensuring that there's water there to support each stroke.

Upwind or downwind I don't pay much attention to where my strokes fall with relation to the crests.

Nate,

Yes, good point. Staying upright in rough conditions should always take precedence over efficiency considerations. That’s why I always lower my shaft angle in conditions.

-Leon

[josko]

Yeah, I agree there's waves and there's waves. I'm coming from my usual exercise paddle, 18 nautical miles around Naushon island in a P&H Bahiya. Typically the first leg is 7 nmi into the Cape Cod seabreeze, and I think I get a tenth of a knot or so by getting in sync with the wave troughs. But I fully accept it could be wishful thinking, too.

On the way down, it's a glorious downwind surfing leg, but that's another story. I got it up to a 4.5 kt average, and believe me, every little bit helps. It also really helps me tune gear; this year, my goal is to find a wing paddle that helps me get just a wee bit faster; the Stellar wing from two years ago couldn't quite match my Ikelos.

[BethS]

Back to Greenland... OK i mostly prefer them anyway, but especially when paddling into the wind; i like to use a sliding stroke with my full sized GP (I don't have a storm paddle but maybe I should try one..)