Pacific Dragons - Masters Men - Five Islands Outrigger Canoe Regatta (Sun 11 Nov 2012)

Pacific Dragons - Masters Men - Five Islands Outrigger Canoe Regatta (Sun 11 Nov 2012) [Youtube (*)]
The final minute of a 14km race out and back into Wollongong's Boat Harbour. Much nicer conditions to that which experienced at the beginning of 2010 (*). From left to right - Nuku, Peter, Paul and that would be me at the back of the canoe. Thanks to Graeme for the great GoPro footage of the whole race. Will have to get myself one of these as it great to get some video feedback to help improve the technique.

Pacific Dragons - Five Islands Regatta / Wollongong (Sun 18 Jan 2009)

Pacific Dragons - Five Islands Outrigger OC6 Regatta / Wollongong (Sun 18 Jan 2009)

Mastering the Blending of Outrigger Canoe Steering Techniques

"To master the blending of steering techniques, a certain amount of inherent feeling is necessary. Knowing how the canoe will react in different conditions, feeling movements before they occur and anticipating corrections before they happen, need to be natural. Letting the canoe flow instead of fighting to remain straight, is critical. The canoe can move up 10 degrees off its mark at any time without being off course. You need to let the canoe find its way - you are only there to help it get there"

Jim Foti (Page 96) - Outrigger Canoeing: The Art and Skill of Steering.

A great little book. Many thanks to Rachel for giving me a copy. Plenty to learn from this recently revised edition.

Thought of the above quote when out in the thick of it yesterday. Some challenging conditions for all crews. We all survived and had a great time in the process. Definitely a massive learning experience for us all, me in particular.

Had a few Stall Outs - need to work on a strategy to fix this up in such big conditions. We had a lot water in the Canoe at the end. GPS to follow.

Thanks to Michelle for the fantastic photos from yesterday's Outrigger Canoe (OC6) Regatta at Five Islands/Wollongong.

Pacific Dragons Mens Crew (From Seat 1: Mark Hall, Graeme Bacon, Stuart Young, Peter McAlister, Grant Billen and Geoff Eldridge) - Five Island OC6 Regatta - Sun 14 Nov 2010 (picasa by Shell)
Pacific Dragons Mens Crew (From Seat 1: Mark Hall, Graeme Bacon, Stuart Young, Peter McAlister, Grant Billen and Geoff Eldridge) - Five Island OC6 Regatta - Sun 14 Nov 2010 (picasa by Shell)
Pacific Dragons Mens Crew - Five Island OC6 Regatta - Sun 14 Nov 2010 (picasa by Shell)
Pacific Dragons Mens Crew - Five Island OC6 Regatta - Sun 14 Nov 2010 (picasa by Shell)
Pacific Dragons Mens Crew - Five Island OC6 Regatta - Sun 14 Nov 2010 (picasa by Shell)
Pacific Dragons Mens Crew - Five Island OC6 Regatta - Sun 14 Nov 2010 (picasa by Shell)
Pacific Dragons Mens Crew - Five Island OC6 Regatta - Sun 14 Nov 2010 (picasa by Shell)
Back in the Harbour - Pacific Dragons Mens Crew (Geoff Eldridge, Grant Billen, Peter McAlister and Stuart Young) - Five Island OC6 Regatta - Sun 14 Nov 2010 (picasa by Shell)
Back in the Harbour - Pacific Dragons Mens Crew (Stuart Young, Graeme Bacon and Mark Hall) - Five Island OC6 Regatta - Sun 14 Nov 2010 (picasa by Shell)

[oc6] Open Water Turns

More great advice from Another View from Seat 6 (available as a word doc here) by Jerry Franklin, this time on open water outrigger race turns:

Turns often provide a challenge during the races. The rule states that any inside boat that has overlap (i.e., has any part of the canoe ahead of any part of a leading canoe) has the right of way [1]. The reality is that unless you know and have confidence in the other canoe’s steersman and can communicate with him/her, it is not worth taking the risk of hitting and getting tied up with another boat even if you have the right of way. You may win a protest if the other boat doesn’t give way, but the boats that pass you from behind while you are trying to get untangled will still finish ahead of your boat, and the boats ahead of you will get further ahead.

You can’t control everything that will happen in a race turn, but you can plan what you are going to do in advance (and, I mean, way in advance). By checking the boats around you and determining where they are likely to be when you hit the turn, you can plan where you want to be and begin setting up your position long before the turn. Turns are of different angles and take place in a variety of conditions so there is no one perfect way to execute all turns. Where the turn is fairly severe (i.e., a course change of close to 180 degrees), a wide approach with a tight exit works well. But each turn calls for a somewhat different approach and exit, and other boats entering the turn at approximately the same time will determine your best angle of entry and exit. [2]

Notes

• [1] Knowing and having experience with other steersmen is important. The good ones will work with you to avoid problems. Sometimes that might give you a little advantage, sometimes it will give them a bit of an advantage, but it will always help both boats/crews in the long run. Remember, part of being a good steersman is staying out of trouble and sometimes that means working in cooperation with other steersmen.
  
  
• [2] In my experience, most steersmen try to turn the boat too sharply thus slowing it down and having to correct severely to straighten out at the end of the turn. I prefer a less severe turn which keeps more boat momentum and lets the boat more naturally come to the correct course. However, if the crew is concerned that the boat is not coming around fast enough, they may try to “help” it turn when it actually would be better for them just to paddle forward and let the boat turn on its own. They need to know what you are doing or trust you to do the right thing.
  

A little incident recently made me fully understand this rule as it was intended - the key word is overlap. I thought for some reason the inside canoe had to be ahead (ie it's nose was in front of the outside canoe).

Alan Q. - Five Islands OC6 Regatta - Wollongong - Sun 18 Jan 2009

Steering an Outrigger Canoe in the Wind

Another View from Seat 6 (available as a word doc here) by Jerry Franklin:

Conditions such as the wind, tide, swells, and water depth all influence movement of the boat.

For example, the boat will normally head into the wind.

So if you are going north and the wind is from the Northwest the boat will tend to turn left toward the wind.

Knowing this will help you anticipate what you will need to do to keep the boat on course.

In these conditions, keeping the boat on course will require poking on the right or drawing on the left (simplified version).

And, if the boat drifts slightly to the right, you should anticipate that it might self correct and not require you to do any course correction. Note that the stronger the wind, the more the boat will be pulled toward it.

The boat also will move more into the wind if the wind comes from the ama side than from the right.

Strong Finish - Pacific Dragons Mens A Crew - Five Islands OC6 Regatta - Sun 18 Jan 2009 (picasa)

Outrigger Steering: Three Basis Rules

From So Now You Want to Steer an Outrigger Canoe by Brent Bagnall:

There are three basic rules to remember when steering:

1. It is always better to understeer than to oversteer.



2. Steer to paddle, don’t paddle until you have to steer.



3. Always give back what you take away

Pacific Dragons Men's Crew - Five Islands OC6 Regatta - Sun 18 Jan 2009 (picasa)

Outrigger Canoe Steering Basics (OC6)

From A History of the Moloka‘i Outrigger Canoe Race (page 113):

"I like to break down steering into three basic elements.

1. The How to Steer (basic technique).



2. When to steer (when you steer and when you paddle), and



3. Where to steer (course selection).

As a steersman, you have to learn whether you are going to go where the ocean is taking you or whether you going to direct the canoe in a direction it does not want to take."

Tom Connor TV Interview prior to 1996 Race.

Five Islands OC6 Regatta Wollongong - Sun 18 Jan 2009 (picasa)