Outrigger Canoe Paddling Technique (OC6)

Top Hand Over Bottom / Top Hands Down Together

A couple of good calls I make as an outrigger steerer to refocus the crew on technique and timing is:

Top Hand Over Bottom And Top Hands Down Together

Visualise this photo when one or both of these calls are made and you will know what is being asked for - A part of the quality in the stroke and crew blending.

Timing should come mostly from feel and a good visual cue is to synchronise your top hand driving down at the same time as those in front of you. Also helps keep the head up to maximise the breathing efficiency.

Top hand over bottom can help get your paddle side shoulder out and extended along the side of the canoe, soemthing we have been focusing on lately.

La Perouse OC6 Regatta - Pacific Dragons Open Crew (Sat 14 Feb 2015)

View on YouTube

Gav writes:

This is the footage from the race. Look, its perhaps not that interesting and drags on a bit but the music is good. I am sending it as we actually have a shark caught on video (see from 1:41). First time ever for the PDs I think. Stu and I noticed it swim past. Footage of it is not that great, but just as good as most bigfoot clips.

Also, you will find the last 2 minutes very entertaining. I promise.

You can watch it in HD by changing the settings

A great day for our Club.

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.

Make mistakes well - Jeff Jarvis (WWGD)

We are ashamed to make mistakes - as well we should be, yes? It's our job to get things right, right? So when we make mistakes, our instinct is to shrink into a ball and wish them away. Correcting errors, though necessary is embarrassing.

But the truth about the truth is in itself counterintuitive: Corrections do not diminish credibility. Corrections enhance credibility. Standing up and admitting your errors makes you more believable; it gives your audience faith that you will right your future wrongs.

From What Would Google Do (Amazon) by Jeff Jarvis.


Bought this book in London and read it while traveling around Europe after the 2009 World Dragon Boat Championships in Prague. Enjoyed reading it and I got a lot out of it. I had had a break from the internet for over 8 years and was looking to see what was new. I understood and could relate to much of the book from my elj.com days.

When looking through the book today to find a section that talked about blogging and tweeting and why people do it (in a moment of self-reflection to try and workout why I post what I do here), I found this page earmarked with the above quote.

Had some interesting conversations and posts recently on the topic of mistakes. For me they often represent the fact that I am out there trying something and giving it a go. Feel a little embarrassed when I make mistakes and other people are involved, but I hope they know I will will right [my] future wrongs. Main thing is to learn from the mistakes.

Live and Learn they say.

Pacific Dragon's Long Course Mixed Crew - from front to back - Graeme, Gen, Matt, Eloise, Meising and Geoff - 2011 OC6 State Titles - Cronulla / Sydney - Sat 26 Mar 2011 (Photo by Camocean)

Outrigger Surfing The Currumbim Alley by peterando06 (Sat 11 Dec 2010)

Outrigger Surfing The Currumbim Alley by peterando06 (Sat 11 Dec 2010)
Looks like a lot of fun in an OC3 with only 3 paddlers. Great way to get some steering skills in the surf. Definitely a skill best acquired by actually doing it. For the paddlers, definitely will give you confidence in unstable conditions as well as the opportunity to feel the boat and how it responds in the swell, when to lift (rating and power) and when to back off and change sides and wait for the next one, etc. Seat 1 is wearing a 2007 Short Sleeve USA National Dragon Boat top.

Best piece of ocean steering/paddling advice I ever got was from Billy. It goes something like this:

"remember that what has just passed you and is now in front of you, is also just behind you"

Will be up that way next week for Christmas. Always go to Currumbim Beach and Headland. Will keep my eye out for an OC3.

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)

Va'a Paddling Connection Tahiti

One of my favourite Outrigger Video's (along with Rambo's Mission Adrenal). The background music is really good and makes you want to get out there on the ocean and paddle.

Molokai Hoe Bump

From Rambo's Locker - Love watching this one and dream one day to catch something like this and to paddle Molaki. Watch the steerer and seat 5 (around the 30sec mark) who work together to keep the OC on the right line just before taking off. Just shows how important an understanding of steering technique is for all in the canoe, particularly Seat 5, who can help out a lot, particularly in big conditions.

Seat 5 working with the Steerer in Seat 6

Feel the Boat

I really enjoy steering an OC6 and I often find myself steering an OC6 at my regular training sessions. I try to pickup useful tips from the various Outrigging web sites - ausoutrigger.com and ocpaddler.com. Found the following question and responses very informative.

Ender writes on the ocpaddler forum:

"I paddle OC-6 and my coach suggested I work on feeling the boat. [..] Honestly I really have no idea what he is talking about so I just keep paddling hoping one day the mystery will be solved. Any clues?"

When I steer an OC6, in certain sections, I ask the crew to feel the water. Anyway, some nice responses to this question and the whole discussion is worth reading. For me, the following response by Hiro C. resonates the most:

"when sitting in a car or a plane, you can close your eyes and you can fell when it goes faster or slower, you can feel if it is turning. In the canoe, try to get focused on those feelings. You should feel when a wave is pushing or pulling the canoe. You will feel when it’s gliding and when it’s not."

Port Stephens Changes Race - 29 Mar 2008

[OC6] FAATI MOOREA 2009

FAATI MOOREA 2009: Va'a racing with 86km Tahiti race around the island of Moorea by tahitian689

[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)

Avoiding Stall Outs in an Outrigger Canoe (OC1)

An OC1 Tip by dmehling from Surfing Technique at http://www.ocpaddler.com/forum/

Another major thing I learned was to steer around stall outs. By this, I mean that you need to anticipate when your canoe is in a situation where if you keep going, you are going to stall out (i.e. burry your nose into the wave in front of you, not have enough umph to carry you over that next bump, or when you are going to miss a wave and have it pass underneath you). Whenever I feel my boat is about to stall out, I steer around that stall out (usually right to keep the ama down-wave) and keep as much momentum as I can.

By steering around stall outs, you can change the angle of your canoe relative to the waves and prevent being completely perpendicular to the wave. When you “see-saw” (i.e. your boat is perpendicular to the wave as the wave rolls under you), you lose all your speed as the tail will not release until the nose starts to point down again, lifting the tail. By the time that happens, you have lost all your speed and missed a wave. If you don’t do something different, you’ll likely miss the next wave too.

Instead, try to steer right or left so that your canoe is at an angle to the wave. By doing this, your tail won’t get sucked down as your nose goes up. Your tail will release sooner and you’ll maintain more speed, allowing you to catch that next runner instead of missing another bump.

In short, steer around situations where your nose is going to be pointed up instead of down. Avoid going “nose up” any way you can; you’ll surf faster and link more rides.

Whosus (picasa) - Balmoral Saturday Open Water Session (more here) - Sat 04 Apr 09 (PD's Photo Album)
Whosus (picasa) - Balmoral Saturday Open Water Session (more here) - Sat 04 Apr 09 (PD's Photo Album)

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)