We’d love to get advice from Guy. Please ask him to stop on by again.

i was able to talk to guy after the race at work and got a good amount of information from him. im not sure how much a custom board will run me, but its something i definately look forward to. also, my lack of experience makes it hard to figure what i like or what i would want on my board. experience is something that i need. physically i feel pretty confident but reading swells and currents is something i dont know how to do, and i think if i was better at doing so, i would be a little quicker.

hopefully guy will stop by to give us more advice. if i see him at work ill be sure to give him the 21 questions, lol.

paddle safe!!

What kind of paddle do you prefer?

Any tips for beginners in paddling these downwinders?

It’s pretty unreal because I didn’t even see you the whole race. You must have been finished by the time I was nearing Suicide’s.

Are you Guy Pere?

Turns out by Diamond Head there was some wind which seemed like a thermal but not sure. The easiest part of the run today was the Black Point to Kaimana portion. The wind was at my back and there was a little movement in the water. I actually caught 2 short runners just past Diamond Head and a decent waist high waves at Tongg’s.

Here’s the confusing part. My overall time was 1:36 which is only 4 minutes more than my best time last week with 20+ mph winds and great swell. The F-15 really livened up when there was wind at my back and some swell to catch. I need to try it in high winds and swell to really be able to compare it.

Just talked to Doug today. Let us know what Guy Pere says or if he has any advice.

Email me via the contact page and maybe we can connect for a run. You’re lucky your girlfriend drops you off and picks you up. Depending on what I’m riding for the day we can trade off for a little bit so you can see what other boards ride like.

i met doug a few weeks ago and had a little conversation with him about paddling and what not, he’s a super cool guy. my conditioning is pretty good but my experience and skill is very lacking in the distance paddling department. anytime i get a chance to talk to paddlers, i do so to gain some insight and knowledge. i also work with with guy pere, but i havent had the chance to talk to him.

maybe ill run into you sometime doing the runs. im usually by myself paddling ( my gf drops me off and picks me up at kaimana ). i have a red and white xp. lemme know how your next run goes. good luck!

I got thrown off a bit on the front riding of the Vortice in the beginning. Kaipo mentioned that the front was fast so I ended up staying there the whole time and tried the reverse steering action w/ my feet. That was a bit weird. Then my friend was helping me and I noticed he was way back on his board and was moving without paddling while he was talking to me so I started moving back and stayed there.

What I noticed was counterintuitive for me. I started catching and connecting more bumps when standing back. Then I watched Todd’s video again on the Vortice and he says to stand in the back of center once you get moving and I talked w/ Mark Raaphorst who makes the F-16, etc and he said that once you get planing the enemy of speed is the wetted surface. Once planing, water on the board is friction so the speed spots on F series boards are way in the back. He even said that on big bumps he’s a foot from the tail. That’s far back.

On the N Shore run my friend was on the Vortice Boardworks and once he stood aft from center he started gliding way better. The balance and steering is also easier from the back once you get planing.

I know that Doug Lock, Jeff Chang and Kainoa Beaupree did that run yesterday also. If you saw Jeff, he was on an F-18. That’s a big and fast board. The other guys were on fixed fin Ted Spencer boards and they are just unreal paddlers in general.

Your time is pretty good already. If I can get in the sub 1:20 time period then I may enter a race. I just don’t want to be way in the back. I also notice that I need to get more familiar with the best route to take because it makes a pretty big difference. Who knows…I’m still just a beginner at this?

I’ve been doing the run a lot in the past couple weeks. The hard part is coordinating cars. Today I need to rest bc my back is pretty sore but I’ll be back in action on Tuesday.

at first, the xp seemed a bit rocky. but once you start going, its gets stable. i really like it in flat, calm water. when it gets bumpy out in the deep, it can get a bit tippy. also, riding the front is weird for me. when i start picking up speed on a swell, it will sometime catch a ripple and pull hard in that direction (if that makes sense).

im sure a couple of more runs and i should be able to figure out the board a little bit better. my goal is to crack 1:20 on a shore to shore run. if i can minimize the falling, i should be able to cut a good 5mins i hope.

evan, how often do you do the hawaii kai run?

I noticed that the Vortice turns normally once I get a foot behind the handle (middle section). When I’m up front it seems to go opposite for me too. Once you get going on the XP try standing at least a foot back from center if you’re not doing that now. The board picks up a lot of speed when I’m toward the back in a good tail wind and swell.

i do alot of stand up surfing, but for some reason, my xp seems opposite as to how i surf. i lean to the left, the board wants to go to the right, which is why im falling off so much. im new to distance paddling and ive been doing it for about a month now. this is my 2nd hawaii kai run with my board so im sure with more practice, i should be able to ride my board better. im usually in kaneohe bay paddling head buoy runs or heeia kea pier to kualoa beach park.

see you guys out there!!!

I did the run today w/ Kainoa again although he is way faster I got a head start because he paddled upwind to Portlock before heading toward Kaimana. We went with 2 of his friends but they got tired and ended up at Kahala instead.

I used what seemed to be an 86″ or 88″ paddle. It was super long. It was a Quickblade Kanaha with a 9.8″ blade. The blade was huge. This paddle worked really well when the wind was at my back along w/ the swell. The paddle became an issue from Diamond Head to Kaimana. It is hard for me to use that long of a paddle w/ such a big blade and go upwind. The depth I could put the blade while catching swells made a positive difference. Longer paddles are a must. I can’t believe I was initially using my 75″ paddle.

I did much better at connecting the bumps today even in little swells. It helps to be a bit back on the board for this. It’s counter-intuitive but works for me.

I stayed on the inside, just outside the wave lineup and it made a difference. The time from Black Point to Kaimana for me was 40 min today. That’s much faster than yesterday.

Tony – That was Kainoa Beaupree and me. He was most likely in front. The wind and swell was much better yesterday.

Did you do a downwind today(Wed)? I saw two guys rounding the corner of Diamond Head around 1100.

Tony

Do you know of any SUP clubs that paddle regularly from Mauanalua Bay to Kaimana? I’ve always wanted to do that paddle, but I don’t want to do it by myself.

Mahalo,

cliff