Two Downwind Races and Two Directions… almost!
Last Sunday saw the running of two downwind races, the Hoe Horo OC1 Manly to Palm Beach and the Ocean Ski Series Long Reef to Palm Beach… and for a while there they were looking like they were going to run in opposite directions! A last minute (and very inconvenient) change saw the Ocean Series make the most of the wind and swell and also go south to north.

What an Achievement!!!
Congratulations to Annett and Linda on both completing the massive 28km Hoe Horo race. In particular to Annett for a fantastic second place in a strong women’s field and to Linda in achieving a long-held ambition to complete the ‘Twenty Beaches’. This is what the race course followed along all of Sydney’s northern beaches is commonly known as. Completing the ‘Twenty Beaches’ is arguably one of the ultimate achievements in single craft ocean racing in Australia. Stay tuned for Linda’s race wrap-up.

Ocean Skills Workshop
We are looking to run an Ocean Skills Workshop on Nov 22 and 23. More details to follow later this week.

OC1/OC2 Nationals Road Trip
An awesome program has been put together for this year’s National Titles including a relay option for the downwind race. This will be a great opportunity for those having done some of the Hoe Horo short course races this season. The racing will once again take place amongst the scenic coastal islands off Coffs Harbour. More details on the PD road trip to follow.

Training

What should I be doing?
Free Speed – After the success of applying El Guapo’s third law of physics last week, Carmela has started to think about how some of his other theories can help her obtain even more free speed.

Quantum mechanics reveals that if her blade is not accelerating throughout the entire duration of the stroke then she will take off some of the speed she put on in the first half of the stroke.

This week Carmela will therefore focus on accelerating her blade from the catch right through to the exit. To make sure this happens she will need to do a very sharp punchy exit.

Not-So-Free Speed – Despina turned up to surprise Fabio at the end of last Sunday’s Twenty Beaches Race only to find him already in the arms of Ernesta! To most it looked likely a friendly post-race hug but Despina saw otherwise. As such she has wasted no time cancelling their Thursday night dinner date.

Fabio’s now got some extra time on his hands so he’s catching up with Juan and Pablo to do an extra Speed & Endurance session. He’s thinking to wwwelop some good quality top end speed he will do:
– 4 x four minute efforts
– 4 x two minute efforts
– 4 x one minute efforts
He’ll do all at Level 4 and have two minutes rest in between each.

Changes to Friday Base Maintenance Sessions
The pointy end of the single craft season is upon us with State and National titles only weeks away. To assist with preparation, starting Friday week (21/11) the Kirribilli session will be Speed & Endurance. Those newer to single craft paddling are still welcome to join this session. The main difference is that rather than a continuous paddle we will be doing some interval work. Sign-up now!

Sign-up for PD single craft training sessions
See the PD Single Craft Training Session article below for details. Info on the tag-along sessions is also included here. Sign-up for PD sessions by going to the Training Schedule page. If you have any questions please see those taking the sessions as listed. For use of club canoes please see Billy.