At some point the draft train is going to break apart and it’s going to become every paddler for his or herself. In 2015 at Chattajack it happened to our train in the last 1500m. In 2016 our train fell apart early with about 12 km to go. When the train falls apart it’s time to work on your own, or hang onto whatever wash you can for as long as you can until you can get to the finish on your own. When it comes to preparing for the finish of the race what you’re really tryin

While the purpose of this post isn’t to discuss how to actually draft, here are some tips for making the most of your draft train that can make a big difference over a long race like Chattajack: Relax as much as possible while drafting. Find the sweet spot where it is easiest and your board is moving with the least effort, and do your best to stay there. The ability to do this improves dramatically with practice, so do your homework in training so that your drafting skills

I like to think of draft trains as either being cooperative or competitive. Cooperative trains are made up of paddlers that recognize that working together can help chew up distance, make the race go faster, and allow everyone to save energy to use in later stages of the race. Paddlers in the train share the lead pretty equally, don’t make people work to take their turn leading and will even wait for others, especially for drink and food breaks with the understanding that t

Chattajack Race Strategy Having just recently completed the 40 km SEA Paddle race around Manhattan and with Chattajack only 10 weeks away, it seems an appropriate time to begin discussing race strategy for long, five hour plus, races. Whether it’s any of the three previous Chattajacks I’ve done or this year’s SEA Paddle, when I talk to people at the finish I usually hear one of two different stories – they either worked in a draft train for all or a significant part of the ra

Thursday, July 20th (TODAY!) marks 100 days until Chattajack. It seems like a long time on one hand yet on the other it seems rather short, especially since it will also mark 81 days since registration. You might find yourself asking, “What have I done with the last 81 days?” When you consider that we’re closing on the point where there is only half the preparation time left from when you registered it can make the event seem awfully close. I’m here to tell you that althou

Last weekend I went for a fun SUP paddle with a couple of buddies of mine from my canoe days. Conditions on Lake Ontario were pretty good, with a moderate northeast wind kicking up nice, fast, two-foot plus wind waves and a small ground swell. We did the usual upwind/downwind paddle you’re stuck doing when you can’t arrange the logistics to go downwind; hammering upwind for 6km and then turning around for a nice 6 km downwind leg with speeds averaging 5:30/km. One of my budd

Steve Dullack makes suggestions on Chattajack and previews the men's competition. Click to View #trainingtips #technique #articles

Larry Cain will be hosting a SUP clinic on Friday afternoon from 2-4pm, prior to packet pickup. It will be a two hour class with a small focus on stand up paddle technique, and a large emphasis on race prep, pacing, finding appropriate gear for the distance you’re racing etc. (all things that are relevant for ‪#‎Chattajack‬!) as well as Q&A. Weather permitting you will spend about an hour on land and the next hour on the water. Cost is $75. Group will meet at 2pm on the Cooli