Re: Turning a pax 180 deg

Posted by Stephen P on Jan 27, 2006

Having paddled and raced a Pax18 for three years now, there are a few things that I do for a 180 buoy turn: If the skeg is down, pull it up before the turn. Lean to the outside of the turn. Plant the blade of the paddle as far forward as possible on the outside of the turn and sweep away from the boat (using a wing, you can't come back in else the blade will stall) to get a turning moment. Adjust your hand position to get extra leverage by holding the paddle off center. Coming out of the turn, depending upon wind and wave direction, deploy the skeg to get a following wind to help push you back on course. Practice all the above maneuvers so that you don't spend a couple of extra seconds getting the skeg to the right deployment, etc... and still stay within the intent of your race's rules. Be careful to judge current so that you don't end up cutting the turn short and having to make an extreme adjustment.

Boats with rudders do better. Time spent not paddling forward will slow you down.

Hope this helps

Stephen

Hope this helps

In Response to: Re: Turning a pax 180 deg by CLC on Jan 27, 2006

Replies:

• Re: Turning a pax 180 deg by Michael Malley on Jan 28, 2006
  • thank you Michael! by Marc Geisler on Jan 30, 2006
• Thank you Stephen! by Marc Geisler on Jan 30, 2006