How To Paddle Up with Peter Petersen
In this episode of our Hydrofoil How To series, Peter Petersen shows us how to flatwater paddle up on a hydrofoil. You’ll learn how to choose the right equipment, identify the best conditions, master paddle positioning and strokes, perfect your board positioning, and nail the pump-paddle technique.
Here’s the breakdown:
To do a flatwater paddle up, you need a board, a foil, and a paddle. You want a board that’s long and narrow. I am using the AK Nomad Carbon Plus. It’s 7’6″ by 21″ and 115 liters. The board is 30 liters above my body weight, which is a good starting point.
The choice of foil is super important when you want to do flatwater paddle ups. The bigger, the better. I am using the 2050 Plasma from AK. It’s got a wide wingspan, a lot of area, and a lifty profile, making it easier to get off the water.
The choice of the mast is also important. It’s much easier with a shorter mast. I am using a 78cm Carbon Plus mast. Anything from 70-80cm would be advisable.
In terms of the tail wing, the bigger the tail that you’ve got, the easier it is to get off the water. The smaller it is, the easier it is to pump around.
And then you need a nice paddle like this one, the Starboard Enduro Pre-Preg. This is the perfect paddle for flat water paddle ups.
The paddle up technique is essential. You want your board to go straight, and you want your board to speed up to a point where the foil will start lifting. Three tips. When you engage the blade in the water, flare the inside rail of the blade slightly forward, as you can see, and also engage the paddle away from the rail of the board.
The last thing we do is when we’re pulling that blade towards ourselves, we bring it in towards the board, and we try to keep the shaft as vertical as possible. These three things combined, with a lot of power and practice, will get you up on foil.
To start the paddle up, we position our board slightly across the wind, so as we start speeding up our board speed, the board will be in a perfect downwind position.
The initial strokes are slow and long, and then as we get more speed and we’re going straight downwind, we increase the cadence, increase the paddle speed, and start the pump paddle technique.
This will get to a point where the board starts lifting off. At this point, it’s crucial to continue pump-paddling with paddle and board, engaging the foil so that you get clear of the water. Once clear of the water, you can stop paddling and pump away.
Featured Products
AK Plasma Hydrofoil
AK Nomad Carbon Plus Foilboard
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