I have been paddle boarding for about 4 months and want to train for a 13 mile race downwind in a sound with 1-2 foot chop. Not looking to win, just to finish, and have 7 months to do it. Have a 9 foot board. Any advice on the effectiveness of training on it but racing with a longer board I can use a few times before race day ? Not ready to drop another 2 grand on a second board!

Deanna, whereabouts unknown

Answer: if you spend enough time around paddlers you are going to hear them use the word “quiver” sooner or later. Paddlers always seem to accumulate boards over time.

The reason for this becomes obvious when you want to do things like a 13 mile downwind race. The different styles of boards (surf, race, touring, downwind, etc.) are very different and each has their specific use. IN some cases you can use them interchangeably (you can surf a race board if you want) In other cases you run into trouble (taking a surf board on a distance ride).

We bet you already knew that or you would not have asked us your question.  S,o looking at your specific situation, you could certainly train on your 9 foot board and race your borrowed board during the downwind but here are the issues you may run into on race day:

1. You did not include the model of your current board. If, however, this is a  surf board or surf/hybrid we worry  your ankles during your training. These boards were not meant for long distance training. They are difficult to keep going in a straight line and, depending on the board, they can be murder on your ankles. This is because you need to do little micromovements during your training to keep the board stable and moving in a straight line.  Race boards are build to go in a straight line so they are much more comfortable to ride during distance training. You may also learn bad paddling form if you try to paddle your small board over distance as they handle differently than race boards.

2. If your current board is a stable hybrid board (tongue depressor shape) you will likely be OK if you borrow a 12-6 board on race day. However, if you are borrowing a 14 foot or unlimited board you are asking for trouble. These long boards take practice to steer, keep moving, get up to speed,  and get in the bump and we worry about you taking out an unlimited board in a downwind run without previous training on that particular board.

3. The last thing to think about is the stability of your board. If you are currently on a super stable board and you borrow a super fast race board it might be unstable for you during your race day. It won’t be any fun for you if you are falling down all day long.

The bottom line on all of this is that in the ideal world you would spend the 2K (might check out the mullet classifieds, bark or eaton for a used board). If, however, that is not practical, your success on race day will depend on which board you are borrowing (how long and how stable) and the board you are currently riding (too small and you should not be training on it, too stable and you might have trouble on race day if your race board is tippy.)

P.S. If you are going to keep your short board for your training, you absolutely, positively, must train by time and not distance. If you hear the other paddlers saying things like “I did 7 miles today” and they are on a race board you cannot and should not think you need to match their mileage in training. Similarly, even though your race is 13 miles you need to recalibrate your training to account for the fact that it is a heck of a lot easier to go 13 miles in a downwind on a race board than it would be on your shorter board. Smaller boards go significantly slower than race boards. If you try to match the distances other paddlers cover in their training or try to base your training on a 13 mile race, you will find yourself over trained. This is one of the reasons that all the workouts in our training programs are based on time and not distance.

Hope that helps.

Roch