East Coast Sea Kayaking Club

When playing in a tide race the general idea is to surf these waves up against the flow. The size and shape of the waves can affect how your boat will behave on the wave. A steep wave will be easier to catch but it can be harder to control your boat on. A flatter wave will be harder to catch but boat control will be easier. When trying to catch waves, rather than looking over you shoulder for good waves coming, try to chase the steep backs of waves that have just passed under you, they tend to be followed by better waves. It can take a very hard sprint to catch waves that aren’t very steep, lean forwards and paddle hard and if you fail to catch the first wave keep paddling to maintain your momentum and try to catch the second, or the third, etc.

Text and pictures reproduced by kind permission of the author and copyright holder, Phil Clegg of Sea Kayaking Anglesey.