Our first Aqua Sport SUP training day was a great success and was greeted with sun, pleasant temperatures and a stiff breeze.

Coming from the coast we are not exactly spoilt with flat water so being able to train and focus on the board in flatter water was a real treat.   It is a great time to work on board trim, focus on the finer nuances and see how the board performs when running in balance.

zac1 Zac Wharton riding the 12’6 UBoat.

Zac has been putting in some training time on the UBoat and is already finding his feet, but this sort of board needs time.  Even our awesome team rider , Paolo Marconi says that you need a good few weeks of regular paddling in all manner of conditions to really learn the nature of the board.

Colin Elston putting in a buoy turn on the UBoat

Colin Elston putting in some practice. Only his second time on this board and he is getting a feel for the balance point during the buoy turns.

So what did we do on our first training day?

Buoy turns

This is a drill that everyone should go over again and again no matter if you race or not.  We take for granted our ability to spin on the spot when standing on terra ferma so why do many of us move on our board like it is going to bite.

I practice turns on tiny wave sups as well as the race boards, but whatever I am riding be committed and get on with it.   You can see here that Zac is really driving his board round and keeping low and powerful.

Practicing buoy turns with Zac Wharton on the Jimmy Lewis UBoat

Draughting

Colin and Zac were particularly comfortable with this so I took the lead on the first run out and let them draught me. Tucking in close and setting a comfortable rhythm allowed us to slog out some lengths of the lake into wind, with a rest paddle back downwind to start again.

Relaxing

With the sun out, a warm gentle breeze, tea and a veranda who could ask for more to finish off a training session.

Why not head along to Aqua Sports near Redhil, Surrey. A great venue, friendly folk and easy access from London if you’re landlocked like so many.

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