Halfway through a month-long, 1,300-kilometre canoe race from Chicago to New York, I was locked in a grim struggle with a father and son team I had dubbed the Fighting Fitzgeralds. Fitzy Senior had gone to the Olympic trials in sprint kayaking but his bullish 20-year-old son in the bow didn’t believe father always knew best. Deep into a gruelling stage on the Erie Canal, we eyed our final portage and the pace quickened. Junior wanted to hammer ahead and take out first. Pops told him they would chill on my wash and pass me on terra firma. While they bickered over what to do, I hustled out and start- ed running. I glanced over my shoulder to see Senior whack Junior upside the head with his carbon fibre bent-shaft.
That was 14 years ago, my first year as a marathon paddler. The Fitzgerald’s deliberations were my introduction to tactical thinking. Non-racers often figure the fittest, fastest teams finish first. Not so. The sport is so tactical, the strategy so subtle, that guts and guile often triumph over speed and strength.
Here are the key elements governing canoe racing’s tactical manoeuvres.
LINING UP: With amped, anxious paddlers going berserk off the line, you’re guaranteed large, confused waves. In races that begin against the current or into the wind, cagey squads jockey for position along the bank. Peter Heed, co-author of Canoe Racing: The Competitor’s Guide to Marathon and Downriver Canoe Racing says your position will depend on your strengths and weaknesses. “If you don’t have good acceleration or are unstable in big waves, don’t put yourself in the centre of the storm. If you have good speed and boat handling skills, line up near the fastest boat in the field.” That way, you can latch onto the wave of the speedier boat and be guaranteed a great start.
WASH RIDING: Riding the wash—surfing the stern or side wave of the boat in front of you— may be the most essential skill in the sport; it’s nearly as important as drafting in a bicycle race. “Finding the sweet spot on a wave can save you an enormous amount of energy and pay huge dividends over the course of a race,” says heed. generally, your bow should be sniffing distance—as close as you can get without rear-ending your competitor—behind the canoe in front of you. But, heed warns, “You have to keep adjusting because the wave lengths change according to the water depth.”
UNEASY ALLIANCES: A marathon is far less a steady grind than a series of sprints linked by periods of recuperation. during these recuperative stages, race management is a large part of the game. This means you’ll need to work with your fellow racers. heed says: “You want to be aggressive without being a pain in the ass. if you’re an irritant they’ll try to get rid of you.” Preferred tactics for getting rid of unwanted canoes include sprinting ahead or forcing teams into the bank or a bridge abutment. “If you pull your weight by taking turns in pulling and letting others ride wash, then the stronger team will work with you. It’s a constantly changing and uneasy alliance.”
USING THE WATER: Reading the river means being able to seek out the fastest water and is a skill born of experience. heading around a tight downstream turn, you’ll find the fastest water on the outside of the turn. Carving a smooth turn is a skill that requires seamless teamwork, which is why bends are another spot where teams often try to break away. Expect the pace to quicken as you approach a tight turn on an upstream leg. Because you’ll be single file along the bank where the current is most favourable, it’s imperative to keep your bow glued to the stern of the boat ahead of you. Approaching a shallow section, savvy teams inevitably sprint just before the river changes depth so they can “pop”the boat, a skill which allows a team to ride their own wash as their canoe slows and their stern wave steepens in response to the shallow bottom. get caught off guard and you can get dropped faster than you can say Mark Twain.
THE END GAME: “Heading into the finish the question comes down to who sprints first and where,” says Heed. “If the other team has a faster sprint, you must try and drop them earlier, say in the shallows or on a corner. If you’re zippier, you should wait until the last minute.”
At the end of the race, the team that stands highest on the podium is the team that can both suffer greatly and think clearly at the same time.
Joe Glickman is a two-time member of the U.S. Marathon Kayak Team and has competed in scores of pro canoe races. He is the author of The Kayak Companion and To The Top.
This article first appeared in the Early Summer 2007 issue of Canoeroots Magazine. For more great content, subscribe to Canoeroots’ print and digital editions here.
