With the Carolina Cup just over 2 weeks away I thought it would be appropriate to dedicate this week’s Tip of the Week to the 13-mile Graveyard race. It has grown into one of the biggest and most important SUP races in the world and it’s pretty challenging. It can be a lot of fun if you’re ready to face the challenges it throws at you. It can also be a real grind if you’re not. It’s a race that has a little bit of everything and there’s lots you need to get right if you are going to have a great race. There’s also some little things you can do that can make your race better and more enjoyable. So if you’re new to the course or a relatively inexperienced racer, here are a few tips based on what I’ve experienced in the race over the last four years.
Tip
1 – Inspect the course before the race
This seems like a no brainer. Do golfers play an important round of golf
without first inspecting the course? Do
alpine ski racers fling themselves down a mountain without first walking the
course to inspect it, and then skiing sections of it before actually racing?
I cannot overstate the importance of
checking out this course before racing it.
There are lots of little things you’ll pick up that will help you and
there are lots of things on the course that can hurt your race if you’re
unaware of them and don’t take them into account.
Unfortunately it’s hard to find the time to
paddle the entire course if you don’t actually live nearby, and you probably don’t
want to paddle the entire 13-mile course a day or two before the race Occasionally the organizers of the event
have a boat that can take people out on the course for a sneak peak in which you
can get useful insight into what the course is going to throw at you. There are also people with solid local
knowledge you can talk to about the course.
Choose carefully whom you seek local knowledge from however. Avoid people who are prone to exaggeration as
they’re likely to get you worried about, rather than aware of, some of the
tricky parts of the course. The best
thing you can do is paddle sections of the course to get to know them
firsthand. If you can become familiar
with the ins and outs of a few of the trickier sections then you should be
fine. The rest of the course will kind
of take care of itself. Here are the
sections I suggest you inspect:
The Masonboro (Southern) Inlet
This is the inlet on the left side of the course
map. If the race runs clockwise like it
has the last 4 years (opposite the arrows on the course map), you’ll be heading
towards the jetty at the Masonboro Inlet as soon as you round the buoy just off
the beach. This is a relatively
straightforward and short ocean run that in the past hasn’t always lined up perfectly
as a downwinder (although last year it was awesome) but there will still be
some bumps to ride. As it’s only a
little more than a mile you might have time to include this in one of your
inspection paddles. It wouldn’t
hurt. The important thing to note is
that the jetty sticks out a lot farther than you think and you have to work at
keeping your board running left and resist the temptation to ride any
significant number of bumps to the right.
Once you’ve rounded the jetty and are
inside the inlet your line is going to depend on the tides. It looks like the tide will be incoming during
this year’s race. The tidal current in
this section is pretty strong. Figure
out where you want to be in the inlet, going in both directions. Remember the race can run either clockwise or
counterclockwise depending on the wind direction, so you could be going through
this section in either direction. Play
with your line and use your GPS to check your speeds and time through this
section on different lines. In general I think you’ll find it best to be
in the middle if we go clockwise and hugging the north jetty if we go
counterclockwise around the course.
The Mason (Northern) Inlet
This is the inlet on the right side of the
course map. Unlike the Masonboro Inlet
there is no jetty at Mason Inlet, so you will have to deal with surf where the
inlet dumps into the ocean. I highly
recommend spending a session playing in this inlet to get to know the best line
and to get some idea of how you want to approach the surf.
As the tide will be incoming you’ll
basically want to stay in the middle if we go counterclockwise and head to
Mason Inlet first (following the arrows on the course map). However there are lots of sandbars in this
area so it’s not quite that simple.
You’ll want to know how to pick your way through them while staying in
the deeper, faster moving water. If we
go south first, through the Masonboro Inlet and the Intracoastal Waterway
before reaching Mason Inlet, you’ll want to find a line close to shore to avoid
the incoming tidal current as much as possible.
But again, you’ll have to consider the sandbars. There is no way to pick a good line through
this section without scouting the area first.
If you end up following someone in the race then you can follow their
line, but in doing so you are leaving your race in the hands of someone
else. You’ll have to decide if that is
something you are comfortable with if you choose not to inspect this area
before race day.
As far as the surf aspect of Mason Inlet is
concerned, you need to decide whether you are going to deal with it straight on
or whether you want to hug the south shore, cut the corner, and minimize the
distance you have to travel. Over the
last 4 years I’ve tried both approaches, but always heading into the ocean as
opposed to into the inlet. I think the
safer bet is a straight approach, but with some time spent playing around in
this area you may figure out a shorter route that you feel comfortable
with. One thing to consider: if the race
runs counterclockwise and enters Mason Inlet first we will be doing it closer
to low tide, which is at 8:10 a.m., than if the race runs clockwise. There may not be a lot of water in the inlet
if we go north first and it may not be possible to cut the corner. The only way to tell for sure is to scout the
area under similar tide conditions.
Lee’s Cut (the chicane along the north side
of Harbor Island)
This is the little chicane in the middle of
the course map. As it is part of the
Intracoastal Waterway it is all flat water. I suggest you spend some time checking this
area out, as there are shallow patches and sandbars. You’ll want to pick a line that provides you
with a combination of deep water and the shortest possible distance
travelled. Then you’ll want to consider
the tidal currents. As it’s an incoming
tide they should be running opposite the arrows on the course map. So if we end up going counterclockwise
(following the arrows) you’ll want to be near the shore as much as you
can. If we go clockwise (against the
arrows) you should be able to just sail along through the middle.
Tip
2 – Use a GPS
In addition to your board, paddle and
hydration pack, a GPS is essential if you are serious about this race. You need to have it mounted on your board
where you can see it, in such a way that it won’t get ripped off in the
surf.
In 2012 we raced clockwise with an incoming
tide and a fairly strong north wind, which meant the trip through the
Intracoastal was tide with us into a strong headwind. At the time I was one of the few racers using
a GPS. I entered the jetty trailing a
pack made up of Jimmy Terrell and about 10 other racers who in turn were
trailing Danny Ching, Chase Kosterlitz, Matt Becker, and Nick Leason. When we rounded the corner by the Coast Guard
station and headed north on the Intracoastal toward the Blockade Runner,
everyone in front of me hugged the shore to get out of the wind. I tried that, checked my speed, and then
moved into the middle of the channel and checked my speed. By a significant margin the middle was where
you wanted to be that day. The tide was
booming and I caught up to the front of the draft pack ahead of me really quickly. Jimmy and I were then able to blow apart the
draft train and chased down the leaders who continued to hug the shore. I constantly checked my GPS and was able to
keep us in the fastest water in the channel.
Before we turned into Mason Inlet we caught Matt and Nick and could see
Danny and Chase a few hundred yards in front.
I’m pretty certain we covered the flats section of the course faster
then everyone else, and that is entirely attributable to the fact I could see
my GPS and take advantage of the feedback it provided.
Tip
3 – Hydrate regularly
I learned this lesson doing the Molokai
solo outrigger race one year. I didn’t
start hydrating soon enough and was dehydrated before I knew it. From that lesson I’ve made it a habit to
drink every 10 minutes, whether I feel like I need it or not, in every race of
90 minutes duration or longer. Even in
shorter races if it is really hot and humid I’ll take water. I don’t drink a lot – it’s really just a sip
every 10 minutes – but it is enough to keep me hydrated, particularly if I am
fully hydrated before the race starts.
Test your hydration system before the
race. I could probably do this race
without water if I absolutely had to as I’ve always come in under 2 ½
hours. But if you’re on the course longer
you probably won’t be able to so you don’t want your system to malfunction. I just use water for a race of this duration,
but if you are going to use a mix make sure you test that out beforehand as
well. You don’t want any surprises on
race day and don’t want to leave anything to chance.
The good thing is it generally isn’t really
hot at the Carolina Cup, so you won’t be losing fluid like you will if you do
Key West the following weekend.
As far as in-race nutrition goes, I don’t
use any gels for a race like this but I do put something solid in the pocket of
my board shorts before the race to eat if I need it. A couple of years ago it was an energy
bar. Last year it was little energy
candies. I never used them, but they
were there just in case.
Tip
4 – Draft
I think by now the notion that drafting is
somehow dishonorable has been proven wrong.
It is a perfectly fair and effective tactic to use in racing.
In this race you can’t expect to draft on
the ocean, as it’s really unlikely to be that flat. However more than half the course is on flat
water, so drafting plays a prominent part as can be seen in the photo below
from last year’s race.
Regardless of which direction we race there
are ocean legs of significant length before the flat-water sections. This makes it difficult to make plans about
drafting before the race. There is a
very good chance the person you’ve planned to draft with will be either ahead
of you or behind you by the time you hit the flats. You need to be prepared to hook up with
whomever you can as soon as the opportunity arises once you hit the flats. Initially the draft train will probably be
pretty long. You need to be aggressive
and alert, especially if you are farther back in the train, to ensure you don’t
lose the draft. Over the length of the
flats section paddlers are going to drop off and you’ll probably find yourself
with a smaller group of paddlers. I
strongly suggest talking to them during the race and agreeing on some type of
way to share the leads. You’ll cover the
flats section faster this way if you do.
There is enough ocean paddling left after the flats to prevent someone
from drafting you and passing you at the finish. Everyone in the group is going to have a
significant amount of work to do on their own once you hit the ocean. If you’re mature about it as a group,
everyone can get a little breather in the flats and have more left in the
ocean. You’ll also go a few minutes
faster over the length of the course just by sharing leads.
There is obviously a lot more to completing
this race than the four tips I’ve offered here. It’s a long, hard race and it tests the
fitness and toughness of all paddlers, even the top ones. These tips won’t do much for you if you
haven’t trained properly. However if
you’ve done your homework and are well prepared physically and mentally then
these three tips should help you perform to the maximum of your ability. See you in a couple of weeks. It’s going to be fun!!
