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What a weekend - three Millers Runs in three days... two on the Red7 Surf70 Pro and one on the V10Sport Ultra... The Theory Friday's effort was the smallest - 10-15kts with small waves, but perfect for practicing "crest riding", the technique shown me before Christmas during a fascinating session with Oscar Chalupsky. He'd first coached me on the waves, mostly telling me to stop paddling early and start paddling early, then he'd demonstrated what he meant by effortlessly hopping onto a wave and riding it, with his paddle held over his head for what seemed like minutes. Inspiring stuff, and I spent the whole Christmas holiday without a ski and desperate to try it again. Friday So - on Friday I paddled with one of my training partners, Dale Lippstreu. Dale's fitness peaks about half way into the season, he then gets sick and has to travel for about a month and comes back to take part in epics like the Cape Point Challenge and bombs out half dead. He's currently on the way up again and last weekend hammered me in a 2km duel in Hout Bay. Not today however... 
We'd discussed Oscar's advice before the paddle and resolved to try our best to spend time on the crests of waves and not to expend energy uselessly accelerating down into the troughs... For me it seemed to work brilliantly and although the run was no record-breaking session (in fact I took 51:10), I came in comfortably ahead of Dale who said that he'd been paddling hard the whole way. I felt smug in the knowledge that I hadn't - in fact I felt remarkably fresh when we got to Fish Hoek. Saturday Conditions were slightly bigger - gusting to perhaps 20kts in places but still very small. This time I was paddling with my arch-nemesis Damian Feuilherade. Damo is strong - and one of those irritating paddlers who suddenly seems to acquire a massive reserve of energy towards the end of a 30km paddle, just when you think you've got the better of him. I've actually become resigned to seeing the back of ski (in the distance) in almost any conditions - except that I have on occasion beaten him downwind... After Friday's paddle, I figured I should be able to give him a run for his money. Not so. Whether it was the extra rocker on the Mako6, his brute strength or, God forbid, just plain skill, he walked away from me in the small runs from Millers Point. We'd agreed to stop at the lighthouse to take some photos and when we started again, for a brief period I overtook him and stayed ahead, focusing on working the runs. Accelerate, stop paddling, scan the "quadrant", choose the next hole, explosive strokes, accelerate, stop paddling, scan... All too soon though he came past again to my intense frustration. 
Mental Game After the paddle we agreed that part of the trick to paddling downwind is to ignore your competition completely. I found it extremely distracting to see Damo pulling away from me and I wasn't focused on my paddling. When I had the coaching session with Oscar in late December I remember just how much concentration I was putting into it. Damo said the same thing - he had to make a conscious effort not to watch me after the lighthouse - he'd lost his rhythm. When he stopped looking at me and put all his focus and energy into recapturing it, he overtook me again - and I then lost the plot! I ended up with an elapsed time of around 48:30 - at least a minute slower than Damian. Sunday - revenge is sweet! Oscar Chalupsky has had a long standing bet with me that I'll beat my personal best on a V10Sport... So I borrowed Alain Jaques' ski and set off this morning for a Millers Run with a star-studded group: Daryl Bartho and Hank McGregor had come down from Durban to do the Totalsports Challenge and had stayed on for some relaxed Sunday paddling. Daryl was on my Mako6; Hank on a double. Dawid Mocke rounded out the celebrity group. At the back of the fleet there was our bunch of hackers; Damian, Dale and Tom Thring who was paddling a ski of his own design... I hope to have an article about this craft - it looks like no other ski around but clearly goes well downwind - Tom managed a sub-50 close to his personal best. Conditions were a little more like the Millers Run of yore - but certainly didn't live up to the forecast. The wind was somewhere around 20kts perhaps gusting to 25-30; the swells were around 3ft and quite messy with a lot of sideways slop. Looked like it was going to be fun though. The V10Sport is ridiculously stable - and I powered out to Bakoven Rock not disturbed at all by the side-on swell. Hit the GPS button and we were off. This time I found myself keeping up with Damian - he was about 50m ahead until about half way to the lighthouse when I pulled level with him. Just after the lighthouse, I passed him and kept going. The paddle was much more intense than either of the previous two days and although I was trying to conserve energy by staying on the crests of the waves, I also found that I could put the runs together by charging down the face and over the next wave Coming into the point on the left side of Fish Hoek Bay, I could see Damo out of the corner of my eye and I put all my effort into catching the runs on the reflected waves. I missed a run at Sunny Cove reef but put my head down and sprinted the 500m or so to the beach. 48:28 - not my personal best, but then conditions weren't ideal. But I did beat Damo which gave me intense satisfaction! How did the boat handle? Astoundingly, considering it's supposed to be a beginner's ski. I did find the de-tuned rudder a little less effective than I'd prefer on some of the big waves. If I took off at an angle without sufficient speed, I couldn't turn down onto the wave and would mush down the face sideways. Once or twice too on big waves I dipped the nose in and the ski slewed off at an angle. But clearly it's no slouch - I may not have achieved a PB, but I don't beat Damo every day - and he admitted afterwards putting his all into trying to catch me. What a sport! What a weekend!
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It adds a lot of ammo to Oscar's statement that a non-elite paddler is likely to set a Millers PB in the V10-Sport.
Damo or Dale do you want a go on the V10S? It would be good see a showdown with Damo on V10S vs Rob on a M6.