Oscar Chalupsky - Miller's Run on the Nelo 520
So... the big O is in town. I haven't seen him yet, on the day we were supposed to paddle, he was delayed, playing golf! But I left his Nelo 520 at the club and he did a Miller's Run by himself...
What's interesting about this?
- Oscar did the run in 43:25.
- He wouldn't tell me what he weighs at the moment. "Too heavy after Christmas" was all he'd say.
- My all-time best run (done a couple of weeks ago) is 44:26 - on a big day with much stronger wind.
- My times when I paddled the 520 were all over 50min
I found the 520 quite tricky to paddle downwind. Not because it's tippy, it's one of the most stable boats around - but it's short - over a metre shorter than my Think Evo II and it has much less volume in the nose. And that means that it nose-dives at the drop of a hat. It comes with a spray deflector as standard (as do all the Nelo skis) and it needs it - if you're me.
I've done 77 Miller's Runs this year so far - somewhere between 500 and 1,000 over the last 15 years - so I'm not exactly a total novice when it comes to going downwind. (Old, yes, and my technique is still improving, but I'm at least competent.)
But I found that I had to concentrate all the time and lean right back whenever I started down a run so as to keep the nose up. The boat is extraordinarily maneuverable - thanks I suspect to its short hull and you can treat it something like an overgrown surfboard - but it really requires concentration.
But in this video you can see that Oscar, at probably 20-25kg more than me, hardly ever lets the nose go under - and his heart rate seems to hover much of the time at between 120 and 130 bpm which for me would be almost standing still. Absolutely amazing.