Discover Ocean Racing Events

OCEAN RACING

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OCEAN RACING

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OCEAN RACING

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OCEAN RACING

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OCEAN RACING

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Ocean Racing

About Ocean Racing

Ocean Racing is an exhilarating sport encompassing long-distance Surfski, Sea Kayak, and Sea Touring races. It mixes endurance and navigational skills as well as other ocean-going expertise like surfing ocean swells. Races range from circumnavigations of off-shore islands to point-to-point downwind races, with typical distances from 10 to 30km.

For over 60 years the SCA race calendar has included races at sea, and, despite the craft in common use being expedition sea boats and ICF racing single/doubles, some paddlers took to riding the waves rather than fighting them. Fast forward 50 years and advances in materials, consequent opportunities in design and increased globalisation of trade saw the arrival in Britain of modern-day surfskis.

Surfskis are used worldwide for surf lifesaving, wave surfing, and for training and competition on flat-water or ocean (downwind) racing. They are most popular in warmer coastal regions where the sport originated such as Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Hawaii; however, the versatility of surfski as a kayaking discipline has made it a very popular choice for paddlers worldwide especially in the Nordic regions, Western Europe, the Pacific Northwest and the East Coast of the USA.

Across the UK, many enjoy paddling surfskis as an outdoor water sport for what it offers in terms of fitness, competition and adventure. In Scotland surfskiers will paddle and train regularly, at high intensity, often undertaking races, and as often as possible to ride waves.

Ocean racers in Scotland range from experienced athletes training for peak performance to people who paddle for fitness and the camaraderie of the post paddle beer on the beach. The craft they use are equally diverse, ranging from plastic sea and touring kayaks with enclosed cockpits, capable of carrying gear for a week, through to the long skinny racing surfskis designed for ultimate speed on the water. But the one thing every ocean paddler shares is the thrill of getting out on the sea and riding the waves.

With an abundance of beautiful coastline, and waters ranging from glassy calm sheltered coves to thrilling exposed downwind conditions, and a community of welcoming paddlers, Scotland is the perfect place for ocean racing and paddling (.. bar it being a little chilly, but that’s nothing some good kit choices won’t fix).

Interested in trying out ocean racing?

The Ocean Racing Development Group is working towards raising the profile of surfski and all that this discipline encompasses. We are committed to working towards promoting "Adventure, Fitness, Competition" within what is a relatively new discipline in Scotland.

Surfski has so much to offer for every level of paddler. This ranges from exploring the ocean in the company of porpoises, basking sharks (on occasion) and pods of dolphins, to working hard towards increasing levels of fitness by short interval sessions, longer tempo paddles and of course, working on technique. Thoughts may move towards competition, with growing levels of fitness, confidence, and excitement from managing to catch even the smallest of waves. That said, maybe for most of the population, the word ocean "challenge" as opposed to racing may be more fitting!

The Development Group regularly coordinate demo days. If you're interested in getting involved or to find out more, contact the group:

oceanracing@paddlescotland.org.uk

Discipline Development Group Terms of Reference

Discipline Development Group Strategy - updated July 2024

Discipline Development Group News:

In our February 2024 meeting, the ORC group finalised our strategic plan for the next 4 years (guess what? The plan is mostly more paddling..! But seriously, we are putting a lot of careful thought and planning into how we can go about making more ocean racing happen in Scotland and how we can get more Scottish paddlers out paddling surfskis on our beautiful coastline). We've also decided to postpone our AGM to November, to fit in with the new SCA committee structure and system. For more details, the minutes are here.

Resources

We have compiled the following list of internet-based resources to signpost various aspects of this paddling discipline and very much hope that this can help you on your seafaring journey.