SURFSKI DOWNWIND - F1 Style

Clocked a 3:08 km split last week on Bellingham Bay in 40g58mph winds - Had to celebrate with a Formula 1 Style Edit. This is a new PR for me on Bellingham Bay and nearly tied with my fastest splits from Hawaii last spring, fingers crossed for sub 3 minutes this year. I'll post a video of the full run soon, the second half wasn't quite as fast but had some incredible waves.
Surfski - Nordic Kayaks Nitro 640
Song: Dragula - Rob Zombie
nordickayaks-usa.com/

[@dcsyd16]

Looks like a fast run, nice work! The Indian Ocean paddler crew in Perth Western Australia regularly hit 25-30km/hr on their heaviest wind days Daz Downwind hit 28km/hr on one of his videos for Cottesloe to Sorrento beach

[@wilsonreavley]

Jealous! It's pretty rare to get top speeds quite that high on the bay here unless the wind and tide line up perfectly!

[@outriggerunderground]

Makes me want a surfski. Doesn’t get very windy down here though

[@WaterproofBackpacker]

Excellent paddling excellent music

[@derickreynolds6072]

music the WORST!

[@ByronBowman-iz4dj]

Can't wait to see the footage of the whole paddle

[@wilsonreavley]

Got delayed on that front but just dropped a new vid!

[@lucidwayn]

Epic split. Massive push through over a few spots between 2:25 and 2:45. There was also that huge tree branch that you dodged at 2:20, looks like you missed it by about 20cms

[@wilsonreavley]

Thanks! Yep big storms like this tend to flush out all the local rivers and you have to be pretty alert for branches or even full tree trunks! The GoPro doesn't quite capture it but I can usually sight them from a few waves out and have a good line to avoid them even if it looks like they pop up out of nowhere on camera.

[@A2DANIELandLIAM]

This is awesome - I've done it in a sailing dinghy (470/laser) many times, had no idea it was possible in a kayak

[@terencelau143]

29er and 49er are even faster.

[@wilsonreavley]

Yeah i'd love to experience a downwind on a sailing boat at some point in my life!

[@terencelau143]

@@wilsonreavley Modern boat design is awesome ！Love to sail and paddling in strong winds and high seas.😍

[@A2DANIELandLIAM]

@@wilsonreavley you should!! Man with your balance and sense of waves it really won’t take long to figure out

[@ApeyGaming]

What an awesome run. Looks like a lot of fun! Could I ask what model & size is the Jantex paddle you are using?

[@wilsonreavley]

Thanks! This is a Jantex Gamma Rio Medium Minus (740cm^2)

[@tvepaddler]

Very cool! (And cold) That didn't look like a "relaxed surf the waves" run 🤣 It looks like more than half the time you're going straight with the waves putting in full power to just stay on what is probably relatively big swell (or are those all wind driven?). Gotta have the power...

[@wilsonreavley]

Thanks! For this section I was actively trying to power up and punch through any spots I could to get as much speed out of the runs as I could, but once I post some footage from the second half of the paddle there should be a bit more relaxed surfing!

[@tvepaddler]

@@wilsonreavley 😄 Nothing wrong with pushing hard! I'm just trying to make sure I'm interpreting what I see correctly... Mt fastest km so far is 3:45 so I'm trying to learn what it takes to beat that 😁 (and also just watch and go OOOOOOH! 😆)

[@alessioraggioli]

Stunning video and skills!! Can I ask you how did you record this? I mean the support, the camera is placed from the chest, neck or head?

[@wilsonreavley]

This is from a GoPro on a head mount, there's so much movement in paddling that keeping the camera on my head tends to be a bit smoother than if it were on my chest! Some folks also use a bite mount like what surfers use.

[@johnrflinn]

Do you think a 17.5 ft sea kayak could surf as well? (Coho Pygmy)

[@wilsonreavley]

Sea Kayaks can surf standing waves super well but have trouble getting enough speed for faster waves that a surfski can catch with ease!

[@johnrflinn]

@@wilsonreavley I have a sail rig on my sea kayak that may give me enough of a speed boost especially in places like the Columbia Gorge where the waves are a bit slower.

[@franciscoafmdias]

what camera do you use? it is the garmin virb?

[@wilsonreavley]

Just a GoPro Hero 8!

[@deepbluewaterful]

​@@wilsonreavleyso how to get the speed on the screen?

[@wilsonreavley]

@@deepbluewaterful some of the newer gopros have the ability to record speed data which you can add to the video using the gopro app

[@chathuravishwanath]

Mode “ Push “ I repeat Mode “Push”

[@wilsonreavley]

Copy

[@b_-nx6kn]

hey, how do you mount the camara?

[@wilsonreavley]

GoPro on a head strap!

[@grantbratrud4949]

Add an ama and a sail. Your kph is silly.

[@billlanphar4629]

that music really is not at all a match to the grace and beauty of surfskiing

[@wilsonreavley]

Maybe my new video will be more what you're looking for!

[@IamNothing82]

I like it

[@davidGrainger]

I think the music matches what was going on in the video perfectly.