For speed/efficiency, how far fore/aft do you stand?

[TheCityGame]

Howdy folks. . .

First time post here. My wife and I have done a little SUPPING together, and we finally got our own boards and are getting more into it.

I've looked at a lot of technical videos on the stroke, but I haven't seen anyone talk about the best fore/aft position to stand.

I've done a little surfing and I know that getting your weight forward can speed up the board, and moving back will put the brakes on (to an extent, anyway. Dipping the nose is obviously not going to speed you up. Also, I'm not a surf expert, so whatever). You can really feel the difference in position when you're paddling a surfboard, too.

But, I don't know the sweet spot for efficiency when paddling flatwater and it's hard to tell by feel if I'm going X.8 miles per hour vs. X.9 mph with the same stroke. Does being centered, like where the handle is, make the most sense?

Just wondering if you have any thoughts/links/videos about this topic.

We both bought 10 foot Creed SUP Kai boards that are marketed as flatwater/surf hybrid. Seems to me like when I'm centered over the handle, the nose is a little high and the tail is a little sunk which might be better for catching a wave, but not flatwater paddling. It's probably different for racing boards since they are always cutting through with the nose anyway.

Thanks for any insight on this. Apologies for any mis-use of terminology.

[raf]

For flatwater, you want to maximize your waterline.  Maximum speed on a SUP is a function of the relationship between length and width.  You can't change the width, but you should trim your board so as much of its length is touching the water at once. 

Obviously burying the nose will slow you down, so you do need to adjust for chop or waves and keep the nose out of the water.  A good rule for displacement hulls is to have the knuckle of the bow in the water. 

Another good rule is to keep the tail of the board just barely touching the water.  You want a clean release of water off the sharp edge of the tail.  If you bury the tail too deep you will create drag, and if you keep the tail end out of the water, it will also suck water, or drag. 

[TallDude]

As raf said, usually a tail under water causes extra drag. Have your wife look at your board from the side as you paddle it (and vise/versa). Move forward till the bottom of the tail is just about level with the surface or slightly above. That's a good flat water paddle position.  The boards will track better if the nose is down more (but not under), specially on boards with planing hulls like yours. If your wife is lighter, the tail might be well out of the water, but that's ok. It's better to stand forward in flat water. Try to keep your paddle shafts more vertical as well. This will reduce the zig zagging you get when trying to paddle in a straight line on your surf style boards. Have fun out there. I always do...

[TheCityGame]

Thanks.

I definitely work on keeping the paddle more vertical (saw that in a couple videos).

Good info on waterline and tail placement.

thx.

[crtraveler]

Keep the bottom of the nose just above the waterline and the tail as high as you can in the water...that point will probably yield your best efficiency...  many boards I've tried will have you ahead of the handle to acheive this... obviously once you get familiar with your boards you will discover where the true sweet spot is...enjoy!

[hbsteve]

The above is good advice.  When you find yourselves paddling into some choppy water, move foreword more.  It will cut down on the amount of bouncing.  And if you have the wind and chop behind you, and the nose is going under, step back slightly.  Even a few inches can make a difference.
Since this is your 1 st post, Welcome to the zone.

[supsurf-tw]

All boards have a sweet spot determined by many factors just like surfboards. There is no exact answer on where the nose or tail should be in the water.

You have to move around and feel it. It's sometimes as little as 1\2 inch between great planning and just good paddling speed. When you feel everything clicking just right look down at your feet in relation to your handle and use that as your "go to" spot. In chop it will be different than glass. Headwind different than downwind......

Every board is different but generally the nose will be about an inch out of the water when you're in the most powerful part of your stroke in my experience.

[upwinder]

Another good rule is to keep the tail of the board just barely touching the water.  You want a clean release of water off the sharp edge of the tail.   

This is most important...look after tail release before you worry about what the nose is doing. It's critical on some of the newer. more rounded nose shapes (NSP/DC, Fanatic) where the temptation is to step too far forward and bog the nose in (esp. if you're coming off the more cutting/piercing nose designs)