Surf Landing

[Deamon]

Originally Posted by chuckt

Is the rudder very effective in the surf? i.e. keeping you from getting side way? Can you still using leaning technique?

Hey Chuck, I haven't done this long enough to talk about differing techniques but I can speak on my experiences. When I first got the Hobie, I tried landing with the mirage drive in and banged up the fins and a rod on the bottom. So I shifted over to landing w/o the mirage drive using no rudder. With any kind of surf, I had a roll rate of about 20%. If the surf was at 2', my roll rate went to 80%.

I was recently given specifics on this technique and it's made a huge difference (thank you Roby!). The rudder has been the deal breaker. Imagine surfing a board without a fin(s). That's what I've been trying to do the past year and a half...

I keep the rudder's release in hand so it'll pop up if it hits the bottom. I'm trying to get out of the yak before it slides up the beach to prevent the mirage from hitting as well. Hope this helps. Jim