If you are heading straight down a breaking wave, you'll have to avoid pitch-poling (your nose digging down into the trough and your tail pointing to the sky, somersaulting your boat forward). Rather than going for a full broach, try feathering your stern rudder into a stern low brace. This will slow your boat's descent down the face of the wave and give you a chance to settle closer to the trough without first having been pitchpoled. ----------- I've never been on a wave large enough to pitch pole (and desparately hope I never am) but doesn't shifting or leaning your weight towards the stern alliviate the problem a little? Doesn't a steep wave have to be somewhere near the length of the boat (or at least more than half it's length) to be pitch pole threat? *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Jan 13 1999 - 06:56:58 PST
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