STEERING
By Tony Serafin 4/22/02
A steersman wears many hats. They act as navigator, coach, cheerleader, psychologist, tactician and paddler. There is so much that goes into seat 6 that I can only point out some of the basics. The best teacher is experience, so don't be afraid to get back there and make some mistakes.
No steersman makes a boat go faster by steering. Steering a boat is providing drag on one side of the boat and slowing that side down. Thus the boat turns towards the slower or "drag" side of the boat. A good steersman provides as little drag as possible while allowing the boat to "run" best in the given conditions while staying on course and keeping the crew on task. This is easy in theory, difficult to execute, and even harder to master.
There are two basic moves to steer or control a 45 foot, 1500 lbs. (with 6 men) boat. These are the poke and the draw or J-stroke.
The poke is the most common technique. It is a stronger move that requires less energy and strength. When poking make sure you are putting the paddle in the water at around your knee. This provides a better bite and control. For subtle adjustments use only 1/2 or 1/4 of your blade to poke. Hold your paddle with your bottom hand at gunnel level and your top hand at mid-shaft. This grip provides the most control of the paddle, especially in rough conditions. Keep the paddle in the water until the boat responds (more on this later).
The draw stroke is good for minor adjustments or if you really need to jump on the ama while correcting. This technique can take a lot of strength and energy and will wear you out if over used in a distance race or workout. Hold the paddle with a "paddlers grip" and put the paddle in the water somewhere between parallel-to-diagonally to the boat and pull or "draw" the boat to the paddle. Once you have gotten a bite on the water you can hold it out there, lean on your paddle and steer from a couple feet away from the boat. This is a left or ama side maneuver only.
The J-stroke is similar to the draw in that you begin away from the boat, but the J-stroke requires you to pull in towards the boat and back instead of holding it away from the boat. This is done while keeping time with the rest of the crew. This can be done, with caution, on the right side.
Once the basics are in place they need to be put together. A steersman will change sides three to four times more than other paddlers thus must have quick changes.
To blend the different steering techniques one must develop a feeling for the boat and conditions. Knowing how the boat will run in different conditions, feeling movements before they happen, anticipating corrections before they happen and letting the boat flow without fighting it, are feelings one will develop. Boat corrections can be about 10 degrees off mark without being off course. A steersman must allow the boat to run and find its way through the water. Your job is to help it along without fighting it. Experience is the best teacher.
This is one of your most valuable skills. It takes time to develop anticipation as to how the boat will react in given conditions. Knowing when and how much "drag" to provide is key. Good anticipation allows you to steer with a light touch and not a heavy hand. A crew will hardly notice corrections made with a light touch. Heavy handed corrections will mentally and physically wear on a crew in the long run.
As course and\or conditions change so to will the handling of the boat. Anticipate this and adjust accordingly. Even the slightest course or condition change will alter the boat handling. Winds, currents and swells will push a boat down wind, expect this and adjust.
Tune into what is happening with condition, boat and crew. Look ahead and see what's happening and expect change. I can't say much more, experience is the best teacher.
Landmarks and back markers are fixed points that you use to help stay on course. Usually they are land based such as buildings, mountains or jetties. Occasionally, and for short periods of time only, you can use other objects such as boats, clouds, the direction of the sun and swell direction.
Back markers are landmarks behind you. Without a forward reference point, you can use back markers to help you stay on course. They are also valuable in round trip courses to help with the return trip. Occasionally look behind you to stay on course.
There will be times that the straightest line to the finish is not the fastest. Wind, swell and currents affect how a boat runs. It is up to you to determine which course is the fastest to you end point. Sometimes you'll have to be subtle and play with the direction you are taking to help determine which is best at that time. A small course change can make the boat easier to steer, thus you are poking less.
As an analysis and decision maker it is a steersman's job to run the crew. Remain calm in all situations. A crew will have confidence in a steersman who is in control. Keep the crew informed about what's going on. Make the paddler's job easy. Keep comments positive. Be constructive, tactful, and never negative. Give paddlers encouragement or corrections by name.
Know your course, landmarks and the race start sequence. Think about where to line up. Be aware of the conditions. Be alert on the water. Be early to the starting line. There are many things for a steersman to think about.
There are many aspects to seat 6. I have only outlined a few of them here. There are other aspects that can be discussed and others that you will just have to experience. Spending time on the water is the best teacher, whether in an OC-6 an OC-1 or a surfski.
By Jerry Franklin1 (4/28/08)
Tony Serafin wrote a 3 page guide to 6-man outrigger steering called "The View from Seat 6". Anyone interested in improving their steering should read his paper. The following is written to help clarify and emphasize points made by Tony. My focus is on common errors -- I've made them all many times -- and some clarification where I thought it might be helpful. To make things a bit easier to follow, I have used Tony's outline to organize things and so you can use these two documents together.
Steering - especially in race conditions - involves a great deal of planning, concentration, and thinking. A good steersman is one who relieves the other five paddlers of all activities/concerns other than their total effort on quality paddling. The crew that has confidence in the steersman can "just paddle" to their ultimate abilities. The steersman, on the other hand, needs to be very much aware of constantly changing conditions (tides, wind, swells, chop, water depth, etc.), how the crew is running, landmarks, other boats, turn markers, etc.
Tony does a great job of describing the three basic strokes: poke, draw, and J-stroke. These strokes are easy to understand but not so easy to do at the right times and in the right ways. My experience and observations indicate the most important things to learn/remember include:
One of the most important things for you to know is how the boat will react in various conditions (wind, swells, tides, etc.) if you do absolutely nothing. The only way to learn this is to do nothing and see what happens. Once you learn how the boat naturally reacts to these conditions you will be better equipped to anticipate the boat's movement and react accordingly.
It is especially interesting to see how the boat reacts in choppy conditions. The tendency is to think that these conditions will interfere with your course when, in fact, the boat often will move around some but basically stay on course.3 Observe what happens and learn what to expect. It may give you confidence to paddle with your crew rather than poke and slow the boat down.
Conditions such as the wind, tide, swells, and water depth all influence movement of the boat. For example, the boat will normally head into the wind. So if you are going north and the wind is from the Northwest - normal afternoon conditions for us - the boat will tend to turn left toward the wind. Knowing this will help you anticipate what you will need to do to keep the boat on course. In these conditions, keeping the boat on course will require poking on the right or drawing on the left (simplified version). And, if the boat drifts slightly to the right, you should anticipate that it might self correct and not require you to do any course correction. Note that the stronger the wind, the more the boat will be pulled toward it.4
The boat moves with the tide. So, if the tide is going out the channel and you also are going out, you can take advantage by putting your boat "in the flow" - toward the middle of the channel. If you are going out and the tide is coming in, you want to avoid the strongest flow by putting the boat to the side. Tide charts will tell you which direction the water is flowing. You also can get this information from objects floating in the water and from "reading the buoys" - seaweed/kelp will float down current from the buoy.
The strength of the wind makes a big difference in how the boat reacts. You will learn to judge this by reading the water. More chop is associated with stronger winds. (Hint: In the bay there are a lot of places where the wind blows through strongly - indicated by lots of water chop - and others that are shadowed by land and/or buildings - indicated by little or no water chop. Look ahead to anticipate these conditions and the boat's reactions.)
You must find a fixed point (or as close to a fixed point as possible) to aim toward if you plan on steering a straight course.5 Learn the course and find a point as far ahead as possible then use it. "Back markers" described by Tony are good in some instances but they are much more difficult to use.
Here are some hints on running with the swells especially in the channel.
The race start calls for full attention of the entire crew and should be talked about prior to getting to the line. It is important to plan ahead for where you want to line up and the line/course that you want to take for the first leg of the race. Always try to put yourself in a position where there is minimal chance to have contact with other boats. When it is crowded, I try to get on the line at an angle and wait until just before the race start to straighten out and give us plenty of room. I also try to line up around people who I think know the course and will have control of their canoes. There are other steersmen who I will always try to avoid on the start.
Turns often provide a challenge during the races. The rule states that any inside boat that has "overlap" (i.e., has any part of the canoe ahead of any part of a leading canoe) has the right of way.6 The reality is that unless you know and have confidence in the other canoe's steersman and can communicate with him/her, it is not worth taking the risk of hitting and getting tied up with another boat even if you have the right of way. You may win a protest if the other boat doesn't give way, but the boats that pass you from behind while you are trying to get untangled will still finish ahead of your boat, and the boats ahead of you will get further ahead.
You can't control everything that will happen in a race turn, but you can plan what you are going to do in advance (and, I mean, way in advance). By checking the boats around you and determining where they are likely to be when you hit the turn, you can plan where you want to be and begin setting up your position long before the turn. Turns are of different angles and take place in a variety of conditions so there is no one perfect way to execute all turns. Where the turn is fairly severe (i.e., a course change of close to 180 degrees), a wide approach with a tight exit works well. But each turn calls for a somewhat different approach and exit, and other boats entering the turn at approximately the same time will determine your best angle of entry and exit.7
I don't claim any particular expertise in this area but these are some points I try to remember during training/practice sessions.
Running a crew during races is different than during practice. More time can be spent during practices on observing and critiquing. Less time or energy is available for these activities during races. Races are the time for encouragement and race strategy.
Getting in shape and staying in shape offers a special challenge for steersmen. Partly this is due to the fact that you often will not get the same kind of hard physical workout during practice that you would if you just paddled. You will miss some strokes and may spend a fair amount of time observing and coaching. This means you have to do additional conditioning, preferably on the water, at other times.8
You also need to strengthen some additional muscles beyond what might be required if you did not steer. Shoulders and lower backs can take a beating when steering, thus they need more than normal work. Take the time to work these and related muscles beyond what you would do if you were not steering.
Paddle with your crew. Your paddling technique and timing are just as important as that for any other member of the crew. If your timing is not on, you are hurting your crew.
Don't expect to get a lot in return for your efforts when steering, especially when you are first learning. Others who have steered will understand what you are doing, but most will not and some will exhibit extreme intolerance.9 You will make mistakes which will be duly noted and often commented upon. Just do your best and try to keep learning. When things go well, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you contributed to the successes.
_________________________
Hanohano!
