Despite the temporary lack of club storage facilities at our home beach Midds (which will last well into the season), the club is keen to offer board paddling training, competition and skill development opportunities to members committed to their lifesaving journey and responsibilities. Board paddling is a fundamental surf lifesaving skill, brilliant for your fitness, great fun to boot. Many new Surf Rescue Certificate and Bronze Medallion holders turn to board paddling as a natural progression from the skills they acquire during their award training.
The Art of Board Paddling!
Board paddling is a mixture of paddling on your knees and laying down. The racing mals (sometimes known as ‘clubbie boards’) are made with a combination of carbon fibre and epoxy making them light and durable (also expensive!). Racing mals are 10’6 ft long and come complete with knee grip and handles. Racing mals are a little more difficult to stay on than a Surf Rescue Board, as they are lighter, narrower and are a different mould (to exert speed for racing).
How to make the jump from Nippers Mini-mals & Surf Rescue Boards
Where to start … with your Bronze Medallion or Surf Rescue Certificate of course! Once you’ve completed or signed up to one of these two lifesaving awards as a Youth or Senior member, your board paddling career can commence in earnest!
Training
Last season we were able to offer training for two levels of Youth & Senior board paddlers and aim to do so again this season – all SRC or Bronze award will be able to find a home in either the Aspiring-Intermediate and Intermediate-Advanced training groups. We saw great skill progression among the newer members to the Aspiring group and look forward to seeing this continue into the new season. The Intermediate-Advanced group also offers a supportive, team environment based on skill and fitness development, aimed at proficient paddlers keen on harder training, wave catching and competition. Training schedules typically follow the availability and capacity of our volunteer coaches, focussed on morning training sessions twice a week. We are aiming for regular training days this week from October. You may see a rotation of coaches this season to share the load between senior members. Club Sundays will generally feature board paddling every week in recognition of its fundamental importance to surf lifesaving and surf sports competition. You can’t save someone from drowning on a Surf Rescue Board without being able to paddle it first! And you can’t compete in a Board Race, Board Rescue Race, Board Race Relays and Ironman events without board paddling!
Access to Boards
Albany SLSC is extremely fortunate to be in the possession of a large fleet of racing mals made available for eligible members to train and compete on. Maintaining this fleet has been a labour of love for generations of Albany Board Captains, and our current chief Greg Pepall is no exception. Greg has been quietly building his board repair skills over the last few seasons and done a huge job in maintaining and restoring the fleet – saving the club from the expense of outsourcing costly repair work. Ideally we need to aim for … ZERO damage and ZERO repairs. However it seems inevitable that in the pursuit of mastering the ocean we will be susceptible to occasional damage. A lot of accidental damage is however still occurring OFF the beach in highly preventable member actions – proper board handling, storage and management techniques will do away with 90% of these incidents, so we rely on your help 🙂
Back to the fleet … we have a range of board sizes to suit all paddler needs and employ a transition system from beginner boards through to the newer competition boards. So don’t get too tied to your assigned club board (particularly this season), as you may need to progress off it at some point down the track! We all know that a good paddler, can make ANY board work well for them in the surf. Better to focus on your best technique and your building fitness!
Your own board?
If you are serious about board paddling – and you’ll know after a season or two – then we recommend buying your own new or secondhand board. If gives you the flexibility to train anytime you want, and you’re guaranteed to compete on what you train on. Our senior members can also help point you in the right direction for ‘clubby’ secondhand sales sites for a good quality bargain board to help get you in the game. Re-sale opportunities are good at a local and Perth/state level, so don’t hesitate to make the jump. The club redevelopment will also feature enhanced storage options which may feature both private and club board racks!
Loaning Club Boards
If you are eligible to train and compete on a club board via your lifesaving award, are keen and committed to training, and have capacity to transport and store a board, our Board Captain and Surf Sports Team Leader will be happy to run you through the following:
Board Sign Out Procedure – complete a simple form acknowledging the privilege and the responsibility of loaning club equipment according to agreed standards of care and respect.
Board Transport & Storage Procedure – conduct a practical session covering the correct technique for securing and transporting boards on your roof racks, and standards for home storage.
Want to know more …
There are loads of sources of information about the art and technique of board paddling, and all you need to know about equipment. One such site is here: All You Need to Know About Racing Mal Paddleboards – Surf Sports Forum
It’s a little dated sure, but the technique instruction videos are EXCELLENT and we strongly encourage all prospective paddlers to view them and put them into practice this season.
Enquiries to Greg at boardcaptain@albanysurfclub.com.au or Nick at surfsports@albanysurfclub.com.au
