Know Before You Go; Pt. 6 - Effects of Wind

More than any other weather phenomena, wind likely has the biggest effect on stand up paddling. Once you understand the Beaufort scale, it's helpful to understand the effects that wind has on paddling speed, both up- and downwind. 

Thanks to Coast and Kayak magazine out of Nanaimo, BC for the following charts and information... and please note that because of stand up paddlers increased exposure while paddling upwind, speeds made while paddling are likely slower than that of kayakers.

"Wind has a profound effect on kayaks (and paddleboards). Obviously, a tailwind is going to help push a kayak on its way, while a headwind is going to slow it down. Chart A to the offers rough estimates of the effects that wind will have on the forward progress of a sea kayak.

Just as we’ve always suspected, a headwind slows us down more that a tailwind pushes us forward. Some things just aren’t fair! But bear in mind that a tailwind will generally also generate waves that will allow an experienced paddler to pick up surf rides, speeding him or her faster on their way than the push from the wind alone could generate.

Different paddlers counsel different strategies for dealing with a headwind. One old chestnut is to slow down and “conserve energy” for what will be a long arduous slog. Let’s do a little math and see what numbers we get.

If you look at Chart B, you can see slowing down a mere ½ knot to “conserve energy” will slow us down quite a bit. With 15 knots of headwind, if we slow down from three knots to 2.5 knots, our actual speed across the water (or “speed made good”) will be approximately one nautical mile per hour. That means that to cover six miles, it will take six hours. Conversely, if we paddle at 3.5 knots, speeding up a half knot from three, we’ll achieve a speed made good closer to two knots. This will put us in camp in three hours, or exactly half the time it took paddling at 2.5 knots.

So the question posed is: who has conserved more energy? One paddler will poke along for six hours. The other will paddle aggressively for three, put up a tent, have a meal, and maybe even take a little nap before the first paddler even arrives.

You decide – plug in different numbers to the table and see what kind of times will be generated by putting in different distances, winds and cruising speeds. You’ll find that when the wind blows in your face, it is almost always better to respond by paddling aggressively, rather than slowing down. The same is true for currents, or any other conditions that may slow your progress.

Clearly, you don’t want to exhaust yourself, but an increase, or decrease in speed of a mere half knot will make a very big difference to the overall time you spend on the water. So sometimes you’ll want to work harder in order to save energy in the long term. Other times, a little math may quickly convince you that avoiding strong headwinds altogether (in favour of staying ashore or modifying your planned route) is by far your best option."