Wind: Friend or Foe?
This year at Paddle Logger we have been working on some new features to give paddlers more information about the conditions at their paddle location. Utilising Lock Screen widgets, paddlers will now be able to - at a glance - review current and forecasted wind speeds and direction at their location. More information is great, it allows you to make a better decision about what direction you will paddle in, how far, how prepared you will need to be, perhaps even whether to paddle at all. To customise your Lock Screen you will need iOS16 and Paddle Logger v2022.12 or later.
More importantly than the information itself is learning and understanding how to use it, we asked David Tidball - a waterman, trainer, lifeguard and Water Safety Advisor to a number of national and international institutions - to provide some context and knowledge about wind.
In 2019 we created the first version of the SUP Safety Radar. Of which the latest iteration is presented here in co-operation with Paddle Logger.
The safety advice contained within the Radar is designed to help you enjoy Coastal environments safely. I live on the coast and it was becoming more and more obvious that the wind was both my friend and a foe.
I love downwinding and enjoy travelling using the wind both recreationally and racing here in the UK. It does however come with it’s dangers, both here and in South Africa lives have been lost downwinding on surf skis - making it a potentially “dangerous’ sport. If you have the right knowledge, equipment and skills then it does not pose as much of a risk or likelihood of injury and it then becomes a fun thing to do. For example, amongst my kit when we do a downwinder Paddle Logger’s PaddleLIVE® features allow your relatives to know you’re safe, overdue and to make calls should you require assistance or rescue.
We know that SUP is now for about 3.3m users in the UK. We know approximately 1.25 million households own a SUP and that the number of frequency of use is up on 2020. The data always lags behind the season and sometimes this can be almost 2 summer seasons. The US Coastguard recorded 18 SUP deaths in 2021. We also know last year in the UK we recorded 5-8 deaths, depending upon how you class the year.
According to the existing data sources from WAID/RNLI SUP’ers are, despite the headline numbers, in the ‘less likely to drown’ group than those swimming or even coastal walking.
However - deaths are not the only measure of a safe sport.
I am coming to believe we cannot reduce drowning any further, due to the popularity that a few good summers and Covid, which has brought many more people to use the water more frequently for their fun, well being and recreation. I’m a lifeguard and all lifeguards will tell you that the performing of a rescue or an assist is seen as a pre-emptive failure. Yes, we are trained to respond but most avoidance is in the pre-planning. Here in the UK the most recent figures form the RNLI tell us that the SUP rescues on our coasts are in excess of a 400% increase 2017-2021.
In 2021 there was a 36% rise in lives saved and 34% rise in number of people aided.
We don’t know if that corresponds to the actual participation increase, but either way we are now one of the biggest groups being rescued off the water by the RNLI. What is alarming is that 40% of those rescues are due to offshore winds and furthermore being blown off-shore is the biggest single reason for a SUP rescue by the RNLI.
Why does that matter?
We can attribute all the trauma and rescue risk that goes with that rescue irrespective of death there is a need to act to prevent death. In many cases but for that rescue intervention, SUP’ers are at the mercy of the cold and tiredness, which unabated might have eventually caused death. A clear example is the well documented offshore wind rescue is that of Alfie here in the UK.
ICEBERGS AT SEA:
My great friend A. Mayhew who happens to be Chief Safety Officer at SLSGB, sees misadventure at sea as an metaphoric iceberg, which is tipped at the pinnacle by the deaths statistic, i.e. the bit poking out of the water, but the greatest mass of the iceberg floats unseen below the surface, upon which that pinnacle floats and is seen. Remember, it was the bit below the surface that sunk the Titanic.
It’s that mass of iceberg below the surface that I believe the SUP community can help reduce. If you take heed to the wind, it’s force and direction and understanding the inherent weaknesses with SUP’s in windy environments, accept that and then educate others we together could reduce that 40% figure significantly, making sup safer and more fun!
I have done some experimentation in offshore winds here’s a summary of what I’ve indexed:
If you are the average Paddle Logger paddler we now you travel at around 4kmh (2.5mph) for about an hour.
If you are carried away by a 10-14kmh (6-10mph) wind you can travel around 4-5km in an hour if you don’t paddle.
If you drop to you knees you will travel at about 2.5-3kmh in the same wind.
Therefore: if you paddle at 4kmh/2.5mph , you have to be aware that once the wind reaches 15kmh/10 mph plus then you are likely to be paddling to remain stationary or making such slow progress you will rapidly deteriorate.
So how does that affect us Paddle Logger users?
Well you provide an opportunity to be responsible paddlers. Share the information in the SUP Safety RADAR with your community and make them aware of this problem with offshore winds. Get them signed up to Paddle Logger. Paddle Logger users provide a ready made eyes on the ocean, with a call in service for yourself and others should you come across a weaker paddler, who is being blown by the wind. You might be able to stay with them, reassure them, help them, by keeping them warm and cheerful whilst the help you call is on its way!
Paddling is a community of both well informed and ill-informed individuals who don’t necessarily follow any set training or qualification system. These systems endeavour to keep the individual safe whilst learning their limits with the Dunning-Kruger curve of growth. I often set out to sea with 3 communications devices, tow ropes etc etc and my mates mock me for it. I have to explain clearly that I don’t carry it for me, it’s for all those other lost souls I come across at sea who might need my help!
If you have a fully charged mobile phone in a tested waterproof pouch well secured to your person - it is a safety asset. Paddle Logger is a tool on your phone, it won’t stop you or others paddling into conditions you can’t handle only knowledge and practice can effect that decision. If you do find yourself beyond your ability Paddle Logger will allow you a method to get help for yourself and other SUP’ers.
Stay safe on the water, enjoy our aquatic playground and remember to take appropriate safety equipment for the type of paddling you are doing!
*Not written as the authors voluntary role as Chair of British Canoeing’s Technical Committee.
Further Data and Information
1.Watersport Participation Survey
2. RNLI - 2021.
3. RNLI- Open data site:
https://data-rnli.opendata.arcgis.com/
4.WAID: Interactive report UK Coast and Inland water:
https://www.nationalwatersafety.org.uk/waid/interactive-report
5. US Coastguard- boating
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
David Tidball is a Devon based waterman with a great wealth of knowledge and experience. A former lawyer, in 1987 David drowned at sea. In 1991 started the worlds first green clothing company with friends, opened a shop and opted out of normal society. A Surfer, Skater, Windsurfer, Lifeguard, Kitesurfer, and SUPer - in that order. He has gone on to be a Lifeguard TA, sit on the Safety Advisory Panel and voluntarily Chair the Technical Committee at British Canoeing. As a lifeguard trainer and water safety manager, he has advised MAIB and written awards for British Canoeing and SLSGB.
Insta: paddleboarder.co.uk