Huli Recovery Techniques

I was just wondering what the quickest and most efficient way of flipping your canoe back over after you huli off of it in medium/high surf and hard hitting wind conditions? any input or step by step guides would be great!

Submitted by cameron on Tue, 02/20/2007 - 8:04pm



I'm no expert, but here's a couple things - before you go out, check your leash. I usually put my leash on my right ankle so that it isn't crossing the body if/when you huli (assuming the right) and slightly reduces it getting fouled or in your way while trying to right the canoe. Second, relax...take a deep breath and check where the wind is coming from. The mos trouble I get into is trying to get back in the saddle too quickly and find myself trying the push the ama back over directly into the wind. If it's blowing hard, you might succeed, but you will tire yourself out if it takes multiple tries.

Hold onto your paddle and iako to get the canoe to pivot into a more favorable direction before flipping back over - try not to slap the ama down. Kick your feet and try to get back in on the right side face forward like a surfboard. It's all still kinda frenzied but try not to pull your seat off and/or lay on your paddle or smash it into the gunwales...

Lastly, most people don't do this, myself included...practice before you need to actually do this cause it's always different


#1 Wed, 02/21/2007 - 7:53am


OC thanks for the info, I always put my leash on the left leg, but I seem to always get tangled, so I end up taking my leash off, holding my iako and climbing on, this is after righting the canoe. I know that if it is windy I attempt to keep my leash, but find it still gets tangled. I paddle with some guys that keep the leash High up on the Thigh, does this work. Well practice does make perfect, the last time I went out, I huli in the just leaving the site, then go out and catch some waves, don't huli at all, until the last one, wave closed out. Lucky for me it was calm and I did a 360 and so did my canoe. But had to swim after my paddle. My buddy gave me S#$T about that. Any more suggestions, from other paddlers please add them.

Mahalo

Paddle with Strength, PONO and ALOHA


#2 Wed, 02/21/2007 - 11:35am


I have mastered the huli..especially toward the end of races when I'm trying to catch someone..AND I've mastered getting tangled in my leash. 2 races ago I huli'd - jumped back on the canoe and had my leash wrapped around the canoe, but figured i'd leave it since i was in a hurry.. that was like pulling tires! so I had to stop and take the leash off and let it drag, that was annoying so i had to stop yet again to put it back on..In light of my sad story, my friend told me that when she huli's (w/ the leash on her left ankle) she climbs OVER the canoe prior to righting it. THEN she pulls the canoe over and her leash is tangle free. I have yet to do this, but it sounds like it makes sense!


#3 Wed, 02/21/2007 - 1:12pm


Climb over the canoe? Wouldn't climbing over the canoe damage the hull? I damaged the hull righting the canoe after a huli simply because I reached over the top of the canoe to grab the iako and my elbow went right into the hull and dented it as I pulled the ama over. It seems to me that unless you fall between the ama and the canoe and the canoe somehow flips over, you will always have a problem with the leash being wrapped around the underside of the canoe when mounting from the left side. The only way to avoid it is to mount the canoe from the right side or undo the leash prior to mounting the canoe from the left side. I don't recommend undoing the leash before mounting, however. I had a friend do just that and his canoe blew away.

Speaking of huli, I always see guys in seat 2 and 4 in an OC6 lunge for the iako when the ama pops up. The rest of the guys just try to do their best by throwing their weight to the left. I wonder if the guys paddling on the right side of the OC6 would be more effective in keeping the ama down by bracing their blades against the water like how we do it when we fly the ama on our OC1s. It works with the OC1s, why not the OC6s? Something also tells me that Newton's Third Law of Motion is at play here (i.e., for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction). That is to say that when a paddler attempts to throw his weight to the left to bring the ama down, there is an opposite reaction on the canoe pushing it to the right. Anyways, I obviously have no life if I'm thinking about these things so I just shaddap and sit down.

Snarfblat


#4 Wed, 02/21/2007 - 11:22pm


I'm not sure if one or two people alone bracing with their paddles to the right can pull the ama back down and avoid a huli. Having said that, several folks in my club have attempted to fly ama in an OC-6 on flat water. Seats 1-5 leaning right and bracing with the paddles trying to find that balance point. We've only been able to hold it for a litlte while before somone chickens out and leans back left.


#5 Thu, 02/22/2007 - 8:55am


1) Always wear a leash in bumpy/windy conditions
2) Do NOT remove your leash
3) Don't climb over your boat - they're not made for that (That's what club boats are for)

Sometimes the most obvious and simple solution is the right one:
Just climb back on from the right side for chrissakes... it's not THAT hard to do.


#6 Thu, 02/22/2007 - 12:52pm


In high wind's if you can't hold on to your paddle and climb back into your boat, then put your paddle in the water downwind of your boat and climb in. The boat will go downwind faster than the paddle, and if you put the paddle upwind then by the time you get in, you and your boat will be gone and your paddle will be upwind of you.


#7 Thu, 02/22/2007 - 1:38pm


all good info, but not exactly the answers i was looking for. i was more wondering about techniques used in oc-1 or oc-2 paddling. whether to climb over on the right side to reach for the ama and risk damaging your boat or trying to flip the ama on the right side while the canoe is upside down which would take a bit more effort. also what should you do with your paddle while flipping the canoe back over and how to not tangle your leash at the same time. keep the answers coming though, the rest were good.


#8 Thu, 02/22/2007 - 3:38pm


Tie the leash to the rear iako = no more tangling. Goto is right! When you are racing, mount the cow from the side you fell off of. Slither on it like a frog in heat. Anything else is a waste of time+energy. You want to go fancy, practice your figure skating :)


#9 Thu, 02/22/2007 - 5:16pm


My experience has been to get back into the boat in the direction that you fell off. And if its really bad conditions then hold on to your paddle while you are righting the hull to an upright position. Most of us carry our paddles when we walk them down to the dock/beach, so use the same skills and hold the paddle when flipping the boat back over.


#10 Fri, 02/23/2007 - 1:23pm


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