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Female US rower completes historic solo journey from California to Hawaii

theguardian.com

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Re: Female US rower completes historic solo journey from California to Hawaii

#111

Post by gpm »

foobarian wrote: post #92
jjcm wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

two other unneccessary details: 1. that 15m one was the most fun I've ever had on a wave, ever. Think of it like going down a ski slope in a canoe, except the ski slope moves with you for miles. 2. we had one of the motorized lead boats sink that year due to them. Interestingly, you're more safe in the canoes on them than you are a standard boat.

Wait a second. Do you actually keep "surfing" down it for miles?? I thought that was only done near shore where waves break. If so that's the most amazing thing I learned this year yet :-)

Since it looks like you might not be getting an answer - I can't speak to ocean waves but I strongly expect so. I've certainly surfed non-breaking standing waves in whitewater just fine (not me, but e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlwijfFpk3E)

Surfing is just sliding down the rise in water caused by a wave at the pace as the water rises behind you as the wave moves (in the case of standing waves, I mean moves relative to the reference frame of the water).

Re: Female US rower completes historic solo journey from California to Hawaii

#112

Post by anamax »

jjcm wrote: post #53
mobilemidget wrote: post #15

All i think about when people row, kayak or swim these distances in these waters is 'SHARKS'. Which i read and saw enough about that the chances of meeting one isnt that big, but my brain still associates these activities/areas with it.

One fun thing you get to do in long distance outrigger canoe races in hawaii is crew changes. Generally, outrigger races have 6 people in the boat and a 9 person team. An escort boat will hold your reserve people, and then drop them in front of the canoe when you need to swap people out. The problem is that you need to drop people around 200m in front of the canoe so the canoe can have enough time to prep for the cre…

I wonder why a balloon or an extra-long safety sausage wouldn't work.

Re: Female US rower completes historic solo journey from California to Hawaii

#113

Post by js2 »

tick_tock_tick wrote: post #81
js2 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know why you brought up records, especially sub-ultra. I admitted that: "Women semi-regularly win multi-day and 100+ mile races, even if women don't have course records at these times/distances. " I've run dozens of marathons, multiple 100 milers, and several 12-hour and 24-hour events. You can be the strongest, most prepared person in the world, and it very much might not matter because of how many things ca…

> I don't know why you brought up records, especially sub-ultra. To point out the performance difference is universal across all distances/speeds. > and it very much might not matter because of how many things can go south in such an event compared to shorter races. So your argument is now RNG plays a bigger role so eventually they'll score a win by luck? > Yes, these events have fewer participants, but nonetheless,…

I'm not trying to argue with you at all. I feel like you think I made some claim about women being stronger or faster than men, when I very specifically did not.

My only point was that women can sometimes win and/or set records at prestigious endurance events when factors other than strength/speed are relatively more likely to influence the outcome. Such as this record right here: rowing from CA to HI.

Obviously the more elite men in the competition, the less likely this is to occur. But I'm not talking about a small local 10K where a sub-elite woman happens to show up and there's no comparably competitive men and the woman wins overall. I mean events where men and women of comparable competitiveness show up, but a woman just outlasts a man that day due to grit or better preparation or better planning or whatever the factors happen to be. All I'm saying is: the longer events give women more opportunity to win those races, regardless of event size.

I have an acquaintance I've raced with a few times. I've got the better marathon time, but she's got the better 24-hour distance. It's cool that we can both have those wins. That's all.

Re: Female US rower completes historic solo journey from California to Hawaii

#114

Post by sellmesoap »

stackghost wrote: post #28
js2 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In endurance running, the longer races become, the more competitive they are for women. Women semi-regularly win multi-day and 100+ mile races, even if women don't have course records at these times/distances. In an event of sufficient time/distance, factors besides strength dominate the outcome. So, (and knowing very little about rowing), I am not surprised that a woman could take the record here. You can only row s…

>Other factors like weather, currents I'd be interested to know how much progress she made/lost due to drifting overnight. I feel like that alone would have a drastic impact. It would really suck to check your GPS track in the morning to discover you'd lost a day's progress overnight.

I haven't read about the details, but a sea anchor can really put the breaks on. It also woulden't surprise me if they spent a a fair bit of effort doing weather routing, making course adjustments to take advantage of weather systems as they evolve.

Re: Female US rower completes historic solo journey from California to Hawaii

#115

Post by yieldcrv »

nephihaha wrote: post #21
yieldcrv wrote: post #5

Why do these extreme rowing and sailing boats look so weird Its always a form factor I’ve never seen before Where can I learn more about this scene?

Because there are big waves in the open ocean and people need to sleep?

is that guess or the answer with a question mark?

Re: Female US rower completes historic solo journey from California to Hawaii

#116

Post by mariusor »

js2 wrote: post #22
CharlesW wrote: post #10

It's kind of buried here, but Kelsey is the fastest human to do this. She beat the male record holder's time by 6 days.

In endurance running, the longer races become, the more competitive they are for women. Women semi-regularly win multi-day and 100+ mile races, even if women don't have course records at these times/distances. In an event of sufficient time/distance, factors besides strength dominate the outcome. So, (and knowing very little about rowing), I am not surprised that a woman could take the record here. You can only row s…

Same with cycling. Earlier this year, in June, Leah Wilcox's attempt at setting the record for circumnavigating the globe by bike with support was interrupted by the heat wave that hit Europe. She already holds the record for the unsupported circumnavigation and as far as I know she was more or less on track of surpassing Mark Beaumont's record of 78 days and change.

Re: Female US rower completes historic solo journey from California to Hawaii

#117

Post by jjcm »

anamax wrote: post #112
jjcm wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One fun thing you get to do in long distance outrigger canoe races in hawaii is crew changes. Generally, outrigger races have 6 people in the boat and a 9 person team. An escort boat will hold your reserve people, and then drop them in front of the canoe when you need to swap people out. The problem is that you need to drop people around 200m in front of the canoe so the canoe can have enough time to prep for the cre…

I wonder why a balloon or an extra-long safety sausage wouldn't work.

The last thing you'd want is a balloon or an inflatable hampering your movements. Getting into the canoe as it's moving is a tricky, practiced and precise motion.

A hyperbolic example would be imagine a pole vaulter with a safety sausage attached to them.

Re: Female US rower completes historic solo journey from California to Hawaii

#118

Post by jjcm »

foobarian wrote: post #92
jjcm wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

two other unneccessary details: 1. that 15m one was the most fun I've ever had on a wave, ever. Think of it like going down a ski slope in a canoe, except the ski slope moves with you for miles. 2. we had one of the motorized lead boats sink that year due to them. Interestingly, you're more safe in the canoes on them than you are a standard boat.

Wait a second. Do you actually keep "surfing" down it for miles?? I thought that was only done near shore where waves break. If so that's the most amazing thing I learned this year yet :-)

Yes you do. The teams that typically win the Molokai'i Hoe (the race between the islands) are the ones that ride the waves the longest. You'll stay on the same wave for 20-30min if you're good.
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