Peak Paddle Performance Podcast

Rob joins the Peak Paddle Performance podcast for the second time. But this time, it’s all about an epic 80 mile adventure crossing Lake Michigan this past August. Now in his mid fifties, Rob continues to paddle and race at a very high level. I’m not sure he has ever been beat in the Great Lakes region. In the last two years he held the lead at Chattajack going into the final sprint fi...

It’s been way too long since we had a chance to catch up with Oscar Chalupsky on the Peak Paddle Performance Podcast. Although battling an incurable cancer, Oscar hasn’t slowed down a single bit. He remains a man in perpetual motion. Despite being read his last rights twice in the last two years, Oscar has launched a Motivational Speaking Business and website , appeared on several podc...

In this podcast I sit down with Matt Drayer who is part of a small team including Greg Barton, Jesse Lishchuk, and Geoff Pearson who are dedicated to promoting surfski development in the US via the Ocean Racing Committee (ORC) which is part of the competition arm of the American Canoe Association (ACA) . Matt and the team have been hard at work over the past year building out a National points bas...

In this podcast I check in with Brendan to review how the past 10 weeks of training have gone and what I need to focus on in the final four weeks leading up to the Gorge Downwind Champs. If you missed Podcast Episode 43 , I would recommend checking it out, and don’t forget you can download the training plan there. But if you’re limited on time, you’ll still learn a lot from this...

In this episode of the Peak Paddle Performance Podcast, I reconnect with Dr Brendan O’Neill creator of the Vaaka Cadence Sensor. In 2019 Brendan graciously put together a 14 week cadence based training plan to prepare an intermediate level paddler for racing the 14 mile Gorge Downwind Champs. COVID disrupted everything, and I never got around to publishing the plan as I originally intended....

In this podcast I interview Giant Fish founder Scott Darling. Scott launched the initial Giant Fish collection of paddling shorts, pants, and tops in the summer of 2020. Right at the height of the Covid pandemic. Of course it wasn’t planned that way, but despite all the obstacles, the product spoke for itself, and quickly became a go to piece of kit for paddlers in the Pacific Northwest. It...

We’re back with our most frequent and popular podcast guest, the infamous Oscar Chalupsky. It’s always informative and exciting to catch up with Oscar and this podcast is not exception. If you haven’t read Oscar’s book, order it now , it is an absolute must read. If you’re like me, you won’t put it down until it is finished. I’ve known Oscar for 10 years,...

On October 8th the Great Lakes paddling community suffered on incomprehensible loss when Nick Walton succumbed to hypothermia in a downwind race on Lake Michigan. Nick was a professional canoe racer and over the past couple of years had discovered a love for surfski racing. You can read his full obituary here I was a participant in the race and have spoke with many of the racers since the incident...

This podcast was an experimental downwind jam session. The idea was to setup a Zoom call open to any and all paddlers to join and share their stories and experiences around downwind paddling. We got off to a rough start when the initial call was highjacked by hackers, but were able to regroup and have a great session. I was hopeful that we could share video over the Zoom call and narrate the paddl...

My guest on the podcast today is long time friend and paddler Rob Hartman. Rob is a husband and father of three girls. He works full time as a software developer, plays the Upright Bass as an accomplished jazz musician, and has long been one of the top masters paddlers in the US. In recent years Rob has competed primarily East of the Mississippi, where he is a top contender in any race he enters....

My guest on this podcast is Matt Murphy. Matt is a Naval Architect and Ocean Engineer by trade, who grew up in and on the waters of Northeastern Canada. After school, Matt made his way to Houston, Texas where he currently lives with his wife and four kids. Matt has a very diverse paddling background spanning both racing and multi-week adventures. In this podcast we cover much of Matt’s paddl...

In this podcast episode I had a chance to connect with Rod and Barry of ThePaddleChannel . Rod and Barry have progressed from SUP to OC to SURFSKI and their YouTube channel documents, in full transparency, the trials and tribulations of their journey along the way. They are both super passionate about paddling and more so about downwind. Their videos bring a great perspective that should resonate...

In this podcast I’m joined by Reivers Dustin, who at 70 years old, is still every bit as passionate about downwind paddling as anyone I’ve met. Reivers is highly regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Bellingham surfski community. This story started out with my intent to explore the downwind paddling in Bellingham Bay. Anyone who has raced on the West Coast, knows that there is...

It has been a long hiatus, but the Peak Paddle Performance Podcast is back in action. We’re going to try out a new format where we find paddlers enthusiastic about sharing their local downwind routes for the world to see. We’ll record via a Zoom meeting with screen share where the guest can walk us through a map view of the paddling hot spots as we geek out on all the wind and wave nua...

In this podcast I sit down with one of the many dear friends I’ve met through Surfski Paddling. Greg Greene and I first crossed paths when we battled it out in my first surski race ever in Duluth, Minnesota. Although 20 years my senior Greg managed to take me at the line and despite that first encounter we’ve been great friends ever since. I wanted to bring Greg onto the podcast becaus...

In this podcast, the tables are turned and I’m in the hot seat as Buzz Burrell (a long time endurance sports athlete and entrepreneur and new surfski addict) interviews me. We cover a wide range of topics from paddling the Great Lakes through the winter months, to trying to make a surfski business viable in a small market with a short season. Some of the highlights of our conversation includ...

Today’s podcast guest may be best known as the younger brother of paddling legend Dawid Mocke, but Jasper Mocke is in every way a legend in his own right. Jasper is an incredibly talented athlete with several notable accomplishments including World Surfski Champion in 2014, World Champion in K2 Marathon 2014, and 3x Perth Doctor Downwind champion. You may also recognize Jasper as the star of...

In today’s podcast I managed to catch up with Olympic athlete, coach, and co-founder of Paddle California , Michele Eray. I somehow coerced her into sitting still just long enough to record a great podcast session. The title of this episode and Michele’s personal mantra says it all, “You regret more in life the things that you didn’t do than the things you did”. Miche...

In early December the guys @CarbonologySport shared some vintage footage of the 1983 Port Elizabeth to East London (PE2LE) 4 Day Stage Race . It generated a lot of intrigue on Facebook, and I thought it would be great to sit down with Oscar and have him walk us through what it was like to race surfskis on the open ocean almost 40 years ago. We spend a large portion of the discussion on the PE2LE....

Today’s podcast guest is good friend and fellow Great Lakes paddler Erik Borgnes. Many of you may recognize Erik as the guy who has dominated the Chattajack 32 race for the past several years. He has also contributed several great blog posts to the surfski universe including boat reviews, technique analysis, experiments in dieting, and a treasure trove of information on ERG training, which is our...

In this podcast episode we chat all things safety in extreme conditions with Rob Mousley.   Rob founded surfski.info based out of Cape Town SA, which is well known as  the de-facto global website for surfski information.   It is probably best known for the forums which provide an excellent global dialogue on all things surfski related.   In addition to the forums...

In today’s podcast we connect with Jen Lee to hear the story of how she crossed the Molokai Channel in a SUP, OC1, and Surfski all in one season.   If that isn’t impressive enough, she only started surfski paddling two years prior and conquered the channel on a properly big day. Jen is an accomplished water woman, but the message she’s passionate about  delivering...

In this podcast episode I catch up with Carter Johnson, Race Director for the Gorge Downwind Festival.   In just four years this race has become the single biggest downwind event in the world.   With 750 participants, featuring equal numbers of Outrigger Canoe and Surfski paddlers, plus a good contingent of Stand Up Paddle Boarders.   But more than just a race, this h...

In this podcast I have the opportunity to sit down with one of  the best surfski paddler in the world right now,  Cory Hill aka Chill Hill.  Like most surfski paddlers, Cory is incredibly humble and seems mature beyond his years.   Balancing relationships and a full time career,  Cory does an unimaginable  job competing at the very top of his game.   We have a&#1...

Today’s podcast guest is the legendary Ivan Lawler .   Ivan is regarded as Britain’s greatest canoe paddler of all time, and many argue the world’s greatest marathon paddler. Ivan has also been recognized internationally for sportsmanship when in the 1990 world championship he and his partner stopped to wait for the Danish team who were having rudder trouble They could have won, bu...