OC1 Training Club November (Saturday’s 7th, 21st, 28th)

OC1 Training Club November: Racing IQ Edition

Read the Water. Race With Purpose. Paddle With Confidence.

Join Ocean Academy coaches Candice Appleby and Grace Hardy this November as we build on October’s Foundations and introduce our next focus: Racing IQ.

A strong race takes more than fitness. It takes preparation, awareness, and the ability to make good decisions while managing your effort. From studying the forecast to choosing your starting position, navigating the course, and staying focused when things get challenging, every decision plays a role in how you race.

This month, we’ll explore the physical, mental, and tactical elements of OC1 racing through coached practice, purposeful workouts, and ocean education. We’ll connect what we see in the forecast with what we experience on the water, practice race situations, and develop tools to adapt when conditions—or our race—don’t go as planned.

We’ll apply these skills as we move through the winter racing season, preparing for Green Buoy Battle, Becky Stuart Race, and building toward Hanohano in January.

This program is open to paddlers of all levels who meet the minimum speed and safety requirements. You do not have to be racing to participate.

November Training Focus

Throughout the month, we’ll work on:

• Reading the forecast and the water: Understanding wind, swell, tides, and currents, and considering how they may affect different sections of a race.
• Building a course plan: Identifying landmarks, choosing purposeful lines, and adjusting your navigation to the conditions you actually encounter.
• Preparing for the start: Developing a warm-up routine, choosing your position, practicing acceleration, and settling into a sustainable rhythm.
• Navigating buoys and other paddlers: Planning your approach, controlling your canoe through turns, and carrying momentum onto your next line.
• Managing pace and effort: Learning when to build, settle, surge, and conserve while maintaining efficient technique under fatigue.
• Developing race awareness: Practicing positioning, passing, and making decisions based on the course, conditions, and paddlers around you.
• Strengthening your racing mindset: Managing nerves, expectations, discomfort, and self-talk, with practical ways to reset your focus during a race.

What’s Included

Three In-Person Coached Sessions

All sessions take place from 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. at Baby Beach in Dana Point Harbor.

• Saturday, November 7
• Saturday, November 21
• Saturday, November 28

Please arrive early, fully rigged, and ready to paddle so training can begin promptly at 10:00 a.m.

Complete November Training Plan Through Final Surge

In addition to the coached sessions, every participant will receive a structured training plan for the workouts between sessions, including:

• On-water OC1 workouts
• Paddle intervals and zone-based training
• Land-based strength and conditioning
• Cardio and cross-training recommendations
• Recovery guidance and progressive training throughout the month

The complete plan will be delivered through the Final Surge training app, which Training Club members will receive access to at no additional cost.

If you need to miss an in-person session, you will still have the complete training plan to keep you progressing throughout the month. There are no make-up sessions or prorated prices for missed workouts.

Location

Baby Beach – Dana Point Harbor

Please allow additional time for parking, unloading, and rigging.

Requirements and Recommendations

• PFD required
• Leashes are required during all on-water sessions
• Must be able to paddle 6 miles in 90 minutes
• Must be willing and able to paddle in the open ocean
• Must be able to independently right and remount your canoe in open-ocean conditions after a huli
• In-person sessions may be adjusted based on weather and ocean conditions
• No refunds after October 31st.

10 participants minimum; 24 participants maximum.

The November Training Club must meet the minimum enrollment requirement in order to run. If the minimum is not met, registered participants will receive a full refund.

Build your fitness, sharpen your awareness, and learn to make confident decisions from the start line to the finish. Space is limited—reserve your place in November’s Racing IQ Training Club.