Powerboat, PW and Inland Waterways
Could you ride stand up? Could you teach stand up?
Here are a few great ideas for teaching stand up to complete novices, by Steve Poulton, Personal Watercraft Trainer, and Principal at Activities Away.
A
t this year’s Training Conference one of the workshop discussions was
about teaching stand up on a Personal Watercraft (PW) course. The PW syllabus covers both sit down and stand up skis and the new edition of the book has some good advice on riding stand up with video support available in the eBook. Assuming a student has taken and passed their PW certificate they may well end up buying a stand up. Often customers turn up at our lake with a stand up, having got bored of riding around in circles on their sit down. We then watch as they wobble their way around the lake trying to teach themselves! Given these difficulties, and the
fact that the certificate covers both sit down and stand up, it would perhaps be prudent to give stand up more than just passing attention on your average PW course. Obviously getting a customer on a stand up ski and teaching its use on the course would be ideal, but we are realistic and know that this is not always possible both in terms of time and available equipment. Perhaps using the book on one
of your tea break talks, or looking at the video clips would be a good opportunity to introduce the main differences. I have often used a short clip
taken from YouTube showing a mixture of racing and freestyle examples followed by explaining that although this is great fun, we need to start by getting stood up. This leads neatly into the video clips from the eBook as a good place to start.
Once on your knees, shuffle
forward towards the handle bars while increasing speed slightly to find that sweet spot where the ski is not
Rachel Andrews Chief Instructor, Motor Cruising & Power
E-mail:
rachel.andrews@
rya.org.uk Tel: 023 8060 4187
8 |
You should now be wobbling along wondering why you are doing this. Stick with it – you will love it. Just remember to ride the ski around the corners and that a little bit of speed will keep it stable. At our centre, we find stand up
safer than sit down. You need a bit of ability before you can go silly on a stand up. If you get it wrong you fall off, the ski stops, you swim to it and try again – simple!
When we teach stand up we
follow a plan made up of four stages:
THE DRAG In waist deep water, float your feet behind you while holding onto the handle bars with your elbows on the rests either side of the ride tray. Start the ski, gently moving off in a straight line. Slowly increase speed until the ski is climbing the wave in a pre-planing position.
bouncing around. If the ski bounces, bend your arms and lean slightly forward to trim the bow down.
HIGH KNEEL As you gain confidence straighten your back and lift the steering pole up out of its cradle. Remember, you are raising your centre of gravity so a bit more speed may be required. Ride around while you get used to the ski, your balance and cornering.
The next step A
t the end of your courses don’t forget to point students in the direction
of further learning – either another course or further reading. It’s important for those completing the Powerboat Level 2 course, in particular, to be made aware of the further opportunities, even if your centre is not recognised to deliver them. You might be able to team up with another centre and send students to them for a referral fee. If your students are thinking of buying their own boat and going coastal cruising, the next step could well be the RYA Intermediate Powerboat course.
The Powerboat Pathway Level 1
LOW KNEEL Using your elbows as a pivot, push your body forward as you tuck your knees up onto the back of the ride tray, while slowly increasing speed to a slow planing speed. Once you are on the ride tray, sit back on your heels. We call this the low kneel position - a good learning position as your centre of gravity is low and ski stability is good, as long as you are moving.
STANDING When you are ready to try standing, find a nice straight run, keep running at planing speed and build up the courage to drop the handle bars back into their cradle while you push down and do a ‘push up’ on the bars as you spring to your feet - easy!
Safety Boat l
B Intermediate di Advanced
New RYA Power Schemes Instructor Handbook
handbook is now available, comprehensively covering instruction for the motor cruising, powerboat, inland waterways and personal watercraft training schemes Order code: G19 Retail price: £12.99 RYA eBook coming soon.
T
www.rya.org.uk
he new version of this
Level 2
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