The scramble launch can be very useful when there is water pushing you sideways on the sand, or instances where you need to get afloat and immediately paddling hard on a dumping surf beach. However, it requires good balance and coordination. Practice is necessary for this to be a workable solution. When your evaluation of the impact zone from the soup tells you it’s time to try to cross – you have noticed a window in which waves are smaller or absent – paddle out with all the energy you can muster. For a challenging impact zone, the main goal is to get across fast. Paddle across it as if your hair was on fire. As if the very devil himself was at your back. If the impact zone is wide, you may be hard-pressed to make it across before a big wave rises up in front of you. In dumping breaks, a wave can rise up in front of you very suddenly and be on you almost before you have time to register it. With enough momentum and forward speed however, it is often possible to make it up and over very big waves before they break. Even if you realize you are not quite going to make it over the top before the wave breaks, momentum and proper technique will often let you punch through it. Tuck your body forward as you enter the wave, spearing it with your paddle. Plunge your paddle aggressively into the back of the wave and pull yourself through. Wherever possible, do not let the waves have their way with you! Take control! See video below.
Video: Committed Paddle Out https://youtu.be/cz0e6kwfiq4
Occasionally, we all will mistime the approach to an ugly wave and find ourselves in a position where it is about to break right on our head.This is never fun. If one has a solid roll, one way to handle this with a minimum of pain and suffering is to strategically capsize right in front of the wave as it begins to break, taking the impact on hull instead of head, then rolling up on the other side. It sounds drastic, but as long as one is comfortable with one’s roll, this can yield a very satisfactory outcome, with all the worst violence of the wave visited on the exterior of the boat, while we ourselves are quite safe and protected underwater. One just needs the presence of mind to remember to capsize, which oddly enough, can sometimes be hard to do in this circumstance. See video below. Up and over the top of a big wave right before it breaks.This requires a committed and aggressive approach with lots of momentum. Practice on small waves first.
Video: Strategic Capsize and Roll https://youtu.be/fD9h-V0JZek