How to train for the Coast to Coast kayak leg

The Coast to Coast has three disciplines and most people are good at two of them. The kayak leg is where a well-prepared midfield athlete can gain an hour on the people around them, and where an under-prepared one can lose the race, or worse, their day. This guide is written for the paddler who wants to arrive at Mt White Bridge fit, calm and with a plan.

• What is the kayak leg?
• How long does it take?
• When should I start training?
• Do I need a Grade 2 certificate?
• How many hours a week?
• Kayak or surf ski?
• What should a training week look like?
• Training without a river nearby
• What gym work helps?
• How do I taper?
• Race day: pacing, food and lines
• Common questions

What is the kayak leg?

The kayak leg is about 70 kilometres of the Waimakariri River, from Mt White Bridge through the gorge to the Waimakariri Gorge Bridge. It is grade 2 water: moving, readable, with small rapids, braids and boils separated by long flat stretches. You need a current Grade 2 certificate to start it.

Two things surprise first-timers. The first is how much of the river is flat. Grade 2 has features, but between them are long sections where the only thing moving the boat is you, and that is where the race is won or lost. The second is the gorge: the walls close in, the water gets pushy around the corners, and by then you have been paddling for three hours. Both of those are training problems, not talent problems.

How long does the kayak leg take?

Most paddlers take four to six hours. The front of the field is under four; the record pace is about three and a half. Cut-offs are firm: One Day competitors must be on the water by 3.00pm, and everyone must pass Gooseberry by 4.30pm, Woodstock by 7.00pm and reach the Gorge Bridge by 8.15pm.

Flow changes the day. At 38 cumecs, a low year, the river is slower and the lines matter more and bigger waves. Higher flows push you along but make the features more pushy. Train for the long version. If you can paddle three -four hours comfortably on flat water in December – January, a four-hour river day is a good day out rather than a survival exercise.

When should I start training?

Start paddling by late July or August for a February race. That gives you a full block of base building before the sub-threshold work and river-specific block in the final weeks. If you are new to kayaking, start a year out, because the Grade 2 course and the skills to pass it take time on their own.

Winter is the hardest time to get on the water, and it is when the base has to be built. Cold flat water in August is worth more than warm river laps in January, because you cannot do the river laps well without it. If you are reading this in December, do not despair: six focused weeks still changes your race. Start at the endurance block and keep the gym light but work on your technique.

Do I need a Grade 2 certificate?

Yes. Every competitor must hold a Grade 2 kayaking skills certificate issued within the last two years, from a qualified instructor. Book it early and paddle flat water first: a paddler with a strong working stroke learns river skills in half the time, and the certificate is a skills assessment, not a fitness one.

Providers around Canterbury run Grade 2 courses through spring and summer, and most offer a Coast to Coast preparation trip that runs the actual race route in the weeks before the event. Do the certificate as soon as you can, then use the remaining river days for recon rather than for learning to brace.

How many hours a week should I paddle?

Five to eight hours a week including the gym in the base block, rising to eight to ten when the long paddle grows. Three paddles a week is the minimum that builds anything; four is where most people improve fastest. The long paddle is the session to protect, and it should try to reach four hours before the taper.

Most paddlers do not have an intensity problem. They have an hours problem. Keep the bulk of the paddling easy enough to repeat next week, add one technique session while you are fresh, and add sub-threshold efforts only once the base block is done. Heart rate lies in a boat more than it does on a bike, so use pace, effort and how long you can hold something as your guide. There is a full explanation on the training programming page.

Kayak or surf ski?

Either works on grade 2, and I paddled the 2025 C2C kayak stage on a surf ski in 4 hours 14 minutes. The kayak is proven on rivers and stays drier; the ski remounts in seconds, allows more freedom of rotation and lets you train in wind and open water, which usually means more paddling. The ski is the four wheel drive, the kayak is something that is more specific to the coast to coast and the safe option for this event.

A ski takes on water through the rapids and slows for a minute while it drains, and you need wetsuit leggings because the cockpit is open. A kayak is warmer under the skirt and rails through boils more easily, but a swim costs you several minutes and a lot of confidence. The full comparison is in surf ski paddling down a grade 2 river. Whatever you race, do at least one long paddle in the race boat with the race gear before the day.

What should a training week look like?

One technique paddle, one or two steady paddles, one long paddle, and two gym sessions early in the plan dropping to one plus mobility later. River days replace a steady paddle once your Grade 2 is done. Keep the same shape every week so the only thing that changes is the length and the intensity of the key sessions.

Day	Base block	Final block
Mon	Gym: Paddlers Prep	Gym: Power, short
Tue	Technique paddle, 45 to 60 min	Technique paddle with race-pace pieces
Wed	Steady paddle, 60 min	Steady paddle, 75 min
Thu	Gym: Paddlers Prep	Mobility
Fri	Rest	Rest or 30 min easy
Sat	Long paddle, 90 min growing weekly	Long paddle, 3 to 4 h, or river day
Sun	Easy paddle or rest	River day, race or rest

The Coast to Coast kayak training program fills this format in block by block, from late winter to race day, with the sessions written out and linked to the library.

How do I train without a river nearby?

Build fitness, stroke and seat tolerance on flat water or a kayak erg, which is most of the work anyway. Then plan two or three trips to grade 2 water in the final block, including a Waimakariri recon paddle three to four weeks before the race. River skills need a river; everything else does not.

If you are training on an erg through winter, use it for technique as much as for fitness. Balance and water feel are gone, which is exactly why you can hold a position and repeat it without the boat punishing you. The technique guide has the five erg drills I use. When you do get to the river, spend the first session on eddy turns, ferry glides and reading water, not on kilometres.

What gym work helps the kayak leg?

Early on, injury prevention: rotation, scapular control, glute and hip work, and pressing patterns that match the stroke. Later, power. Two short sessions a week is enough. In the last ten weeks it is too late to build traditional strength, so by then the gym’s job is to keep you in the boat and make the stroke more efficient.

Paddlers get injured in the shoulders and the lower back, and both come from the same thing: sitting in a boat for hours with hips locked and a stroke that pulls with the arms. The Paddlers Prep program addresses that directly, with two to three weeks on each progression. The reasoning behind what made the cut is on the paddling strength page.

How do I taper for the kayak leg?

Drop volume by about a third in the second-to-last week and by half in race week, keep one or two short sharp pieces so the stroke stays crisp, and stop gym work ten days out. Do the last long paddle two weekends before the race, ideally on the river, and arrive at Mt White in a faster time than you thought possible.

The mistake is cramming river time into the last fortnight because you feel underdone. Recon three to four weeks out, then trust it. Fatigue on the start line costs far more than one more lap of the gorge would have gained.

Race day: pacing, food and lines

Start easier than feels right; the first hour is flat and fast and everyone goes out hard. Eat and drink from the first thirty minutes, small amounts every twenty to thirty minutes, and practise it on every long paddle. Pick your lines on the flats: the inside of bends and the deepest braid save more time than any rapid.

Know the checkpoints: Gooseberry, Salmon, Hamilton rapid , Woodstock, then the finish. Break the river into those pieces in your head. In the gorge, look where you want to go, keep the boat moving through the boils, and take the chicken line if you are unsure. A clean conservative line is faster than a swim, every time.

Talk to me before race day if you have questions about pacing or gear. That is what the membership is for.

Common questions