I don't know Jay, I don't really agree with the advice in that video that says its best to just sit there and float and let a rip bring you around. That dude was using data gathered from one beach in particular. I'm not a scientist but I have been surfing for over 30 years and this is what I've learned.
Not all rips run in a big circular motion, as a matter of fact in my experience most rips more resemble a mushroom shape where the water pushes back out to sea through a narrow channel (the stem) and when it gets to deeper water, slows down and flairs both left and right (the mushroom head). There's a lot of variables like swell direction and varying bottom contour which affect this. I still think the best way out of a rip is to just paddle parallel to the shore.
Think of it like this, if you're caught in a circular rip which is rotating to the left and you paddle parallel to shore to the left, you will cross the current heading out to sea and enter the current heading towards shore way faster than if you sat there and just floated. If you paddled right in a rip circulating to the left, you'd simply paddle out of the rip altogether and be in still water. If you are caught in a mushroom shaped rip (you would be in the "stem") then paddling either left or right would get you out of the outgoing current and into still water. If you are swept through the "stem" and are in the "head" then you're safe as the "head" is where the current stops. Simply floating there isn't a good idea because it prolongs the time you're in the rip and in the freezing azz water, and some rips are pretty large and will pull you out pretty far before they will circle around, If they circle at all, because the current pushing in towards shore is not as intense the current going out because the water is deeper.
Rips are caused because the surging of the waves pushes excess amounts of water towards the beach. The excess water has to go somewhere and everyone knows water follows the path of least resistance. If you could see the ocean floor, you would notice that the wave action builds the sand into high and low spots. The low spots are the deeper areas which allow more water to pass, or in other words they are the path of least resistance. This is where rips form. With a little practice, you can actually see where the rips are by watching the texture on the water surface. They often have a bit of foam in them that will appear as a river of water moving through still water.
When you learn how rips work you can actually use them to your advantage. While surfing we would find a rip and get in it and use it as an "Elevator" to sweep us out past the breaking waves. We would then paddle sideways out of the rip and into the takeoff zone so we could ride a wave in and then we would repeat the whole process over and over again.
If you are on a ski you don't need to worry about rips. No rip is strong enough to affect a ski. If you are broke down on your ski in a rip then who cares, just float out to sea until your buds come and tow you back in. If your alone, well then you'd be screwed. Never ride surf alone.
