April 29 Deep Cove TNR

Last night’s Tuesday Night Race at Deep Cove looked to have drawn the biggest crowd of the season…so far. The course took the racers out of the cove keeping the southern white buoy on our right then heading south across the channel to round the lighthouse off Hamber Island then crossing to round Grey Rocks then returning to the cove, once again rounding the white buoy marking the south entrance to the cove…a distance of 4.5 km.

As the racers crowded the line listening to the final instructions from the race director, a last second unexpected twist was introduced to the race, the surfskis were to be held 5 minutes behind the start. So at the starter’s call the speedy K1’s and K2 launched off the line, and the sea kayaks weaved there way through the crowd of surfskis poised on the starting line. As the spray settled it was cool to see the number of surfskis entered in the race…I think there were 22 skis, including 3 doubles.

After the agonizingly long 5 minutes, the surfskis were unleashed onto the course. A lead pack of 3 skis formed on exit of the cove, Ben/John had their Mark 2 at the front with Mike (Mako 6) and Jeff (Robberg Express) riding wash on either side. Unlike last week, conditions outside the cove were flat with only a light breeze coming out of the southwest. As the first surfskis approached Hamber Island we began to catch some of the sea kayakers. After rounding the lighthouse we headed across the channel through very small side chop. By the time we’d reached Grey Rocks Jeff had fallen back a few boat lengths while Mike remained locked on the stern of the Mark 2. Rounding Grey Rocks was a bit dicey as the faster surfskis had to navigate the slower sea kayaks and dug out canoes while taking care of the barely submersed rocks along the south and west shores of the island. Seems everyone made it through unscathed as we head back up the channel toward the cove. At the white buoy the lead pair were still together while I was about 10 seconds behind. During the final stretch I could hear the tell tail sound of the video/safety boat approaching from behind…and sure enough there was Bob sitting on the boat’s wash. Apparently Bob managed to use this tactic to catch up to and pass a few skis, including Jonathan who was only about 20-30 seconds behind me. As the motor boat wash swept through me I could hear Bob call me a waveslut as I picked up the wave…review of the post race video showed that Bob had to back off ‘his’ wave as it picked me up…the nerve of some people, eh Bob! Right away the motorboat slowed leaving us on our own for the final 100m or so to the finish. Bob brought his Super Elite V10 along side for the final kick to the finish but his arms soon realized there was no motorboat wash to help them so they packed it in early leaving Jeff to paddle away from their master.

At the front, Ben/John came in unchallenged in the sprint against Mike who did a great job staying with this experienced doubles crew. Jonathan (V10L) put in another solid effort to finish 5th. The other doubles crews were Brian/Brigit in their Fenn Millenium and Jodi/Colleen in a Mako XT. I believe the finishing order of the solo women surfskis were Katja (Evo), Jennifer (V10) and Lina (Mako XT).

Apparently there was a very close finish between the sprint kayaks in the ‘first race’ with the team of Kiran/Rebecca (Thunder 170 K2) just edging out Jim (SuperLancer K1). Perhaps next time the entire High Performance Kayak category should be held back 5 minutes to ensure these speedy sprint kayakers get some good competition against the similarly fast surfskis.

April 22 Deep Cove TNR

On many evenings Deep Cove is so tranquille and calm making it an ideal location for a relaxing paddle and an excellent venue for newbies to learn the finer points of kayaking. These calm conditions also allow sprint K1 racers to tear up the Tuesday Night Races, leaving most of the surfskis in their wake. And then there are evenings like last night…a fairly strong outflow wind had been blowing down the Arm for most of the day, and although the intensity of the wind had subsided considerably by race time, its effects were soon to be felt by the racers.

The course took paddlers directly across Indian Arm to round Jug Island clockwise and return back to the cove (4.9 km). Off the start Jim took his Thunder K1 to the lead with Jeff (Robberg Express) on his sidewash. Mike (Mako 6) took a much different line farther to the right but was keeping pace with the leaders. Just behind the leaders was a group that included Reid (S1X), Jonathan (V10L) and Bob (V10) and perhaps a few others. As we left the shelter of the cove the waves began to build and by mid channel there was a good size side chop playing havoc with the racers. As expected Jim’s pace began to slow as the side chop intensified, but he still managed to arrive at Jug in touch with the leading surfskis. Mike and Jeff rounded Jug together with Reid not far behind. After re-entering the waves on the return leg, Mike opened up a sizable gap on Jeff. Mike was making the most of the waves by cutting across the slow moving waves, allowing his boat to take advantage of the downwind push of the waves while minimizing the slowing impact of the uphill portion of the waves.

At the finish: Mike 1st, Jeff 2nd, Reid 3rd…then I’m not sure. As for the women, Katja (Evo) 1st, then I think Kiran (superLancer K1) 2nd and Colleen (V10 Sport) 3rd. We’ll have to see the official results once posted on Deep Cove Outdoors’ website or on Darrell’s blog.

Interestingly, after the finish Kiran paddled by with a look of shock on her face to ask “can I borrow a surfski for next week’s race?”

 

Victoria Marathon Race…in the snow?

Victoria’s Gorge Rowing and Paddling Club hosted the first marathon race to be organized in these parts for a loooong time…and unlike last weekend’s about 20 degree sunny skies the racers awoke on Saturday morning to snow!!! Apparently it hasn’t snowed this much this late in April in the lower mainland/Vancouver Island region since the 1950’s…so much for global warming…climate change it is!

Fortunately many paddlers still showed up for the race despite the nasty weather. During the pre-race meeting it started to snow again, prompting many of us to reach for our pogies and spray decks. Fortunately about 5 minutes before the start the snow stopped falling, not to be seen again, the racers were ‘treated’ to dry skies for the duration of the race.

There were 3 race distances: juniors 18km, women 24km, men 30km. The course consisted of laps of a 6 km curcuit which included a short 100m portage at the end of each lap, except the last lap. The race took place in the relatively protected gorge waterway which is a narrow channel that runs inland for almost 6 km from Victoria Harbour. This was a fantastic venue for a marathon race, with the only real challenging obstacle being Tillicum Bridge, which is a very narrow section of the channel where the current gets constricted to run like a river, at times creating whitewater rapids and roiling, turbulent water.

I’ll give you a run down of how my race went and some of what I saw of how the other racers did.

I elected to use my SuperLancer K1, pogies but no spray deck, and did not carry water but left two 1L water bottles at the ‘aid station’ at the portage. I used my gps with heart rate monitor just to help keep an eye on things. The start went well, I worked harder off the line than I’d intended and found myself on Ken’s (Nelo K1) sidewash, in a pack lead by Ian (Nelo K1) with Keith (Nelo k1) on Ian’s left sidewash. I was working quite hard and was hoping the pace would drop so I could relax somewhat’ After what seemed a couple minutes the pace wasn’t slowing and I noticed my HR was 162 bmp, way too high for this early in a 30 km race, so I eased off while the 3 leaders sped away. Soon Gareth (V10L) and Jaden (Thunder K1) joined me and we continued on as the ‘chase’ pack. Our pace was much more tolerable and Gareth and I took turns pulling the group…I think Jaden was content to sit on this being his first race of this distance he was quite unsure what to expect of himself, at least that is the impression I got from talking to him before the race. As we approached Tillicum Bridge narrows for the first time we saw Ken flip out of his boat just at the entrance to the narrows. As we passed Ken indicated he was fine as he swam his boat to shore. We all agreed that looked to really suck, falling out so early in the race. Turns out he got caught off guard by the turbulent water (boils) formed by the outgoing tidal current at the narrows. Fortunately our group made it through without incident. On the north side of the narrows the water level gets quite shallow in areas, with some patches of eel grass to navigate but there didn’t seem to be any danger of hitting bottom with paddle or rudder. Our group made the turn and proceeded back through the narrows again without incident, enjoying the flow of current carrying us through the narrows. Here’s where my race got ‘interesting’. As we proceeded down the channel I was leading with Gareth on my left wash and Jaden on my right. For some unknown reason Jaden was putting his bow too close to my paddle exit point, and for 3 strokes in a row my paddle was getting caught under his bow…after the 3rd time I went over. Needless to say I had some choice words for Jaden as he and Gareth paddled away while I swam my boat to shore. I know Jaden didn’t do this intentionally but at the time this didn’t really mean all that much to me…taking a swim 4 kms into a 30 km race, in temperatures such that it had been snowing less than 30 minutes prior is not my prefered way to enjoy a race. Anyways, according to my post race gps analysis I lost 4 minutes during the swim. Before getting in my boat after the swim I removed my pogies…I figured I’d either stay warm enough knowing that I was going to be paddling extra hard to try to catch up…or that since I was soaked I’d get too cold and have to abandon the race soon anyways. After rejoining the race I started moving my way back up through the field. By the end of the first lap I’d caught many of the juniors and women and the C2s, passing some at the portage. I was eager to make up the lost time as quickly as possible so skipped stopping for a drink, figuring the portage may be an area where I could make up time. Of course I couldn’t help thinking about the advise I’d given Jim prior to the race since this was going to be his first race of 30 km distance…”drink as much as you can, even when your not thirsty, if you wait till your thirsty it is too late”. As they say, “do as I say, not as I do”.

Early in the second lap I passed Kristin (Nelo K1) who was leading the Sr. Women category and soon after caught Kiran (Vajda K1) who was leading the Jr. Women category. At this point I could see a couple of the racers in my category. Just before the narrows, which were completely slack now, I managed to catch David (Plastex K1) who was 3rd in the Jr. Men category, then at the turn I passed John (Millenium) who was just a few boats lengths behind Jim (Thunder K1). I took the opportunity to sit on Jim’s side wash, figuring this was a good opportunity to give myself a rest while still moving at a good pace. Shortly before the southern most bridge I decided to pick of the pace, and at the same time Jim commented that Ken was catching us. The 3 of us rounded the turn together, and I jumped on Ken side wash for the run in to the second portage. This time I drank, got about 4 gulps down before heading back into the boat to try to stay with Ken. Ken was starting his 3rd and last lap so I figured this was a great opportunity to ride Ken’s wash to help bridge the gap to my next targets, Gareth and Jaden. I stayed on Ken’s wash for the entire lap, although it took some work especially after the corners since he has so much better boat control than me, I would consistently lose ground on the corners and through the narrows which was now starting to flow up the channel. As I started the 3rd portage Gareth and Jaden had just started their 4th lap, and I made sure to take another couple gulps of drink before starting off after them. At this point I was confident that I would catch them…then it was going to be a matter of seeing how strong they were and how much gas I would have left in the tank. I managed to catch them just after the narrows. Decision time…do I sit on or do I try to take control of the pack? Hmmm, let’s see how they are feeling. At the corner I moved past Jaden who was sitting behind Gareth, then proceeded past Gareth. Both were surprised to see me. Gareth sat on my side wash and we chatted briefly, then I stepped on the gas, Jaden wasn’t able to respond but Gareth stayed on my wash, although by the sound of his breething it was not easy for him…good information to note. We cautiously navigated the now quite turbulent, riverlike current flowing against us through the narrows, soon after I made another acceleration to test Gareth and to maintain the gap on Jaden. Gareth wasn’t going anywhere so we settled into a steady pace until the final portage. At the previous 2 portages I’d noticed that Gareth tended to fall behind Jaden at getting his ski out of the water and onto his shoulder, then would catch him running the portage. I didn’t want to leave the race to a sprint since Gareth outsprinted me in our last race together at Shack Attack in Nanaimo back in February. So my plan was to traverse the portage as fast as I could, hopefully creating a gap on Gareth, and since it seemed he was working hard to stay on my wash during lap 4 I expected to be able to hold the lead to the finish…seemed a reasonable idea, now I just needed to execute the plan. My portage went smooth, although my legs were glad this was the last one, and I skipped stopping for a drink, bit of a gamble, but wanted the biggest gap over Gareth that I could get.

Once on the water I got the boat up to speed as quick as possible then tried to settle into a high pace until I could find out where was Gareth. Just before the narrows I passed Ian heading back already on his last lap, he indicated that Gareth was about 150m back…so far so good. Now there were only 2 concerns, I had to navigate the narrows twice more before the final few kms to the finish. The current was flowing fast at this point, so on the downstream pass I coasted through the narrows, letting the current carry me along, keeping my paddle ready to brace as the boils tossed by boat in various directions…ok, 1 down.

I rounded the turn and could now see for myself that I had a comfortable lead over Gareth, so long as I avoided a major mistake, like falling out of my boat in the narrows. As I approached the narrows for the upstream run I stayed on the far right to avoid the worst of the current, and mentally coached myself for the passage…telling myself to relax, make efficient strokes, not to panic if the boat gets turned off course…I can do this. As I approached the worst section Jim came sweeping under the bridge and hollored over to me…” holy cow that is scarey”…ahhh great, poof…just like that all my mental preparation went out the window and I was thinking to myself how much it is going to suck to fall in here and blow all the work I’d done to get back up into this position…Jim and I would share a laugh over this after the race. Fortunately I managed to stay upright through the nasty boils and make my way into the current, then it was just a matter of keeping the boat point upstream and powering against the flow…but I was so relieved to be past that section. From here it was a matter of maintaining a steady pace through to the finish to claim 2nd place behind Ian, Gareth took 3rd, Jaden was 4th, Jim was 5th and John was 6th all in Sr. Men category.

Kristin won the Sr. Womens 24km race ahead of Katja and Kim (Mako 6). The Jr. Mens race (18km) was won by Keith, followed by Ken and David. The Jr. Womens race (18km) was won by Rebecca followed by Claira after Kiran had to abandon the race while leading after 12km when her rudder came loose. Some other tidbits worth noting: the 30km distance was Jim’s longest ever paddle, usually prefering the 200m and 500m sprint distances, and he did well to hold off veteran long distance racer John. I noticed that during the second lap Ian had dropped back well behind Keith and we all had a chuckle after the race when learning that this was because Ian had stopped at one of the docks lining the course to take a leak, I guess when you gotta go you gotta go, he then proceeded to catch back up to and pass Keith.

 After the race we were treated to BBQ burgers and smokies while every racer received cool prizes. The race entry fee was $25 and included a cool race T-shirt, pre-race donuts and drinks, post-race BBQ and drinks and lots of prizes. The event was well organized and they did a good job placing safety boats at key sections throughout the course. We very much appreciate the volunteers who spent 3 hours in the cold to look out for the safety of the competitors. Thanks so much to Marty and his team for taking on the challenge of organizing this unique marathon event, and to pull it off so well despite the uncooperative weather conditions. Hopefully this event will become a mainstay on the racing calendar…I’m sure word will spread from those of us who attended and even more of us will look forward to next year’s Victoria Marathon Race.

Big Chop series starts May 1

The second season of the Big Chop Summer Paddle Series gets underway on Thursday May 1 at 7:00pm. Modelled after the highly popular Deep Cove Tuesday Night Race Series, Big Chop organizers Bryan Tasaka and Ryan Pogue have made tremendous strides to produce a well supported downtown Vancouver based paddlesports series that has quickly gained a devoted following. A big part of the success of the Big Chop is its generous sponsorship by many quality businesses, particularly the commitment of Mountain Equipment Coop as Title Sponsor.

In addition to MEC, the 2008 Big Chop is supported once again by Mind Over Mountain Adventure Racing and Vancouver Ocean Sports as Presenting Sponsors. Helping spread the word of the Big Chop will be Media Sponsors Citytv and Crave 95.3 FM. Think Kayaks and Helly Hansen have come on board as Series Sponsors, joining Lasso Security Cables, Seaward Kayaks and Old Town Canoes & Kayaks.

Prizing Sponsors include: Riders eyewear, Stohlquist, Carb Boom, Edge, h2oaudio, Pelican, Pogue Sports and Watershed. Rumour has it that Accent Paddles may well come on board too.

So what does all this sponsorship mean to us paddlers? Well along with making possible the races…prizes, prizes, prizes!!!

At last year’s races, the post race smokie feast included drawing for some great prizes including: PFDs, waterproof camera and ipod cases, boat security cables, dry bags…and much more! Apparently this year’s races will also include prizes of sunglasses and wing paddles.

…and the second addition of the series finale party is likely to be even more awesome with 2 boats to be given away: Seaward Infiniti TX sea kayak and Think Evo surfski.

Big Chop races range in distance from 7-9 km and there is a Little Chop option for those looking for a 3.5-4 km challenge. Races start off the dock near the boat launch at Vanier Park, with a variety of race courses used. Paddlers will race around the many navigation markers and the sand barge usually tied up in English Bay. On some nights there is also an optional orienteering course that follows the on water part of the race. English Bay can get some wave action to increase the race challenge but for the most part the water conditions are manageable. Big Chop organizers do stress that paddlers should be capable of performing a self rescue and that assistance is to be offered to others paddlers in need…the racing comes second to the safety of the participants.

Once again series points will be awarded…perhaps you can challenge defending champion Chris Dobrovolny to win your entry into the next year’s Big Chop Series.

Once again entry fees are $8 per race, but there is a change to the full 10 race series registration fee, $72 if register by May 1 or $62 if register by May 15. The first 25 full series registrations receive a special Big Chop Helly Hansen Lifa Cool Trailwizard top. Seems a little puzzling why the series registration costs more if you register at the first rather than the second race, but if you will do every race and want to be sure you get the special Big Chop HH Shirt then it may be wise to register early.

Keep an eye on the Big Chop blog for more news and to follow the race results.

If you’ve not already done so, it’s time to dust off that surfski, sea kayak, OC1, canoe or paddle board and get ready for some fun racing.

GPS training/racing tool

The use of GPS has become common in the world of surfski. Getting immediate feedback on your boat speed both in training and racing is valuable to assessing your technique, monitoring your training and adjusting race strategy. Combine a GPS with a heart rate monitor and you get even more useful information.

For those of you considering to enter the electronic world of surfski racing and training, Deakin Outdoors has the Garmin Forerunner 305 on for the fairly attractive price of $259. Prices for these units have dropped substantially over the last year, they used to cost $385…and surprisingly some stores still have prices close to this…so if you are in the market for a GPS consider talking to Sam at Deakin Outdoors 604-253-2685.

April 15 Deep Cove Outdoors Tuesday Night Race

Another great turnout for Tuesday Night Race #2, with 51 boats making the start, with about 15 of this group being surfskis, along with many sea kayaks, a few sprint K1s, 2 OC1’s and a lone stand up paddle boarder.

Under overcast but dry skies the pack launched off the line heading for the white buoy marking the northern entrance to the cove, keeping the marker on our left we turned north heading to Lone Rock rounding the lighthouse, keeping it on our right, then proceeded back to once again round the northern white buoy before proceeding to the finish line in the cove.

The 2nd and 3rd place finishers from last week did not race last night, and race winner Jim opted to race OC1 to practice his canoe stroke in his efforts to secure a seat in the highly competitive FCRCC mens dragon boat crew. With these 3 speedsters not a factor last night that left the race to be decided by others of us. As such Mike (Mako 6) took the early lead with Jeff (Robberg Express) sitting on his side wash. John (Millenium) and Jonathan (V10L), Daryl (Legend) and Chris (Evo) and a few others were strung out behind giving chase. Mike was holding a good pace of 12.6 to 13.5 km/h making the most of the tailwind despite the strong outflowing tide, or perhaps we were traveling in a back eddy resulting from the current being shielded by Lone Rock Island. After rounding the Lone Rock lighthouse the pace slowed as we ground our way into the wind (current?), the pace slowed to 11.0-11.3 km/h. About half way back to the marker Jeff moved ahead with Mike drafting at the stern position, a smart move on Mike’s part considering the headwind. The leading pair made a few accelerations when it looked that John was closing the gap, otherwise we conserved our energy for the finishing sprint. The closer we got to the dock the less was the wind giving flat water for the sprint. As the line neared Mike moved up along side Jeff and then both paddlers gave what we had to pick up the pace, with Jeff edging out Mike at the line. John finished 3rd, Jonathan was 4th in his first surfski race, followed by Kristin (SuperLancer K1), Brian (18x), Daryl and Chris. Kristin is one the young Burnaby Canoe and Kayak Club sprint K1 racers who make the TNRs a regular part of their training, joined tonight by Kiran (SuperLancer K1), Rebecca (Thunder K1) and Jim (SeaLion OC1). Women surfskiers tonight were Katja (Evo), Jodi (V10) and Coleen (Evo)…with Katja and Jodi finishing stern to bow after a great race alongside Micky and Bill paddling the white double baidarka.

Full results will be available ’soon’ on the Deep Cove Outdoors website and perhaps even sooner on Darrell’s blog to which you can find a link posted on the right side of this site.

Tonights post race draw prize winner of the coveted Icebreaker merino wool shirt was Kristin.

All us surfski racers are reminded that the inagural Think International Surfski Challenge is only a couple weeks away: May 3rd Lake Whatcom Classic in Bellingham and May 4th Tour de Indian Arm in Deep Cove. This fun competition between US and Canadian surfski racers is an event you will want to be apart of, the trash talk on the newsgroups is heating up. See the event details described on this site for more information. Come out and support your team.

 

Surfskis versus K1s on Burnaby Lake

Mike and Cam powering their way to the father/son team victory

Ben and Eric doing BCKC proud

John looking for the next wash to ride during the doubles race.

Was nice to see a few surfskis come out on Sunday for the BCKC Spring Regatta held on Burnaby Lake.  Nathan (Huki S1X) and Chris (Think Evo) lined up alongside a couple dozen of BC’sfastest young (and not so young) K1 paddlers for a 6 km race. The race start was a blistering pace with the young guns sprinting off the line at a pace that even had Ian slightly concerned, but only for a moment. For those of you who don’t know, Ian McKenzie is a world class marathon K1 racer, competing on the ICF World Cup circuit and won bronze at a World Cup race in Denmark last year, as well as finishing 6th in the 2007 World Championships in Hungary. Ian also takes part in some of our local surfski races. There was so much wash produced at the start of the race that surfski regulars Jeff, John, Darrell and Gary might have wished they’d opted for their skis rather than the tippy K1s they had elected to race.

The K2 race was even more interesting as it was designed to be more of a fun race with the crews being composed of mixed gender, young/old, novice/experienced paddler combinations to try to even out the speed, and at the same time combining paddlers who don’t often (ever) race together. The strategy seemed to work as the racing was quite competitive and lots of fun was being had on the course…every opportunity was taken to scoop water at the neighbouring paddlers and there were quite a few boat spins…all in good fun.

The father/son teams of Mike and Cam Fitsmaurice (Fenn XT double) and Ben and Eric Fast (Custom Kayaks Mark 2) represented the surfski community well holding their own against the speedy K2s.  John couldn’t resist the opportunity to hop on his Fenn Millenium to dice with the doubles.

Regattas like this are a great opportunity to expose younger paddlers to the sport of surfski racing. The long distance nature of surfskiracing, with races usually starting at around 10 km, does not lend itself well to attracting many youth paddlers, something the short distance focused sprint racing community does quite well. Many of these young flatwater kayakers may migrate to surfski racing as their sprint racing careers wind down so we should continue to look for opportunities to expose these paddlers to surfskis.

April 8 Tuesday Night Race

The first race of the 2008 Deep Cove Outdoors Tuesday Night Race Series, the 10th year of the series, kicked off to a great start last night. The water conditions were flat calm and although the air had a slight chill to it, the rain held off, and for a short spell we even saw some sunshine, although it was shining down on the eastern shore of the Indian Arm channel.

Roughly guessing, there were probably about 40 boats on the water for the start, and lots of them were surfskis, along with the usual gaggle of sea kayaks, a few speedy K1s, an OC-2 and a stand up paddle board.

The traditional course for the first race was followed with racers heading south out of the cove then rounding Grey Rocks in a counterclockwise direction, proceeding north to round the white buoy marking the south entrance to the cove before proceeding to the finish line on the right hand side of the dock. The race distance was 4 km with the top finishers completing the course in just under 20 minutes.

As per usual for the TNR the start was FAST with a group of about 8-10 boats coming together to make the first turn around a private dock before heading south out of the cove. Fortunately the boats sorted themselves out well enough at this bottleneck without any major incidents…meaning nobody cut anybody off, at least not badly. Paul (Huki S1X) and Jim (Thunder K1) were the early pace setters with a small gap back to Gareth (Think Legend), Mike (Fenn Mako 6) and Jeff (Robberg Express). On the back side of Grey Rocks Gareth made the jump to cross the gap to join Paul and Jim, with the 3 of them electing to take the direct route back toward the cove. Meanwhile having missed out on joining the leaders, Mike and Jeff opted to take a more offshore route up the channel, seeking out any current advantage due to the big incoming tide. We seemed to make some early gains but the threesome proved too strong and had increased their advantage by the white buoy. At the finish Jim managed to hold off Gareth with Paul in tow just behind, then Jeff followed shortly by Mike. The next finishers was a pack of 5 boats, making for an exciting push to the line. Kiran (SuperLancer K1) outsprinted the others which included John and Lena (white double baidarka), Bob (Epic V10 super elite), Brian (Epic 18X) and Chris (Think Evo) but I’m not sure of their finishing order. The next racers across the line were a group of 3, Ben (Custom Kayaks Icon) followed by Rod (Fenn Millenium) and Daryl (Think Fit).

Another exciting feature of last night’s race was that there were 4 women racing surfskis: Jodi (Epic V10), Colleen (Think Evo), Kim (Think Evo) and Nancy (Think Fit). It is awesome to see more women getting involved with surfski racing.

Full results will be posted ’soon’ on the Deep Cove Outdoors website.

Round Bowen Challenge News

 

Martin of Bowen Island Sea Kayaking has some exciting news for the 2008 Round Bowen Challenge kayak race.

Along with the 9th Annual Round Bowen Challenge 32 km circumnavigation of Bowen Island, 2 new races have been added to the event:

1) Finisterre Dash…an 8 km short course race taking paddlers to Finisterre Island at the northeastern corner of Bowen Island then returning to the start/finish at Snug Cove, and

2) Outrigger Canoe Round Bowen Relay…a 32 km race for OC-1 and OC-2 teams where crews exchange at Tunstall Bay on the west side of Bowen Island. Open Ocean Outriggers has come on board to support the OC relay.

Another addition to the 2008 Round Bowen Challenge is the introduction of cash prizes for new time records set for completing the circumnavigation of Bowen Island…during the race. Three fantastic Bowen Island businesses have each generously sponsored $500 cash prizes : REDESIGN TECHNOLOGIES Inc.,  THE RUDDY POTATO healthy and organic food store, and BOWEN BUILDING CENTRE Ltd.

The cash prizes will be paid out to new time records set in the solo male, solo female and double kayak categories. These are the times to beat:

solo male          2:31:07

solo female       2:48:44

double kayak   2:38:58

Combine this with the usual scrumptious post race salmon BBQ and the exciting news of Deep Cove Outdoors and Think Kayaks announcement that they will be giving away a Think Evo surfski at the Round Bowen Challenge and it looks like we are in for a great event.