June 29 Lotus Iron Small Boats Race

What a fantastic weekend to be on Vancouver’s waters…the near 30 degree temperatures announced summer’s arrival…finally! Sunday’s race was an about 10 km course that started in front of Barnet Marine Park taking the racers on a northerly route to round Boulder Island after which we crossed the channel heading south west taking us past the lighthouse off Cates Park. From here we continued southwest crossing the main channel to the old McBarge, which believe it or not is till around since its use at Expo 86. After rounding McBarge it was a straight run back to the start/finish line, with a light tailwind and incoming tide helping the racers along this leg.

At the start I launched off the line fairly aggressively and could see an orange tipped surfski off to my right, I think it was Peter in his new Legend. Post race Shane would comment that we had started rather fast with his GPS reading 14.8 km/h and he wasn’t closing the gap…yikes! Soon we met up with the first set of powerboat wash, with the fantastic sunny weather there was no shortage of motorboats out on the water too. Chris was borrowing my kevlar Evo today so I was using Marshall’s V10…and as I have proven time and again…I am faster in the Evo than pretty much any other ski I’ve used.  So when I encountered the first waves I slowed considerably as I wobbled around in the waves. It didn’t take long for Shane (V10) to pass so I took the opportunity to move onto his stern wash…I was too wobbly to sit on his side slip. I believe Ken (V10) was sitting on my stern wash…I expect Jonathan (V10L), John (millenium) and Chris (Evo) were nearby too but couldn’t see exactly where they were. We had settled in for the crossing to Boulder when a large set of waves crossed our path…unfortunately I had to ease up to make it through the set so lost Shane’s wash…I think it may have caused similar disruptions behind me…could hear some solid bow slapping as the skis pushed over the steep waves. As we rounded Boulder Shane had an about 4 boat lengths lead on myself with about 2 boat lengths back John leading Jonathan and Ken. This threesome quickly caught me so I settle in on John’s right slip as we headed over to Cates. The waves were just a bit too troublesome to comfortably stay on the side wash so I found myself sliding back alongside Jonathan. Soon an opportunity arose for me to slide in behind John but soon again I found myself off the wash…the sets of motorboat wash kinda kept things in a constant state of change. At one point Jonathan and I were both off the wash…after a very brief discussion Jonathan was going to take John’s stern wash so as he accelerated I moved behind Jonathan. Unfortunately my ineptitude in the waves prevented my staying with Jonathan who was having an equally difficult time staying with John. So as we made our way past Cates Shane was way out front of John, then a smaller gap back to Jonathan. Ken passed me at Cates and soon Chris too moved off to try to chase Ken. Then the father/son team of Mike and Cam brought their Mako XT into the mix, just a few boat lengths behind the duo of Ken and Chris. I had moved off to the right taking a more upcurrent/upwind line to McBarge…was looking for any advantage I could find at this point. By the time we converged at McBarge Shane was way out front, John had what looked be about 10 seconds on Jonathan then there was about 30 seconds back to Chris then another 10 seconds back to Ken who was a couple boat lengths ahead of me with Mike/Cam close behind. After the turn I locked my sights on Chris and stepped on the gas, quickly passing Ken in the process. Took about 1-2 minutes before I attempted to settle in on Chris’ stern wash…noticing his new found company Chris took the opportunity to do an acceleration of his own…looks like this was payback for our last Thursday Big Chop race…well done Chris. After reclosing the gap I quickly moved onto Chris’ right slip…the waves were less of an issue along this stretch. After settling in we analyzed our situation, Ken looked to be losing ground so it didn’t appear he was a threat to catch us…Mike/Cam were hanging in close behind so we had to be sure not to slow our pace too much as we prepared for our finish. I’d briefly considered striking out to try to catch Jonathan but the gap looked to be too great…and figured that even if I’d caught him Jonathan would just outsprint me since I’d be wiped out from the effort to have caught him…so I figured if I was racing for 4th place that I’d be better off trying to outsprint Chris. As we approached the line we passed through an area with lots of floating weeds and debris…while sitting alongside Chris I could feel the huge V10 rudder passing through the weeds…then I passed over a long ‘thing’ floating in my path…whatever it was it significantly slowed the boat until it cleared the rudder…don’t worry Marshall, whatever it was it seemed soft and didn’t damage your baby. I now found myself about a half boat length behind Chris’ stern with the line fast approaching. Chris was now in sprint mode so I gave it one last effort to try to catch him…I moved over to his left side…in case there were more weeds, then hit the gas…Chris won the sprint by about 1 meter…well done!

Mike/Cam finished in 6th place followed by Ken, Peter, Ben (Mako 6), Katja (Legend) and Lina (Mako XT).

What a great weekend of racing! Jonathan, Shane, myself and Peter raced the 17 km OC-6 race on Saturday which used a similar course except we continued on past Boulder Island to round Racoon Island. It was a fun race despite the huli my team (Mike, Jaden, Jeff, Gordon, Jeff and Paul) did shortly after the start. After bailing out our boat we found ourselves in last place so there was nothing left to do but set out to catch some boats. We ended up finishing in 5th place…which is where we likely would have placed without the swim…the top 4 crews were over 6 minutes ahead of us…the huli likely only cost us 2-3 minutes. I think there were 17 boats in the race.

If any of you would like to give OC-6 a try check out the CORA website for the many outrigger clubs in BC…most will be happy to provide an opportunity for you to try out the sport.

After the racing on both days Lotus provided a tasty feast of BBQ chicken and curry with rice along with some cool draw prizes. Thanks so much to the Lotus Sports Club gang for putting on such a great event and for welcoming surfskis at your primarily outrigger focussed event.

Lotus Iron Small Boats Race was event #6 in the SurfskiBC Race Series…the series standings have now been updated. The top ten standings have seen Shane, Mike, Jeff, John and Ben move up in the overall points championship while Shane’s victory has given him a commanding lead of the short course points championship with Jeff, Mike, Chris, John and Jonathan also moving up in the top 10 short course standings.

Overall Championship leaders	Long Course Championship leaders	Short Course Championship leaders
1. Ian 75	1. Ian 50	1. Shane 61
2. Shane 71	2. Don 45	2. Jonas 42
3. Mike 70	3. Ben 37	3. Jeff 39
4. Jeff 69	3. John 37	4. Mike 36
5. John 58	4. Mike 34	5. Gareth 30
6. Paul 50	5. Jeff 30	6. Ian 25
7. Ben 46	6. Shaun 28	6. Paul 25
8. Don 45	6. Larry 28	7. Chris 22
9. Jonas 42	7. Morris 27	8. John 21
10. Gareth 41	8. Paul 25	9. Jonathan 18

 

Round Bowen Challenge photos

And they’re off!

Racers depart sheltered Snug Cove to start their Round Bowen Challenge

The great variety of racing boats are dwarfed by the BC Ferry heading for Nanaimo

Racers view of the south east shores of Bowen Island

Racers face the bouncy water conditions along Bowen’s east shore

Jeff/Katja lead Erik, Patrick and Don in the waves near Cowen Point

Morris/Jeff in the stylish pink Millenium with Mike/Paul offshore in their new Mako XT

Jeff/Katja followed by Don with Gareth in the background just rounding Cape Roger Curtis

Erik motoring along in his new Fenn Elite surfski

Patrick of Ocean Paddle Sports paddling Mako 6

Jeff/Katja followed by Don in his Super Elite V10

Jeff and Katja paddling Mako XT

Jodi/Colleen chasing Jim and the Think Legend surfski

Jodi and Colleen in the Mako XT

Jodi/Colleen and company

June 26 MEC Big Chop race

Forty paddlers took part in Race #5 of the Mountain Equipment Co-op Big Chop Summer Paddling Series under cloudy skies at Vancouver’s Vanier Park. Today’s course was the Westside Loop, click on the image (thanks Darrell) to enlarge the course map. Racers were supervised by the Vancouver Police boat at today’s start with Chris (Evo) jumping out fast trying to take advantage of the small waves created by our police escort. Jeff (Evo) quickly accelerated onto the back of the lead safery boat while Ryan was watching other racers, unfortunately it didn’t take Ryan long to notice me then veared off of the line to the first buoy. After the little bit of fun at the start I started moving over to the right side of the course where Chris was striking out on his own at the front. Settling in about 10 meters behind Chris we proceeded to work the small sets of motorboat wash…at this time Sean (V10 Sport) was locked on my stern but lost some ground while attempting to take advantage of a wave set that didn’t prove overly beneficial. I held my pace fairly steady to see if Sean would catch up but having lost the wash he seemed to be struggling with the pace. As we approached the orange buoy off Second Beach I picked up the pace to halve the gap to Chris, after rounding the buoy we headed out to the sand barge buoy, which tonight had a green barge tied up. Early on this leg I pull alongside Chris, staying about 5 meters to his left, then called over to Chris asking if the big boat to our right was heading our way…as he turned his head I stepped on the gas…Chris immediately responded figuring out quickly my attempt at distracting him. As Chris settled at my stern he verbally reminded himself not to bump my boat remembering that last race he did that I put on a hard acceleration as his punishment…just for fun of course…I’m totally fine with a little boat bumping…is part of pack racing. Despite Chris’ cordial behaviour I’d already decided that I wanted to take off on my own for tonight’s race…so I put in a couple short bursts to put some burn in his arms, each time he managed to close back up to my surfski…he then made some comment about needing to catch his breath so after about 5 seconds I hit the gas hard this time and held the speed longer…this opened a sizable gap. After slowing my pace for a minute I figured Chris would be making a last attempt to close the gap so I did another short acceleration…by now we were approaching the sand barge and as we rounded the turn there was an about 20 meter gap. This gap stayed fairly constant as we proceeded to round the red channel marker then the green channel marker. Chris’ attempts at having Ryan’s safety boat create a favourable wave heading in his direction fell on deaf ears…although it might have been fun if this had happened. Keeping a comfortable pace we then headed back out to the sand barge buoy, along the way catching up to a nice set of waves that afforded a nice rest for a few seconds. Chris tried to convince me that my pfd was falling off my boat, a quick glance indicated he was pulling my leg…touche. Rounding the sand barge buoy for the second time Chris was still about 20 meters back…figured I see if this gap could be increased by the finish so I picked up my pace for a couple minutes…on nearing the entrance to False Creek Jonathan came alongside in his V10L having had to miss the race due to a dragon boat practise commitment…after his teams successful victories at last weekend’s Alcan regatta they are now in final preparations for Canadian World Club Team Trials to be held at Toronto in 3 weeks. We had a nice chat about the upcoming Lotus races taking place this weekend…we are both racing OC-6 on Saturday…then at the finish Jon backed off to allow me to cross the line on my own. Chris finished 2nd about 30 seconds back, followed by Sean then Gary (Evo). The first place woman surfskier was Leo who is continuing to make great improvements in her surfski paddling…I think she really likes her Evo. Mel paddled her S1X surfski but for some reason opted for the Little Chop course tonight.

Once again the post race festivities were well attended, with plenty of smokies, chips, cookies and beverages on hand for the racers and volunteers. Big Chop organizers Ryan and Bryan have a fantastic crew of volunteers that are instrumental in making this series a huge success…we owe a huge thank you to these awesome folks who are easily recognized in their Big Chop Helly Hansen blue volunteer jackets. Along with our Carb Boom energy gel that we received at race registration another huge load of prizes were given out. Sean won a second Accent wing blade kayak paddle…what a lucky guy! Six year old Olivia once again enjoyed racing double sea kayak with her dad Matt…apparently Olivia is a huge fan of the post race smokies…she has quickly become a Big Chop ’star’.

See you at the next surfski races:

Sunday June 29, Lotus Iron Small Boats Race 11:30am at Barnett Marine Park. Arrive early as they have been known to start this race a half hour earlier than the posted start time.

Saturday July 12 Howe Sound Outrigger/Surfski Race (27 km), 1:35 pm at Gibsons.

Sunday July 13 Pulling Water Paddling Classic (14 km), 8:45 am at Gibsons. Register for the Gibsons races by July 9 to save on the entry fees, note that Saturday’s entry fee includes a tasty post race BBQ.

Cool webcam surfski video

Check out this video of Oscar paddling in a Durban surfski race with a camera mounted on his back deck.

June 24 Deep Cove TNR

Now that is the weather we’ve all been waiting for…the sun was shining brightly for TNRacers as we headed out onto Indian Arm for our weekly fun paddling race. There was a very light breeze, but not enough wind to create much in the way of waves…but the nice weather brings out powerboats too and as such there was plenty of motorboat wash around to keep paddlers on our toes.
Tonight’s event featured a pre-race pep talk by Bob discussing the details of the race route and specifics of the self rescue that each paddler would need to perform at the dock prior to crossing the finish line. Bob suggested that in the flat calm conditions of the finish line area paddlers should expect to be able to re-enter their craft in less than 1 minute…any longer than this and we should seriously consider much more practise and even to get some instruction…because when we do end up needing to be able to perform a self rescue it is very unlikely to be in flat calm conditions…it will be in water conditions rough enough to knock us off our ski or flip our kayak in the first place.
Tonight’s course took paddlers over to round the piling at Maple Beach which is near Admirality Point then back to the cove where paddlers jumped into the water on the south side of the finish dock, re-entered their boat then paddled under the pier to the usual finish line at the north side of the dock.

3-2-1-GO…and we were off! Despite the large turnout of paddlers the race started without incident…with a large pack of surfskis quickly forming at the front of the field. I had a great view of this from well back in the outrigger canoe I was paddling tonight. I’m doing another OC-6 race this Saturday so wanted to get a little more practise in canoe. As we left the cove most of the field stayed fairly close to the west shore to avoid the incoming tidal current…but eventually we had to angle offshore heading over toward Hamber Island. At this point the field spread out taking various lines to cross the channel. Katja seemed to figure things out quickly opting to move her Legend in tight to Hamber’s shore to avoid the worst of current and to pass a few paddlers in the process. Some paddlers took the more direct line across the channel and although they had to work against the current, eventually they were ‘rewarded’ by having the video boat traverse this same line giving opportunities for wash riding. It is so funny to hear stories after the race of paddlers getting upset about others riding the video boat’s wash…hey guess what, this has been happening for years…and it is going to keep happening…get over it! If you haven’t figured it out yet…the TNR series is primarily a fun race series with some great competition…unlike some of the South African and Australian weekly race series where racers compete for series championships…clearly in these scenarios it would be bad to have the race safety/video boat impact the results. Think about it guys…cursing the video boat driver is really not all that productive!

After the turn off Maple Beach, Paul looked to have a huge lead over the chase pack…looks like Paul is getting pretty comfortable in his Super Elite V10. The chase pack was led by John (Millenium) and also included the father/son team of Mike and Cam in their Mako XT double surfski. Into the turn I was just behind the 2nd and 3rd place women surfskiers Caroline (S1-X) and Jodi (V10), with 4th place Lina (Mako XT) a short distance behind. Gary had the 18X moving well but was clearly losing ground to Katja (Legend) despite his efforts to close the gap. As we crossed the channel from Hamber back to the cove our ‘friend’ in the party cruise ship was steaming down the channel and clearly felt all these kayaks should be getting the hell out of his way…with horn blasting the big boat didn’t waver from its intended line, in the process freaking out a couple recreational sea kayakers who were paddling mid channel and fortunately some of the racers altered their course to avoid becoming barely noticable speed bumps for the huge boat. Apparently this is the same boat that a couple weeks ago got upset at number of TNRacers at the entrance to Bedwell Bay…I wonder if the Coast Guard needs to have a chat with this jackass.

For the most part it seemed everyone was able to perform their self rescue…although there was at least 1 surfski paddler who has some work to do to ensure she can confidently get back onto her ski. Unfortunately the videographer didn’t capture much of the usually hilarious re-entry techniques employed by our motley crew.

The next racing opportunities are:

Thursday June 26 Big Chop Summer Paddling Series, 7:00 pm at Vanier Park.

Sunday June 29 Lotus Iron Small Boats Race (11 km), 11:30 am at Barnett Marine Park. Might be a good idea to arrive early since they have been known to start the race 30 minutes early!

Saturday July 12 Howe Sound Outrigger/Surfski Race (27 km), 1:35 pm at Gibsons.

Sunday July 13 Pulling Water Paddling Classic (14 km), 8:45 am at Gibsons. Register for the Gibsons races by July 9 to save on the entry fees, note that Saturday’s entry fee includes a tasty post race BBQ.

Sunday July 13 BCMTA Ocean Kayak Marathon (10 km), 9:30 am at Jericho Beach. This event has restrictions on the type of craft that can be raced…unfortunately surfskis are not welcome.

The CORA website indicates a race in Kelowna on July 12 called Take the Bridge but information on this event is scarce. Those who may be interested should check this facebook group for information.

 

To Round Bowen Challenge or Not To…That was the question…Here is how it was answered.

In the days leading up to the Round Bowen Challenge I was asked by fellow Tuesday Night Racer Jodi as to my opinion about whether she and Colleen should attempt the race in the double Mako XT that was available to them.My initial reaction…which I kept to myself…was “hell yeah, that is an awesome race…you’ll have a blast.”
Then I stepped back and gave this some thought…sure I’d like them to do this race since it is absolutely my favourite race of the season and I think they’d like it too…but just how much do I know about their paddling skills to allow myself to be put in the position to potentially affect their decision on doing a race that could put them in serious danger if they are not prepared for the potential challenges.

Without having intimate knowledge of their paddling skills and general preparedness for the challenges that can be imposed by this race course it seemed a good idea to instead present Jodi and Colleen with some questions along with thoughts on some answers that would lead to my recommending a Yes or No for the decision of whether they are likely prepared to take on the Round Bowen Challenge.

The following is the email discussion between Jodi, Colleen and myself…both Jodi and Colleen have agreed to allow this information to be published in case others may find this useful, both by those of us who may find themselves asked similar questions and by those of us wondering if we are prepared for some potentially challenging event in our surfski racing future.

Jodi’s question:
Can you share some of your experience with the Bowen race? Both Colleen and I feel a little out of our league on this one. Colleen’s husband is quite concerned about us in the Mako XT. Do you think we should be doing it? Bob seems to think we can, but I’m not sure either one of us are the strong confident paddlers he thinks we are. Do you know if there will be many rescue boats on the course? I’d like to put both our families at ease on this one, and the website doesn’t give out much info.

My response:
Should you and Colleen be racing Round Bowen in the double ski? Hmmm…tough question for me to answer. Perhaps I can ask you some questions to answer that could help with your decision.

1) Can you and Colleen paddle the 32 km distance…not necessarily race the entire distance, but are you confident that if the weather would not be a factor could you somewhat comfortably complete the distance?

2) Do both of you have some rough water paddling experience? I’m not talking South African downwind surfing conditions…but have each of you been out in 15-20 knot winds and have paddled with side chop?

3) Do you and Colleen know/trust each other enough to develop and stick to a race plan that would take into consideration various challenges that might be faced out on the course?

Some thoughts on your answers:
If #1 is NO then absolutely don’t do the race. But don’t make too much of my having used the word ‘comfortably’…everyone feels completely wasted after finishing this race.

As this race goes right around Bowen it is usual to experience some wind and/or wave activity at some point along the course. Being able to stay calm and deal with the rough water is what is needed on a long race like this…it is mostly about overcoming the rough conditions with the right attitude…so long as you already have some experience with some rough water paddling…just apply your experience to the challenge of the time. But…a 32 km race is not the time for one’s first exposure to rough water.

A well thought out race plan can go a long way to a safe and ‘believe it or not’ enjoyable Round Bowen race. Have a race strategy worked out before the race.
How hard are we going to go at the start? This ain’t no Tuesday Night Race…32 km is a long way…the race is not won in the first 5 minutes.
What are we going to do if we have other boats drafting us? Do we care? Enjoy the company? Stop paddling so we can focus on our own race?
Agree an effort that both of you will paddle…no good if one of you is working harder than the other…be on the same page…this is particularly important if you have any concerns about handling rougher water…you will both need to be performing well to overcome the rough water and/or wind challenges that the course may present.
Regularly make sure you and your partner are drinking…this is so, so important…drink till you puke…then drink some more…I know this is gross but it is reality. And regularly check to see how your partner is feeling…are you each putting out the agreed upon effort for where you are along the course…is easy to get caught up in the race and forget these things…especially if there is rough water or other paddlers nearby.
Have specific plans for how to approach rough water and wind. Know what are each other’s strengths and weaknesses when it comes to rough water and wind. And fears…if big waves scare either of you then you want to know this…one or both of you may need to provide lots of positive encouragement to make it through what may be a scary section of the course. But you need to know this in advance.
Know what the tides are doing and ask questions of those with Round Bowen experience about the danger areas and how to take advantage of currents and how to avoid currents.

There will be safety boats situated along the course. I don’t recall how many, usually there are more in the areas most needed on the day, depending on the weather.

And remember…if the weather looks particularly ominous on Sunday there is always the short course option…that is one reason why this race was introduced, to give a racing option to those who may not be confident in their ability to handle the water conditions of the full Round Bowen course on the day. If it is too rough some paddlers will switch courses…and some may even be asked to do so if the race organizer is not confident in their ability to handle the day’s weather conditions.

I hope some of this will help with your and Colleen’s decision about the race.

About 5 years ago we had huge waves at Round Bowen, there were 10 foot (maybe bigger) waves coming out of the northwest that were cruising along the south shore of Bowen…it was so scary…I’d never been in waves like that before…I was paddling a Looksha II sea kayak…and I wasn’t totally stable in it in rough water. Katja was in the race too, also in a Looksha II. I recall entering this section of the course, which we did early in the race (clockwise race direction that year), and thinking ‘ok, all I want to do here is make it through this section, I’m not going to win my race here but I can certainly lose it’. I tried to stay relaxed, used my energy to control the boat and concentrate on moving the boat over each wave…it took a long time to get through the section…but I did it…and I felt great for having accomplished this…and I had saved enough energy that I was able to catch a few paddlers ahead of me…we all had fantastic stories of overcoming that big challenge…if you and Colleen think you can make this work then I’d suggest doing the race…it is so gratifying to face and overcome these kinds of challenges.

Jodi’s answers:
1) Paddling the distance: no problem for me. I never have paddled that far, but I did an ironman without ever having run a marathon! I’ve swam across English bay twice (10km) in 3hrs. I think this will feel the same. I have confidence in my endurance and strength for any event lasting a day.

2) Rough water: well…only for short periods of a ½ hr or so. I found it exhausting in my V-10, but ok in more stable boats.

3) Compatible partner: Colleen and I have known each other for several years. I think we understand each other’s expectations for this race. We are both in agreement of a flexible plan for the race if conditions are more than either one of us can handle.

Comments: We plan an easy pace to start the race. We will ignore other boats that may draft us, in fact we will enjoy the company! We will stay focused on the race and give it our best but at the same time we want to enjoy and have fun! Just a finish will be victory enough for us!

Colleen’s answers:
Approaching a race with a partner does require some pre-discussion.

First of all, how well do you know your partner? How does this person deal with stress, fatigue, pain? In endurance racing this is really important. Jodi and I have done a lot of endurance racing-maybe not in kayaks but other sports. For me those sports have been outrigger canoeing, running, biking and adventure racing. I do believe there is a lot of overlap. It is important to know how your body responds over time as you put more and more demands on it. I know I am okay if I make sure I have lots of food and water and that I am warm. I don’t do well with cold and have a tough time getting warm again. This is one of my biggest fears with endurance paddling.

Trusting your partner: In a double surfski this is paramount. Although we both knew each others physical abilities and knew we could handle the distance, knowing how each other responds to rough water is something we could have had a lot more practice in. Every move one makes affects the other. As we had only been in the boat together three or four times and not in big water, we were not always synchronized. Sometimes I would readjust myself (as Jodi put it – that little wiggle) in the boat and this would really throw Jodi’s stroke off. Then I would ask her to keep her stroke even, not realizing it was my fault! It is all about more time spent in the boat together.

Compatibility: This is all about talking about your expectations and knowing what you are getting into together. If one person wants to race and the other wants to do it to complete it, it’s not going to work. Both of you are going to be frustrated. In our case, we knew it was just about experiencing the race, and we stuck to that. We knew how hard we were willing to push it and what our limitations were.

Dealing with the distance: As Jodi said, I often don’t train the full distance for racing. However, I have done many events that are 3-7 hours. So I know how to get through it mentally and physically. If you have not done that kind of distance in any sport before, it may be worthwhile training for it. In the end, it is all about pacing. If we were experienced in endurance racing for kayaking we would have gone for it! But being our first time, we wanted to make sure we had the energy for the waves and to finish. There is always another race. I feel you can only train for racing, by racing!!

Jodi’s post race report:
The simple fact that we finished made it great! The first hour and twenty were a bit of a tough go, but after that we were good to go! I was a little surprised at the start to see Shane fall in, and then as soon as we turned the corner we were right into the rough water. No easing into it at all! We paddled along with Bob Falkner and Alex’s son in the double for a while. I enjoyed listening to Bob’s encouraging words to Alex’s son who was paddling only for his third time. I don’t think Colleen and I spoke a word to each other until we capsized at about 40 minutes into the race. Then we just discussed re-mounting the boat, and with two tries we were back in the boat and once again fighting our way through the chop. We heard a capsize just to our right and behind, an Evo I think. Nothing we could do, so we just kept paddling. We had a slight collision with a double outrigger. Not sure if it was our fault or theirs but it was difficult to make room and I think they were struggling as much as we were. No words were exchanged; I think both boats were happy to escape still up-right! It was a tough call weather we should stay in close to shore or move further out. I tried both. Nearing the points I took it wide, as there seemed to be the most rebound waves, current and confusion at those areas. We soon realized Colleen had lost her water bladder during the capsize. About a ½ hour later she found it dragging…when she pulled it in we picked up 1.5 km/h right away! When we turned the SW corner toward Gibson’s, we let out the BIGGEST whoop and holler you could imagine! We celebrated with our first gel. (I hate those things!) It was the best gel I’d ever had! A nice calm steady go along the back side of Bowen was just what we needed to recharge a bit, and we managed to pick up about 6 boats. I finally had to pull on to shore for a pee. I cannot pee in the boat! Stepping onto barnacle covered rocks with wobbly legs proved to be the second biggest challenge of the day! I forgot all about climbing up to a bush, and just peed right there to the amusement of those who passed by. Oh well, an adventure racer none the less! Now back in the boat for a final push toward the finish. The wind seemed to build with every paddle stroke as I watched the GPS drop from 11 km down to 10, and 9.5, then 8. It felt like we would never get there! We did and I was very happy to be finished! All I could think about after was FOOD!

I was never cold or hot during the race. I was happy with my final decision as to what to wear. Long neoprene pants and two layers on top (Lifa and mysterioso hoody). Hydration system was 100%, one gel seemed to do it, and I had no aches or pains, just started feeling the fatigue near the end. I feel great today, minus a slight headache probably due to a little dehydration and from exertion in general.

Final Comments:
This was one of the most challenging race conditions we’ve had yet in the 9 years of this race. Everyone who completed this course is to be congratulated. Our experiences gained in this race will give us confidence to face similar and even greater challenges to come.
Hopefully our sharing the thought processes that lead to Jodi’s and Colleen’s successful Round Bowen Challenge will prove useful to other paddlers considering similar challenges and to those who may be asked similar advice.

Happy Paddling,
Jeff, Jodi and Colleen

September 20 Length of the Lake

Those of you who have done this race know it is a fantastic event…a real challenge to finish off a long season of racing. The race begins in Vernon and finishes 100 km away at Penticton, with the course running the length of Okanagan Lake. The route is divided into 5 legs, teams can be composed of up to 5 crews to complete the 5 legs…some hearty soles event tackle the full 100 km…incredible.

Last year I did this race as a team of 2 with Paul Hardy of Vernon. It worked out real well, I did the first leg while Paul drove to meet me at the first transition point…Paul then put his boat in the water and upon my arrival started his way on leg 2. I then loaded my boat onto his car and continued on down the road to the second transition point…along the way being able to watch the progress of the racers from high above the cliffs. We continued this leap frogging until finishing up at Penticton’s peach on the beach which is the finish line. That evening was rounded out with a huge feast at a local restaurant where awards were handed out and photos of the days event were displayed on a big screen.

The event attracts kayaks, surfskis, OC-1’s, OC-2’s and OC-6’s. Traditionally the racers get a nice push down the lake that provides decent downwind paddling conditions…although last year we experienced more headwind than tailwind…but this was out of the ordinary…the evening before I arrived there were huge rollers steaming down the lake at Kelowna and on the day after the race there was a strong wind blowing from the north…was just poor luck that we had some south wind for the race.

Penticton Racing Canoe Club host this great event…but they are currently having issues with their website…as such they have created a Length Of The Lake group on Facebook…the event organizer will post further information on the 2008 event as it becomes available.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4033703599

 

SurfskiBC Race Series Points Leaders

After 5 races Ian has taken over the overall points lead thanks to his 3rd win in as many races competed. Jeff, Shane, Jonas and Gareth all moved up in the top 10 standings due to their recent Trial by Water results. Jonas used this second short course race of the series to solidify his lead in this category with Shane and Gareth staying close to points leader. The next race in the SurfskiBC Race Series is June 29th’s short course category Lotus Iron Small Boats Race (11 km) hosted by Lotus Sports Club located at Burnaby’s Barnett Marine Park. See the Events page for details. 

Overall Championship leaders	Long Course Championship leaders	Short Course Championship leaders
1. Ian 75	1. Ian 50	1. Jonas 42
2. Mike 59	2. Don K. 45	2. Shane 36
3. Jeff 56	3. Ben 37	3. Gareth 30
4. Paul 50	3. John 37	4. Jeff 26
5. Shane 46	4. Mike 34	5. Ian 25
6. Don K. 45	5. Jeff 30	5. Mike 25
7. Jonas 42	6. Shaun 28	5. Paul 25
8. Gareth 41	6. Larry 28	6. Don C. 12
9. Ben 38	7. Morris 27	7. Nathan 11
10. John 37	8. Paul 25	7. Reid 11

 

June 17 Deep Cove TNR

Fortunately the weather gave us a break at last evenings Tuesday Night Race…we had so much sun on the weekend that I’m sure most of us surfski racers needed some cool, cloudy weather to let our sunburns heal…yeah, right!

As promised, running was introduced into this week’s TNR, with paddlers having to land at the beach across from Jug Island then run up and down the steep trail…with a teal or aquamarine ( I think its called blue Bob) balloon tied to a tree marking the turn around point. Short coursers headed straight over to the beach and back while the long course had paddlers head north to round the Lone Rock lighthouse then cross the channel to round Racoon Island before proceeding to the beach and then back to the cove, for a total distance of 7.8 km.

To spice things up a bit tonight myself and Gareth teamed up in double surfski to race against Paul and Mike, with both crews using double Mako XT’s. Other double surfskis in the race were John/Lina (Mark 2) and Jodi/Sasha (Mako XT). Gareth and I started quite quickly keeping the pace over 15 km/h for the first 200 m…Paul/Mike pulled along side to sit on our right slip. As we left the cove we were pushing into a head wind and our speed showed it…we were cruising along at 12 km/h which is slow for these crews. High tide was at 8 pm so there shouldn’t have been much in the way of current to slow us down…it was likely just the wind we were fighting against. After rounding the lighthouse we slid back onto Paul/Mike’s left slip to take a rest. There were some small waves during the crossing to Racoon but the Mako XT is so stable that we barely noticed them. After rounding Racoon we moved back to the front with Paul/Mike sliding back to our right slip. We now had the wind at our back and our speed showed this…we were now doing between 13-14 km/h along this stretch. Unfortunately my cool Seaward Kayaks shades started to fog up so I had to take them off to see where we were going. Eventually Paul and I managed to find Jug Island among the treed background of Belcarra Park…actually we didn’t figure it out until we were practically beside the island…that huge gap between the island and beach finally showed us where we should be heading! There was very little beach due to the high tide but fortunately most of the field had opted to do the long course…meaning there were only a few of the short course boats at the beach when we arrived. Since Paul doesn’t run I volunteered to even things out by also not running, leaving Mike and Gareth to do the run on behalf of our teams. As Paul and I kept the engines warm on our surfskis we got to watch the many other racers try to find a place to store their boats and then head up the hill. That tiny beach was littered with surfskis and kayaks. Gareth and my plan for the race was to have us stay even after the run to set up an exciting sprint finish between the two double surfskis…unfortunately Mike must not have gotten the memo as he decided it would be a good idea to run away from Gareth on the longer than Gareth expected uphill slog. Paul/Mike left the beach about 10-15 seconds ahead of us…and after stopping briefly to exchange paddles…seems Mike and Paul had gotten their paddles mixed up…the race was on for the finish. Initially it looked like we were closing the gap but by the finish it appeared that the gap had increased…despite the fact that we were going about 14 km/h over this final stretch, clearly they were going just that much faster…well done guys!

John/Lina finished in 3rd place while some surfskier without a PFD was the first solo finisher. Amazing that there are still some people that chose to disrespect this event organizer’s wish that all racers wear a PFD. I wish I was that special so that I could race without my PFD too…oh well.

It is worth noting that most of the field opted to do the long course tonight…traditionally the first multisport TNR of the season has racers do what was tonight’s short course. It seems that most TNRers were looking for the greater challenge tonight…perhaps this information will be useful to the race organizer in considering courses for the remainder of the TNR season.

As far as upcoming events go, there are no races this weekend…a welcome break for some of us! The next races are Tuesday June 24th’s Deep Cove TNR, Thursday June 26th’s Big Chop Race then Sunday June 29th’s Lotus Iron Small Boats Race at Barnett Marine Park in Burnaby…see the Events page for details.

June 15 Trial by Water at Victoria

Finally some SUNSHINE to race under…seems like it has been along time. After taking part in Saturday’s Island Iron Outrigger Canoe race I wasn’t sure how my body was going to react but I felt pretty good sitting in my surfski awaiting the start. Maybe it was my warm up that helped, Gareth took me to a tall, he called it medium sized but it looked darn tall to me, Oak tree near his home to give me a taste of what he does for a living. As an Arbourist, Gareth is required to climb all sorts of massive trees to cut down branches that are in need of removal. So up went the ropes…way up…on went the harnesses…and after a quick lesson there I was playing spiderman…pulling and climbing my way up this big oak tree…gingerly walking out about 20 feet on a long sturdy limb as if I was ready to do some pruning. After successfully coaching me back to the ground, Gareth took the opportunity to do a practise run on his course. You see, Gareth doesn’t just do this for a living, he also competes with other arbourists from around the world, and having won the 2007 regional event, Gareth will be competing in the World Championships later this summer…pretty cool. So as I watched from below with the timer, Gareth set off to make his way out to the 5 markers arranged throughout the tree…just like Tarzan…he just flew from branch to branch then seemly parachuted to the ground after just under 3 minutes, setting a personal best on this course…in a time shorter than it took me just to climb up to the first set of branches. Oh, those who have met Gareth know he’s a strong fella…and not from pumping iron…the trees are his gym.

The racers assembled at Gonzales Beach, a small little gem of a beach nestled amongst some monster homes just outside of downtown Victoria. There were similar numbers of outrigger canoes and surfskis, but there was a notable absence of the mainland surfski gang. With the light southwest wind that was blowing the course was modified slightly with the hopes of being able to increase the downwind section of the course…to give the racers a better chance of catching some runs. From Gonzales Beach we headed to the right (west) about 1.5 km to a marker just inside of the next point, the name of which I forget. After rounding the big orange buoy we turned back to pass by Gonzales Beach staying to the mainland side of Trial Island, taking us through a narrow passage that is known for strong tidal current. At the eastern side of the channel there is a big yellow/black channel marker that we keep on our right then proceed offshore to round Trial Island then return to the start/finish line.

After exiting the protected bay that held the start, 4 paddlers moved to the front of the field, Shane (V10) and Gareth (V10L) were setting the pace at the front with Jonas (S1X Special) and Ian (S1X) sitting in behind. A small, but growing gap behind found Jeff (Evo) and Nathan (S1X) then Don (S1R) and Jerome (The Wolf). Jerome’s kayak is his own design that he has used masterfully in the past to ride waves and wash. Hopefully we will see more of Jerome at these races…not too long ago he used to win most of these races. I didn’t see how the women were placed after the start, there were 3 gals, Kathleen (S1X Special), Sheila (S1X Special) and Kim (Mako 6). After rounding the first marker (orange buoy) racers had to decide whether to stay offshore to get a better angle to ride the waves into the channel or to take advantage of the current waves to get some extra speed. In the distance Ian could be seen testing out the waves which were taking him somewhat off course, while Jonas was staying out, not trying to work the waves. This is Jonas’ home paddling area so I opted to follow Jonas’ line. It didn’t take long before the others did the same. During this stretch Jonas and Ian openned up a gap on Shane and Gareth, while Nathan and I were together a further distance behind. The anticipated runs never did materialize, the closer we got to Trial Island the smaller were the wind waves, there was a low swell but it wasn’t giving more than a small push from time to time. After passing the north end of Trial Island we could see some very choppy water ahead, this is where the current was creating some quite confused water, into which we had to paddle in order to get over to the turning marker. One advantage to being behind other racers is that you can observe what the currents are doing by the direction the boat is facing relative to where you know they are trying to go. As such, by watching Gareth’s boat I was able to adjust my line in advance of some of the nasty currents to minimize the amount of fighting against the current in order to round the marker which was pretty much leaning at 45 degrees due to the strong current pushing it. According to Nathan, somehow I’d managed to open up an about 100 foot lead on him after coming out the rough water/current section. From here we headed out to the south end of Trial Island, along the way I thought I’d noticed Gareth getting pushed toward the east side of the island by current so I opted to take an offshore line over to the tip of Trial, while Nathan split the difference chosing a line between myself and Gareth. Turns out that Gareth had intentionally moved close to Trial in order to get out of the headwind and current…as it was, Nathan managed to pull even with me by the time our paths converged just before the tip of the island. The west side of Trial was pretty daunting, there was a strong current moving against our intended direction of travel, so we did our best to hug the kelp beds that line the shore. Just a few feet away was this fast flowing, turbulent river that seemed to just be waiting for us to make a bad move to suck us out to sea…it was quite loud too, like paddling beside a whitewater river…I had to force myself to focus on my line so as to not be intimidated by the distraction. Nathan lead along this section until just before the tip fo the island when he moved into the current slightly in order to go around a section of kelp…I opted to push on through the kelp which was out of the current. This move gave me a boat length or so gap on Nathan as we left Trial to cross the channel that would take us back to Gonzales Beach. Along this stretch I put in a hard effort and was rewarded with a sizable gap over Nathan. About 3/4 way across I looked back to see what Nathan was up to and he called out “I’m coming to get you” …I couldn’t help but smile…we’ve had some great racing together over the past couple years with each of us knowing the other is close by…we rarely finish a race now without looking over our shoulder expecting the other to come screaming by at the last second…it makes for fun racing. So at Nathan’s comment I couldn’t help by call back for him to “hurry up, I’m getting tired of waiting for you”…Nathan responded by breaking into a song, singing out at the top of his lungs…what a character! At the finish, Ian took the win over Jonas by 7 seconds, about a minute behind came Shane, who managed to catch and pass Gareth at the entrance to Gonzales Bay.

In the women’s race, Sheila took top honours followed by Kim, after being helped back into her surfski after taking a spill a couple hundred meters short of the line. Kathleen finally managed to claim 3rd after getting lost out on the course…seems she went out into the strong current on the west side of Trial and somehow got off couse as she moved farther offshore to try to get out of the current. We were getting rather worried on shore as Kathleen is usually the first woman surfskier at the finish…the race organizers were contacting the coast guard vessels that were patrolling the course for the race to see if they knew where she was…but eventually she found the entrance to the bay and all was well.

Unfortunately Don’s rudder cable broke while he was negotiating the strong currents northeast of Trial, apparently he was seen a drift in the current heading to shore where he managed a temporary fix to the problem and after loosing 6.5 minutes managed to complete the race.

The post race festivities included tons of drawprizes…I think all but 2 participants got a prize…Andrea was the lucky winner of a carbon wing kayak paddle donated by Ocean River Sports.

The next races are Tuesdays June 17 and 24 at Deep Cove, the Thursday June 26 Big Chop race and Sunday June 29th’s Lotus Iron Small Boats Race at Burnaby which is race #6 of the SurfskiBC Race Series. The Trial by Water points will be added to the standings once the full results are published by CORA.