Submitted by Gary C.
When Bob Putnam sent out the ‘warning’ email indicating tonight would be a multi-sport event, i figured lots of folks would bail out . Well, when i showed up it was jammed packed with folks ready for the challenge.
The temp was nice and the water looking fairly calm. The course went something like this, paddle to Belcarra beach, run for a looooong time to Admiralty Point, Swim back to Maple Beach, Run back to Belcarra and Paddle back to Deep Cove.
Pre-race was pretty bustling with folks making last minute decisions as to what top is best to swim in, which footwear to bring, etc. I saw Bernd practicing in his boat for the night, a Epic V10 Sport. I dont know if it was by choice or not, but he was practicing his wet exit and entry a few times prior to the start! In all fairness, i believe this was his first time in a ski this year and he didnt tip once during the race, so good for you Bernd!
I also noticed that Paul Hansen was in the Epic V10 (the fast Epic). He usually paddles his home built, sleek looking, wooden kayak-ski cross. I think he is trying the V10 out, as he has pushed his boat to its limits and cant go much faster unless he switches to an official surf-ski.
Mickey, was back from a 3+ week visit to his homeland, so needless to say this poor chap was at a disadvantage for not being able to paddle for a few weeks, as well as i’ll assume lots of beers and good meals to work off. John George came to support the event; however, due to an ailing shoulder he had to stand on the sidelines for this event. Ben Fast wasnt traveling for work tonight so he and his son Eric were heading out in their double ski. It is amazing how many surf skis there are showing up at these races, two years ag there might have been less than a handful.
I was in an EVO tonight, and lined up on the right side of the course. Since we were heading south out of the Cove i was surprised that everyone else wasnt also on the right. I was joined by Ben’s double, and i think Brian Wong and Rene Chong in a double ski as well. At the sound of the horn I was off; i was quickly finding that i couldnt get off the line faster than Ben & Eric in their double so i feel behind their stern. I still wanted to practice my riding wash so my goal was to try to find someone i could stick with. The pack was tight and i was able to settle in on the stern of Sean Gibson. Mr Putnam was to my left so i knew this positioning was short lived. As we turned around the corner heading south, Bob was passing Sean and Sean was clinging to the ski’s stern in front of him. I had to really crank up the tempo to stay with Sean. Then for whatever reason the guy in front of Sean was zig zaggin all over the place and Sean was following like a shadow. It was way too much effort and seemed that they were playing tag or something so i just pointed straight hoping our paths would intersect soon and I could sit on Sean’s wash once again (they didnt).
This left me with nobody close enough to draft so i tried to catch up to the next nearest person which was Mike Billy (on a ski). Even though he was only about 3 boat lengths ahead i was tiring and just couldnt catch him. So i decided to work on form and balance as at about this time the safety boat was cruising nearby creating some wake. As we passed Hamber, Sean and Bob were way ahead, Mike B. and I were pretty even and were catching up to some other skis. The water around Hamber was a bit choppy so a few boats slowed down and for some reason i didnt so i was able to pass Mike and about 2 other skis.
I made it to the beach with Ben and Eric having already secured their ski and were just heading on the trail. Shortly into the run, Jodi Boats comes up behind me at a really decent pace. I figured i had to keep up with her if wanted to come close to her at the finish line, so I tries to stay right behind her. After about 5 minutes, Lina zooms by, and in less than 30 seconds she fell out of sight. I was able to stick with Jodi until we saw Sasha Brown going down to the access trail where the swimmers would be coming up. Given I am still nursing a bit of a bad shoulder, i decided i wouldnt do the official swim, so Jodi went ahead and i went to the beach. I figured that it was only fair that i should at least go in the water, so, i greeted Brian McCurdy who was just making it back to the shore, took off my pfd and went in. I figured i should stay in the water at least until Jodi finished her swim, so i practiced my doggie paddle and some form of what i call my backstroke. The water was actually very refreshing and totally enjoyed cooling down and just ’swimming’ back and forth waiting for Jodi.
I actually was pretty far from shore and headed back in, when i saw Jodi on the beach heading back to the trail. Given Jodi is an Excellent swimmer i wanted to stay in the water for about another 5 minutes since i would at least be that far behind her if i had jumped in with her at the start.
I waited a little while longer then headed back to the trail for the run back. I kept a good pace pass a few folks on the way as well as seeing a bunch of folks just making their way to the swim area.
I got back to the beach and saw Brian Lane and Lisa O. pushing their double into the water, Jeff ? was in a greenish FSK, Marshall House, and 2 other gents i didnt recognize in skis. So my targets were Marshall, Lisa/Brain, Jeff and 2 other skis. The run really took my wind away so I did all I could to stay with this pack. After a few minutes I settled down and began hunting down Marshall; it took a while but I caught him, Jeff in his FSK, and one of the skis. At this time someone in a THINK Legend passed me with ease and was making ground fast. I ‘let’ him go by and just focused on the Lisa/Brian in the double. Coming into the Cove I finally passed them, one other ski and had an Epic 18x in my sights. As I paddled next to the 18x, I told the ‘driver’ it would be quite disrespectful if an 18x beats an Evo so he should just let me win by a small amount. I think this guy needed a hearing aid because he cranked up his rate and was getting ahead of me, I caught up and repeated that we both could just have a relaxing finish if he only played nice….he laughed and went even faster. Now, whilst this guy was dissing, me some yellow hulled THINK ski comes directly on my right. As the finish line was approaching fast I didn’t have time to try to ‘negotiate’ with this ski so I HAD to actually paddle harder. Thank goodness the 18x went out of my field of vision and the yellow ski was about ½ boat length ahead of me. Out of nowhere (or i finally saw it), a motor boat is crossing directly in front of us and looked like he was pulling up to the dock where we finished. So this yellow ski and myself were pumping hard (i’d like to think we were dead even) heading directly for this boat, both of us hoping the boat would move in time. It didn’t look promising, so I decided things were getting a bit tight and held back a stroke which gave my competitor all he needed to finish ahead of me. Nice finish.
Afterwards, the usually good prizes were distributed, Claudette had a ton of goodies from her work and was passing them out. THANKS Claudette.
At the Raven, it was super crowed, and folks enjoyed watching the video, especially laughing or cheering all those that were captured jumping in the water at the beginning of the swim portion of the race.
