Course map
After taking 2007 off, the 4th edition of the Howe Sound Downwind Run was hosted by False Creek Racing Canoe Club on Saturday, July 26. The event features a point to point race starting in Porteau Cove and finishing on a sandy beach at Squamish at the north end of Howe Sound. During the winter months icy cold squamish winds made frigid by the snow covered coast mountains home to the popular ski destination Whistler Mountain coming rushing out of the north creating dangerous conditions on the narrow fiord that is Howe Sound. But during the summer, as the air in the valleys north of Squamish heats up and rises, thermal winds are created that push northward into Howe Sound. Combine a long stretch of water and steady wind…et voila…a surfskier’s playground. As we dropped off our vehicles at Squamish the wind was howling…some locals were trying to set up a tarp but it kept getting blown out of their hands…things looked promising. Back at Porteau Cove the winds were much lighter but there was a steady light breeze and some small waves pushing up the Sound…at least the wind was going the right direction. After a somewhat confusing start…seemed like the officials gave up on trying to move the 80% of the racers who had lined up way offshore up to where the small group was lined up…was easier to have the smaller group move…which we did through telepathic instruction. The start was quite fair…most everyone was in a line with noone getting a big advantage. Right away Shane (V10), Ian (S1X) and Dion (Legend) shot to the front…Don (V10) was hot on their heels followed shortly by Brandon (V10). Jeff (Evo) settled briefly on the side wash of an OC-2 to see how things were shaping up but after seeing Brandon scoot by to chase down the leaders and Matt (Legend) looked to be about to do the same I struck out to chase as well. Very soon there was a pack of 3 at the front Ian, Dion and Shane then Don was followed by Brandon on a more offshore line looking to find perhaps bigger and faster moving waves to catch. Farther out was another group of paddlers following the line of a lone paddler in a green S1X who I later learned is DJ now living in the Bellingham area. DJ is the famed paddler from Larry’s story about Canadians being ‘Americans without guns’, a concept unfamiliar and downright suspicious to DJ who I believe originally hails from the South Carolina area…see the Whatcom Paddlers yahoo group posting for details. Anyway, where was I? Oh, right…so here we all were paddling north up Howe Sound to Squamish. Things were going well enough, the farther along we got the more frequent were the ridable waves making for fun paddling…after linking together a few runs I found myself free of the skis that were hanging around my stern wash. Post race Nathan indicated that throughout this part of the race he would make up ground then lose it again…I guess the same set of waves that would carry him closer to me would then help me paddle away from him as the waves moved up the sound. All of the various lines taken by the paddlers tended to converge as we approached the big chunk of land projecting into the right side of the channel…looks to be called Watts Point on the map. At this point I could see a tiny speck way off in the distance paddling alone…I believe this was Ian, then there were 2 paddlers somewhat close together…I believe these were Dion and Shane, then there was Don then Brandon then DJ then myself. Looking back I could see a whole bunch of other boats…none of whom I could postively identify in the time I gave myself to look. From Watts Point in to Squamish the water became flat, with the exception of some small waves coming from our left as we approached the finish. Early on in this section I tried a few times to increase my effort to close the gap to DJ, but with my heart rate already in the high 150’s there wasn’t alot of extra speed to be found. I seemed to make up some ground but soon I was feeling the tank begin to run dry so I started to concern myself less with catching DJ and more with ensuring I stayed in front of the chasers. The closest chaser was an OC-2 being paddled by Hugh and Adrienne, then there was a bunch of skis spread out on various lines. Results for the surfskis are shown below.
|
Racer |
Time |
Overall Place |
| Ian Mackenzie |
1:12:15 |
1 |
| Dion Maxwell |
1:13:08 |
2 |
| Don Kiesling |
1:13:33 |
3 |
| Shane Martin |
1:13:41 |
4 |
| Brandon Nelson |
1:15:20 |
5 |
| David Jacobson |
1:16:02 |
6 |
| Jeff Raymond |
1:16:39 |
7 |
| Rick Lingbloom & Marc Whitlock |
1:17:11 |
9 |
| Nathan Middleton |
1:17:16 |
10 |
| Reivers Dustin |
1:17:42 |
11 |
| Bob Putnam |
1:17:51 |
12 |
| Peter Marcus |
1:18:04 |
13 |
| Terry Lewis |
1:19:11 |
14 |
| Sasha Brown & Brian McCurdy |
1:19:13 |
15 |
| Tracey Landboe |
1:19:30 |
16 |
| Chris Dobrovolny |
1:19:48 |
17 |
| Matt Kelly |
1:20:05 |
19 |
| Ty Gee |
1:21:53 |
21 |
| Don Craig |
1:22:07 |
22 |
| Larry Goolsby |
1:22:32 |
23 |
| Mike Gregory |
1:22:47 |
24 |
| Kathleen Petereit |
1:24:44 |
26 |
| Sheila O’Shea |
1:27:38 |
32 |
| Carolyn Daubney |
1:28:22 |
33 |
| Warren Bruce |
1:30:13 |
38 |
| Kim Mackenzie |
1:31:49 |
40 |
The post race festivities took place at a local brew pub…I bolted after the first round of draw prizes…our table was being neglected of beer service and the food was taking its time to arrive…I was tired and famished so hit the KFC before making the drive home. It is times like this when I wonder if it wouldn’t be better to leave the price of the post race meal out of the entry fee. There are always going to be racers who cannot or chose not to stay for the burger…maybe a $15 entry fee then let people order our own food at the pub would be a better option…not sure if this would even be easier for the event organizers…just say awards will be at the pub, people could then order their own food and drink. Before the start a fellow racer gave me his draw prize ticket…he couldn’t stay for the awards…but I believe he had to pay the full $30…this just doesn’t seem right. Of course some events won’t have the luxury of a pub/restaurant nearby to host a post race party so clearly in these instances it is unavoidable. Anyway…that is my rant for today. 
Next events in the local surfski racing scene:
July 29 Deep Cove TNR
August 2 Vernon Flatwater Challenge small boats race
August 5 Deep Cove TNR
August 7 MEC Big Chop
August 12 Deep Cove TNR
August 17 CORA Canadian Champs small boat race at Jericho
