Another great night for racing in Vancouver…there were not much in the way of waves but the sun was shining. There seemed to be an algae bloom as the water was rather brown this evening…at least I’ve managed to convince myself it was algae…I don’t want to imagine what else it could have been!
Tonight’s race #8 of the 10 event series was on the course known as the back-side-loop, see the above map for details. Tonight’s surfski paddlers included: Shane (V10), Jeff (Evo), Bob (V10), Chris (V10), mystery paddler (Evo), Carolyn (S1X), Leo (Evo), Sean (Fit) and Gary (Fit). Soon after the start Shane pulled away from the pack of 4 skis that had quickly set off on a fast pace…that left Bob, Jeff and Chris to race for 2nd place…Shane ended up pulling out an about 1 minute lead by the finish to win his 5th race of the series. Bob set a steady fast pace through the first 2 markers, with Jeff riding his left slip and Chris yo-yoing on/off our stern wash. After rounding the sand barge marker I managed to get a small push by a couple waves which allowed me to open up a small gap over Bob. There wasn’t much in the way of waves to ride but sometimes one could get an extra boost of speed by accelerating onto the small rollers. I managed to carry this advantage for the remainder of the course…only easing up in the final stretch to give Bob a carrot to chase to the line…although with Chris breathing down his back he may have had all the incentive he needed. Bob crossed the line in 3rd place about half a boat length back of me and about a boat length ahead of Chris.
Carolyn had a good battle going with Brian and Trista in their Nelo Waterman double racing sea kayak, which is quite a sharp looking boat. Brian and Trista have been making vast improvements in their paddling technique over the season…and it is paying off…as Carolyn pointed out that her end of the race sprint was no match for theirs…Carolyn finished about a boat length behind the pair after a close race throughout the course.
The race between the Fit paddlers was dominated by Sean…could it have been due to the lighter kevlar/honeycomb constructed boat Sean was using…more likely it was just a more finely tuned engine.
The post race party was fun…there was plenty of beer to go around…and around…and around. 
Think Kayaks added some swag (T-shirts and hats) to the already huge mass of drawprizes…very nice. Chris was the winner of the Stohlquist pfd while first time Big Chopper and novice paddler Niki won the Accent wing kayak paddle.
There are a limited number of tickets ($10) available for the September 11 Big Chop end of season party at Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co…it is likely that all the remaining tickets will be sold at the next race. Last year’s event was a blast and they are apparently giving out something like over $8,000 worth of merchandise…including 2 kayaks…a Seaward Infiniti sea kayak and a Think Evo surfski as well as 2 Accent wing kayak paddles and mega prize packages from Helly Hansen and MEC.
Next racing:
August 17 2008 OC1/2/Surfski Championship Challenge at Jericho Sailing Centre
