Race Results: June 14 at Comox***photos***

Only 8 surfskiers made the trip to Comox for Sunday’s Island Iron Small Boats race, but those of us who joined the many outrigger canoes were treated to some excellent racing. Ty, Dave, Chris, Warren and myself joined forces by carpooling to save on ferry expenses. None of us had previously paddled in the Comox area so we were not really sure what to expect. On arrival there wasn’t much in the way of wind and we couldn’t really see much of the water from our location at the race registration and staging area. The course was to start just outside the marina with racers first heading up the protected inner harbour for about 100 m then taking a left turn across the harbour (another 300 m) to round a dolphin marker then making another left turn whereupon the racers headed out into the open water to round a large float before heading back to the start/finish line off the marina.

Off the start there was a tailwind at our back…and there was a definite advantage to being on the left side of the starting line. Chris lead at the first turn with Calvin trailing closely behind. On the crossing to the dolphin there was small side chop on our left beam. Another left turn at the dolphin had the group heading upwind toward the open ocean. As we progressed the waves got bigger and bigger…yet we could not see the turning buoy. At this point Chris was still out front with myself a short distance behind. Neither of us new exactly where this turning buoy was located and we hoped the small inflatable boat ahead of us was leading us to the marker. We ended up paddling about 4.5 km out into the open water before finally reaching the turning buoy. About 2 thirds way out Dave then Ty pulled up along side as we trailed Chris. The waves continued to increase in size as we travelled farther and farther offshore. At the turn, Chris was about 50 m in front of Ty followed by myself and then Dave. Immediately after the turn we were into runs…run after run after glorious run! At this point it was hard to keep focussed that we were in a race…it was just so much fun accelerating onto a wave then looking to link up the next run. So for the next 4.5 km we rode wave after wave until making the turn behind the point of land that lead us to the marina. Chris did a masterful job of staying focussed on his race to take the win…his first surfski race victory…well done Chris!

Needless to say everyone was stoked with the race…it was an incredible course thanks to the wind that came up just in time for the racers. Just think of all those suckers who paid thousands of dollars to do last month’s Molokai surfski race in flatwater conditions…maybe they should come to Comox next year!

Check out these photos of the racers.

2009 Comox Island Iron surfski results

Place	Paddler	Time
1	Chris Dobrovolny	0:55:26
2	Jeff Raymond	0:55:46
3	Ty Gee	0:56:21
4	David Russ	0:57:22
5	Warren Bruce	0:59:25
6	Chris Nagle	1:05:40
7	Ryan Stuart	1:13:41
8	Greg Johnson	1:18:55