US Surfski Champs Relay video

Chris’ video of the San Fran Relay.

Team Think is: Dion Maxwell (CAN), Sean Rice (S.A.), Stewart O’Regan (AUS), Tony Shumaker (AUS).  Tony is battling Dawid Mocke for 2nd in the final scenes (Think ended up 3rd by a few meters).  Other notables in the video are Jeremy Cotter, Murray Stewart, Caine Eckstein, Barry Lewin, and Phillippe Baccora.

Ian’s Sidney race report

Hey now, that was a very entertaining race. Lots of sunshine, nice park, plenty of people. And what a start! – Craig donned his Jamaican jersey and Bolted out in the first hundred meters; not sure what happened after that, must’ve been mobbed by the photographers or something, as i never saw him again. Once I picked myself out of his wash, I ventured south of his course (and Gareth’s, too) with the goal of getting out to the favourable current earlier, but once out that way found a nice boat wash from who-knows-where – there were motorboats all over the place at the start, which was amusing. but this wash carried me out past craig and gareth, so i kept picking waves where i could find them. Then a sailboat ducked in behind me, and the bohemoth of a lead/escort boat went back to natter at them, and I just had visions of Craig, Gareth, Ron, Jeff, Katja etc sitting on the stern-wave as this boat churned past me again. And sure enough, along it came, churning up this eNORmous wave, and so I was focusing on staying mobile and hopped aboard, at which point i looked around to see if everyone else was on the same wave, but they weren’t. but i was… i briefly considered the ethics of it all (really, i did), and in the end decided that it was the funnest wave i’d seen in a while, so i carried on at 20km/h for a little while, before i had to cut into the channel behind forrest island. I diddled along behind the island, more than a little miffed at having to provide my own propulsion for a change; i think people caught up some. the channel between forrest island and sidney island was peculiar – current swirling and waves going different directions. once i cleared the spit, i was set upon by the coast guard, who had come to rescue me from the flat water. they seemed to be aware that they were sitting right in front of me and that i was playing in their wash, but they didn’t seem to clue in to do anything productive about it – like go away, or, better still, speed up. i had my radio with me, but it was on the back deck, and ethically, it’s probably better that i wasn’t calling in pace requests. i probably could’ve gone faster than they were dragging me, but that would have meant expending my own energy, and that didn’t seem like as good an idea. i was hoping ron was close enough to be amused by it all. but, they dragged me all the way to the finish line, that was very kind of them. but, to be honest, their wash was a little short and the waves were too close together –it wasn’t half as fun a wave as colin’s big cruiser-wave from the first half of the race. now, if i’d had that one to ride all the way back, i would’ve pulled out the radio and requested a nice steady 18km/h, i think.

ian

Cytomax at Popeye’s in North Vancouver

This is of interest to those of you who have discovered the benefits of using a maltodextrin based drink to help bring out your best racing and training performance.

The Popeye’s store in North Vancouver has a sale on Cytomax Performance Drink…$49.99…and they have 5 flavours in stock to choose from…we picked up a couple tubs of Cool Citrus and Tangy Orange today.

I’m not sure how long the sale is on for…thought some of you might want to take advantage of the cost savings too.

For those of you still drinking Gatorade…please disregard this message…and keep watching our backs on the water!

For more information check out this link, http://www.popeyescanada.com/maps/northvancouver.php.

Race Results: August 16 at Sidney

Sunday’s CORA small boats race at Sidney treated racers to warm weather and for the most part fairly docile sea conditions. Fortunately for many there were many motorboats on the water kicking up some often advantageous waves for the racers. Even the race escort boats got into the act by providing some big waves, particularly soon after the start when the big escort boat raced to the front of the pack, then doing the same a little later when it circled back to clear a sailboat from the racers’ path…all these waves had racers working hard to extract any extra bit of speed that could be milked from the more vertical water.  Current also played a factor in the race…the incoming tide helped the racers on the run over to Forest Island…small gains could be made by hugging the eastern shore of Forest…while current in the channel between Forest and Sidney Spit really slowed the racers progress. The final run back to the start finish line was against a weak current but there were some small waves available for those still with enough gas in the tank to be able to take advantage of them. One lucky paddler even got his own personal escort to the finish by a coast guard boat providing what looked to be a sweet wash ride.

Tulista Park was an excellent venue to host the event and the many islands off Sidney’s shores make it an excellent location for racing.

Course Map:

GPS data: 12.8 km Katja and Jeff average speed 12.5 km/h

Place	Competitors	Time
1	Ian Mackenzie	1:00:08
2	Katja Rademacher and Jeff Raymond	1:01:12
3	Gareth Tudor-Jones	1:01:40
4	Jason Benn and Rob Pearson	1:02:07
5	Ron Williams	1:02:28
6	Chad Vasnsky	1:06:09
7	Derek Crook	1:07:51
8	Warren Bruce	1:08:37
9	Chris Dobrovolny	1:09:50
10	Lisa Frier and Jerome Truran	1:10:37
11	Kris Teraud	1:11:12
12	Craig Bosenberg	1:11:15
13	Kathleen Petereit	1:12:25
14	Don Craig	1:15:59
15	Dusan Kafka	1:16:30
16	Paul Chaplow	1:21:36
17	Pierre Ballaster	1:25:09

Race Results: July 25 at Alert Bay

Gareth’s report of the Alert Bay 360 race.

“The Alert bay race was interesting. Alert Bay is situated at the north end of the island just off Port Mc Neill. The race was a circumnavigation around Cormorant island – only 12 km. Kathleen and I went up to experience something new and to have a crack at the lucky draw of $1000 (which we never won). On the morning of the race there was a heavy fog. So all the way from the ferry to Cormorant island we couldn’t see a thing. We were speaking to the captain of the ferry to try and get as much info as possible of the route – rocks, currents, kelp, polar bears, killer whales, etc! Anyway at the start of the race, the fog hadn’t lifted! Can you imagine not having ever seeing the island or the route and now you have to line up and race around it. It was like doing it blind folded. All we knew was that the island was kind of boomerang shaped and we had to keep it to our right hand side! There was a total of 41 kayaks of which only 5 were surf skis. The race finally started and we all went off on our own way kind of zig zagging and trying to lookout for any signs of land and keeping all our senses “Alert”! The fog eventually started to lift half way through the race and we could now make out where we were going. I was having an interesting dual with Don Irvine, and we exchanged leads all the way throughout the race. Kathleen was looking strong just behind us and Greg and Sarah were just behind her. Unfortunately the wind failed to materialize and we paddled in flat calm ocean conditions. The current and kelp made for some interesting conditions however. It was a sprint finish and I just managed to get ahead of Don. Kathleen came in a creditable 7 minutes after us followed by Greg, Sarah, and the rest of the sea kayak flotilla.

The race was well organized thanks to Eric and his staff. The people of Alert Bay were welcoming and friendly. The prizes were great and were awarded to competitors from 1st to 16 position, with the much anticipated $1000 lucky draw going to a very happy unknown sea kayaker. I liked the concept of : here is the race – this is the course – pick your craft – may the best person win. The position you finish is your overall finish without getting into complicated kayak divisions and categories”

Thanks

Gareth

1^st Annual Village of Alert Bay Eco Paddle Results

Name	Place	Time	Vessel	Home Port
Gareth Tudor-Jones	1	54:50	Single Kayak	Victoria
Don Irvine	2	54:53	Single Kayak	Courtenay
Kathleen Petereit	3	1:02:05	Single Kayak	Nanaimo
Greg Johnson	4	1:06:25	Single Kayak	Comox
Sarah McLennan	5	1:09:40	Single Kayak	Comox
Jackie Bell	6	1:10:35	Single Kayak	Courtenay
Steve  Anstee and Heidi Krajewski	7	1:11:50	Double Kayak	Alert Bay
Annie Boulding	8	1:12:05	Single Kayak	Courtenay
Sarah Hauser	9	1:12:06	Single Kayak	Courtenay
Tara Gregory and Lloyd Robinson	10	1:15:20	Double Kayak	Victoria
Erika Kellerhals	11	1:17:30	Single Kayak	Quadra Island	Grand Prize Draw Winner
Luke Clarke	12	1:19:10	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Tyson Mackay	13	1:20:20	Single Kayak	Port McNeill
Dean Laar	14	1:21:10	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Erin Rechsteiner	15	1:25:10	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Ron Sehman	16	1:25:40	Single Kayak	Port Hardy
Andy Speck	17	1:27:50	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Lea Robinson	18	1:28:10	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Randy Bell	19	1:29:10	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Don Speck	20	1:29:35	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
George Speck	21	1:30:20	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Mark Miller	22	1:31:30	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Wayne Driscoll	23	1:32:40	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Madeline McDonald	24	1:35:15	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Wendy Peterson	25	1:35:16	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Clayton Miller	26	1:35:17	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Declan & Ben Gomm and  Randy Champaign	27	1:36:15	Canoe	Alert Bay	YOUNGEST Paddler Ben Gomm 4 ½  yrs old
Nic Dedeluk	28	1:37:30	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Congratulations to Councillor Helen Steed Winner of the 2009 Alert Bay Mayor’s Regatta a race within a race
Helen Steed and Valerie Kervin	29	1:49:25	Double	Port Hardy
Diana Smith	30	1:49:47	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Deb Clipperton	31	1:57:22	Single Kayak	Coal Harbour
Richard Grass	32	2:02:34	Single Kayak	Lions Bay
Louise Fraser	33	2:06:25	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Edwina Rufus	34	2:06:26	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Patricia Grass	35	2:07:30	Single Kayak	Lions Bay
Debbie Miller	36	2:19:49	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Clayton Ham	37	2:20:00	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Sandra Waarne	38	2:22:15	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Tom Waarne	39	2:22:16	Single Kayak	Alert Bay
Terrie Talbot	40	2:24:54	Single Kayak	Shawnigan Lake
James Davis	41	2:24:55	Single Kayak	Shawnigan Lake

Upcoming Races: July 25 at Porteau Cove and August 16 at Sidney

5th annual Howe Sound Challenge

Saturday July 25th

Porteau Cove to the Nexen lands in Squamish.

The course is an exciting surfing run (hey, we can hope!) with amazing scenery featuring the Squamish Chief and the rest of the sea to sky corridor. July and August feature some of the best and most consistent winds running up towards Squamish as the valley heats up during the day.

The course will finish on the sandy beach at the Nexen lands.

OC1, OC2, Surfski

Registration: 11am

Start Time: 1pm – Mass start

Race Fee: $15

*Note, all racers must be CORA members. (Annual $25, Event only $10)

Awards will be done at Nexen Beach.

Full details will be on the FCRCC website.

CORA National Small Boat Championships

Sunday August 16

at Sidney’s Tulista Park

Race distance is 10 km with details available at this link.

Upcoming Event: July 25 at Alert Bay

KAYAK

Eco Paddle

Around Cormorant Island

July 25th, 2009 11:00 am

Seafest Weekend

$1000 GRAND PRIZE All finishers enter the Grand Prize draw Prizes for quickest finishers too See www.alertbay.ca for registration info, directions and accommodation listings.

FREE REGISTRATION Registration from 8:30 to 10:30 am Kayak storage available (1st come 1st serve) BYO kayak, life jackets and emergency equipment

	Sponsored by:
Alert Bay Seafest Society	Village of Alert Bay	‘Namgis First Nation
	and these generous donors:
Shop Rite – Rona Alert Bay Lodge Nimpkish Hotel Pass’n Thyme Inn Ocean View Cabins	U’mista Cultural Centre Alert Bay Drugs Jeffrey Jones & Co. Dr. Clayton Ham Peterson Ventures	Culture Shock Interactive Gallery Alert Bay Towing Ltd. Sea Smoke Sail with the Whales Charters

And additional thanks to the many individual sponsors and for the overwhelming community support

Call Harbour Manager Eric Gregory for more info 250 974-8255

Alert Bay 360  Rules and Conditions

I      Registration is Free:

1. All participants must pre-register before the Alert Bay 360
2. Final Registration will take place at the Alert Bay Municipal Wharf from 08:30  to 10:30 am on July 25^th
3. The event is open to all ages, however, children or those regarded by the Canadian Coast Guard or R.C.M. P. or Alert Bay 360 organisers as unsafe or unfit to may be disallowed
4. All participants under the age of 15 must have the written permission of a legal guardian on registration form
5. Alert Bay 360 starts at 11:00 am on July 25th at the Alert Bay Municipal Wharf

II     Qualification and Prizes:

1. Any self propelled vessel is eligible to enter, including kayak, canoe, rowing skiff etc. No wind, electric or gas powered propulsion is allowed
2. One ticket will be issued to each registered finishing vessel, regardless of the number of persons in each vessel, for the Grand Prize draw.
3. A grand prize of $1000.00 will be awarded, by random draw, to one ticket holder who successfully finishes the ‘Alert Bay  360’ event.  Only persons who finish the Alert Bay 360 circuit, (one lap in a clockwise direction around Cormorant Island), will be eligible for prizes or the grand prize draw.
4. The first, second and third place finishers in both male and female categories will be awarded prizes. Prizes will be announced when they have been decided upon. First, Second and Third place finishers will be awarded only to vessels manned by one person

III    Safety:

1. All persons entering this event do so at their own risk, including any risk to equipment
2. Registration implies rules have been accepted.
3. All entrants must supply their own vessel, and safety equipment in accordance with Transport Canada Safe Boating Regulations.
4. Anyone deemed unfit to start by the Canadian Coast Guard, R.C.M.P. or Alert Bay 360 organisers will be automatically unregistered

Race Results: June 28 at Lotus Sports Club

Mike and Cam Fitzmaurice were the stars of Sunday’s Lotus race…they caught Chris at McBarge then on the final downwind leg opened a large gap on the followers for a well earned victory. Check out Katja’s race report here…with photos.

Place	Paddler
1	Mike & Cam
2	Chris Dobrovolny
3	Jodi & Katja
4	Jeff Raymond
5	John George
6	Warren Bruce
7	Matt Kelly
8	Ben & Eric
9	David Russ
10	Gary Cassulis
11	Charlie

Upcoming Race: June 28 at Burnaby

Lotus OC1/OC2/Surfski Race

presented by

Lotus Sports Club

located at Barnet Marine Park in Burnaby

Schedule:

• Novice/Junior – 8:00 am start
• Women – 10:00 am start
• Men / Mixed – 12:00 pm start

Awards will be presented at the end of each race (minimum 3 registered boats to make a class)

Registration: $10.00 per paddler. Register morning of race. Arrive early, times are approximate, [a second schedule in the information package indicated the race is to start at 11:30 am...you've been warned!]

Classes: OC-1, OC-2, K-1, Surfski. We will recognize all classes with a minimum of 3 entries in that class. All paddlers are to supply their own boats. Lifejackets and boat leashes mandatory.

NOTE: We will provide snacks

Questions and Information: Contact Doug Mancell at dukling@shaw.ca

Race Course (See map below):

Start is in front of the clubhouse, heading north up Indian Arm to Boulder Island. Paddlers must do a counter-clockwise (ama side) turn around Boulder Island then head southwest to McBarge. All boats are required to make a counter-clockwise (ama side) turn around McBarge then head east to finish the race in front of the Lotus clubhouse (approximately 11 km).

Lotus OC1/OC2/Surfski Race Course

Race Results: June 16 at Deep Cove

Now that was a fun race! This week’s TNR had racers head south out of the Cove to round the marker off Cates Park for a total distance of 8.0 km. There were a few notables for tonight’s race…Gareth was over from Victoria to put Epic’s new V12 surfski through its paces…Bob and Reid were doing the same with Fenn’s new Elite tandem surfski…Ken had spent the weekend testing the Think Uno and was ready to see how he could race it…the Foellmer twins were teaming up in a Sagitta K2 to challenge the surfskis.

Despite their young age of 15, Nic and Seb are really starting to find some good speed this year…so I elected to line up next to them to see if I could ride wash on their K2. The guys got an awesome start and I immediately realized plan B was in order. So I settled into a pack with Chris (Evo), Ken (Uno) and Ty (Legend). At the front Nic/Seb were setting the pace with Gareth settled onto their right slip…shortly behind was Bob/Reid trying a more onshore line to try to make up the deficit. In our pack Chris and Ken had been setting the early pace, as we approached Grey Rocks Ty moved to the front to pick up the pace indicating that we were being caught by the chase pack which included the father/son tandem ski teams of Ben/Eric (S2X) and Mike/Cam (Mako XT). The 4 of us then took turns setting the pace while the others “rested” on wash…this seemed to work out well as we stayed clear of the tandem skis, but Terry (V10L) managed to put in a good effort to bridge up to our pack. There was a light headwind and may have been a small amount of current against us as our speed was below 12 most of the way out to the turn. At the turn the Foellmer twins were still out front with Gareth riding wash…Bob/Reid were about 10 seconds behind.  At the finish, the twins put in a hard acceleration at the entrance to the Cove dropping Gareth to finish alone in first place…the post race video clearly showed their picking up the pace with the stroke rate coming up while continuing to apply powerful strokes…well done Nic and Seb! After the Cates Park turn our pack of 5 skis continued to paddle together although fewer of us were able to take turns on the front. The pace was now now hovering in the 12.5 to 13.5 km/h range. By Grey Rocks Ty was dangling just off the back of our pack while Chris was barely hanging onto the pack’s stern wash. A few short sprints were put in to test the strength of our pack…and to put on a show for the video boat that had pulled alongside our group.  As we approached the Cove, Terry and Ken chose slightly different lines with Ken a bit more offshore. As we were clearly setting up for a sprint finish I was having to decide which boat’s wash to follow. As the boats separated I moved from Ken’s to Terry’s wash…Terry had been paddling really well as evidenced by his being able to catch our group and then still contributed to the pace setting. It didn’t take long for Ken to realize he was on his own and as such seemed to step on the gas slightly to try to further open the gap. Ken only got about 2 boat lengths ahead before myself and Terry realized what was happening…we immediatelyclosed up on Ken and moved onto his wash…I on his left slip with Terry on my left slip. At the finish, the Bumble Beevo just barely nipped Ken at the line with Terry coming in next followed by Chris then Ty.

The gals race was just as exciting…at the finish there were 5 gals together fighting for line honours with Rebecca (Super Lancer K1) taking 1st a boat length ahead of Kristin (Tornado K1) who just barely outsprinted Katja (Legend) and Carolyn (S1X) with Jodi coming in a boat length or 2 behind…VERY COOL!

I have to admit…downwind paddling is really fun…but when it comes to racing you just cannot beat great pack racing conditions…to me, it is the interaction between racers that makes “racing” fun…whereas often it is the interaction between paddler and ocean that makes “paddling” fun.

NEXT RACES:

June 23     TNR Lesser Kayak Swap

June 25     Big Chop

June 28     Lotus Small Boats Race

June 30     TNR Magnum PI Night