ICF Champs Race
Paul Reavley
11/29/23 #34774

Our race in Fremantle is starting in about 4 hrs around (tentative times given to us so far) 1:30 pm - 1:50 pm & ?? Thursday local time (9:30 - 9:50 pm Wednesday Bellingham time) today - 3 waves.

1st wave - all women and some masters, 2nd wave - main men + , 3rd wave more masters?

Tracking (yeah I know, how often does that work well?) - https://events.vt1.io/

No livestream video or audio cast that I know of. We are being told that scammers are posting bogus links pretending to be livestreams for the event.

Conditions are looking promising - in-water start with 2 km sprint out to buoy with side chop then turning downwind for remaining 19-20 kms to Scarborough.

Good luck to all

Jeff Hilburn
11/29/23 #34777

Ana got 4th at the ICF World Champs!

allipp@aol.com
11/30/23 #34778
https://bluechipresults.com.au/results.aspx

Denise Weeks
11/30/23 #34781

[Sorry if this comes twice. Having some problems with email server.]

My (WA Race Week) race(s) report.

(First 4 races including the Doctor)
It’s been a tough go over here in WA. Great company, lovely beaches, a connection with a long-lost cousin . . . but my time on the water has been disappointo. I already reported on the first long race and blamed my hip flexors. Then I had the two shorter races and did marginally better, but still felt like I fell apart after about 9km of an 11km race. Then the Doctor, which was my Aussie version of a Bham Bay rescue scene. I assumed at that point that my earlier failures (hip flexors, etc) had to do with bad fueling and hydration, so I tanked up on this, that, and the other. And then I threw a Gu in there for good measure. Predictably for my paddling here, at about 9km things started to go south. Hard to power up, hard to steer, hard to sit up. Duncan, remember that time in the Gorge you saw Paul leaning backward in his boat and wondered what was up? And it turned out he was taking on water? Keep that image in mind.

I was having an incredibly hard time staying up, let alone leaning forward to power my strokes. And then when I did find some power, it was like I’d churn that Gu up and it would grip my innards like a fist. At 20km, after a lot of moaning and groaning, and imagining that I’d be better off in the water, face down, sharks be damned, I saw a red rescue raft and waved it over. The most delightful Irish father/son duo motored over and asked how I was doing. Not good, I said. The dad said, in his lovely lilt, Would you like a wee rest and then continue on? NO! No wee rest was going to help me at that point. So then I climbed in and they pulled my ski up onto the raft, and off we went. The whole time I was being consoled and entertained. There there, you’ll be fine. And stories of other rescues, etc. Back to shore I was led to a jeep and driven about 20 yards. I kept saying, I’m fine, really, but then it seemed like I wasn’t, and I lay down and shivered for about 20 minutes. Wilson and Paul were there to help out and everyone was very solicitous. My own Dan M. moment! Only no photo documentation. Dang.

(ICF Ocean Racing Champs)
So then during the lull between the Doctor and the World Champs I took a couple short paddles. Both times I thought, wait a minute, what’s that sloshing I hear? Both times I drained the boat but couldn’t find the source of any leak. Even during the 15 minute warm up paddle before the race yesterday I took on some water. I drained it. Then it was go time and we were off 2km to a turn buoy and then 19km more down the coast in decent wind. I’m sure there’ll be photos to show that chop. It was a scene. I felt strong and passed a few people and managed to steer well enough to avoid hitting anyone or being hit. I kept my eye on a few people around me and was keeping apace. And then . . . a wave missed here, a bad stroke there. The boat was feeling heavy. I was leaning back more. I hulied for no apparent reason, and then in the remount, it felt like the boat wouldn’t go back to baseline. And then it clicked. The water in the boat was f#%ing me up! It was changing the balance and controllability. From that point on in the race it was like paddle paddle, breathe breathe, sit up, whoah, etc. It felt unpredictable and squishy, not directional and sleek. It didn’t end well. I hulied again near the shore break and didn’t bother to get back in. I floated to the finish and got pulled out of the ocean by Paul.

I hate to pull a Reivers on you all, but here’s the scientific literature portion of my tale:

“If a compartment or tank is either empty or full, there is no change in the craft's center of mass as it rolls from side to side (in strong winds, heavy seas, or on sharp motions or turns). However, if the compartment is only partially full, the liquid in the compartment will respond to the vessel's heave, pitch, roll, surge, sway or yaw. For example, as a vessel rolls to port, liquid will displace to the port side of a compartment, and this will move the vessel's center of mass to port. This has the effect of slowing the vessel's return to vertical.
The momentum of large volumes of moving liquids cause significant dynamic forces, which act against the righting effect. When the vessel returns to vertical the roll continues and the effect is repeated on the opposite side. In heavy seas, this can become a positive feedback loop, causing each roll to become more and more extreme, eventually overcoming the righting effect leading to a capsize. “
Now it might be that there wasn’t really enough water in my hull for this to have such a strong effect. I don’t know. Is there a proportionality to it? A lighter boat and a lighter paddler being easier thrown off? Does anyone want to conduct their own experiment? All I can say is, it’s either that the boat was wonky or I have completely lost the ability to paddle more than 9km. I guess I’ll know when I get home and get back in my own dear fleet of boats.

That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

There are champions amongst us. Yay for Ana and Michele for taking the podium. Yay for everyone else who did well in this incredibly talented field of paddlers.

Dan Mayhew 11/30/23 #34782

Denise, I think Reivers, or one of his contemporaries, that originally said this, but it applies to you…

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong [wo]man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the [wo]man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself herself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if [s]he fails, at least [s]he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

(Ed. That's a Theodore Roosevelt quote)

You are a champion to us. And please don't take it out on us by schooling your envious B'hamesters on the waves when you return.

Dan

Reivers Dustin 11/30/23 #34783

Ah Dan - wasn't me, but thems my sentiments. And to the water in the boat stuff: nightmare city. It takes very little to make the boat unmanageable. Even just a cup or two can raise hell in rough conditions. What a sucker-punch. A leaky boat is a race killer and lucky nothing worse happened. What a monster adventure for everyone over there. That's the big time right there.

Paul Reavley
11/30/23 #34784

The ICF race had some of the bigger shore break that we have seen in any of the races…

Larry Goolsby
12/01/23 #34787

Awesome write-up Denise. Glad you are in one piece.

Larry Bussinger
12/01/23 #34788

Yeah, sloshing water can absolutely throw you off.

I, incredibly, agree with Dan and Reivers that you, and Paul, are an inspiration by just showing up. Fearless. Good job.

Larry Bussinger

The ICF and Outriggers
Paul Reavley
11/30/23 #34785

Somewhere in moving the ICF Champs solos race to Thursday, outriggers got separated from the surfskiers's solos race and I guess got scheduled for Saturday. I never got that memo although I heard some people talking about something like that. Even though I registered as an OC paddler and was always shown as paddling an OC in every list I looked at, I was included in the Thursday race list. I thought, oh well, that is looking like the best conditions so I should paddle no matter what. But they had a tracker, race number and timing chip for me at race check in and no one seemed to be giving me a second glance even though there could not have been more than 2 or 3 outriggers total out there for the Thursday race. One of them I talked to was doing the run on his own without any official listing for the race (he had to fly home before Saturday so he couldn't do a rescheduled race for outriggers anyway). So just like an orphan duckling adopted by a pack of dingoes, I did the race as an adopted surfskier.

I'm not sure where outriggers stand with the ICF, but maybe they ought to give it a little more thought. After I asked Michele Eray, our team captain, which starting wave I was supposed to go with on the main surfski race day, she reportedly asked an ICF official and received the reply “what's an outrigger?”??? But as It turned out I was just scheduled to go with my age group.

Paul

Michele Eray 11/30/23 #34786

Hi Paul

I asked the Paddle Australia / event organizers and they had that response.

The ICF is not in charge of running the event, and are here to help with officiating.

I suggest you check with the event organizers if you can do the race on Saturday.

Message me directly if you have questions I can maybe help with.

Regards
Michele