Surfski Knowledge Base

Bob Putnam
06/03/18 #23146

Whatcom Paddlers and Vancouver Island Paddlers were conspicuously absent from Round Bowen Challenge (RBC) yesterday. 64 paddlers, Kelowna crew in full force, some folk from Seattle. People did the event solo, relay or half Bowen. 3 x prone paddlers did the full island solo!! Former Deep Cove Kayak Manager was one of them. He is preparing for the July 29 Molokai Crossing on Prone. Today he will circumnavigate Bowen AGAIN! and then paddle to Ambleside!! that's around 50 km!!

Conditions were pretty tame. There was a big ebb, but no wind to speak of. We paddled clockwise so the first leg was along the south shore with the ebb. My speeds were 8 - 10 mph along here. On the back side we paid the price fighting a punishing current with speeds averaging 5- 6 mph.

Before the race Greg Redman said he was going out easy and was going to pick up pick up the pace at Cape Roger Curtis. Some years ago, Wes Hammer, in his first surfski race ever, won Round Bowen at the tender age of 19 when he drafted veteran Joost Zeegers the full distance and out sprinted him. Wes took the inside line and was clearly losing ground to the chase group of Shane Martin, Loic Letalleur (kelowna), Sally, the crusher of male ego, Wallick and me clinging on for dear life which was short lived. Doubles were on their own with a no drafting rule. In the end, Greg took the day, the chase group blew apart, shaking off Shane and Sally. Sally re-grouped, road Shane's wash for a bit and then said, “thanks very much Shane, but I've gotta go now.” Taking 7th over all. Remmler and I traded positions sharing the work load. Just before the final leg from Hood Point, I tried to grab a gel so I would have energy to crush Remmler at the finish. While I fumbled with my fuel, Remmler paddled away from me.

Not sure what the story is with the 1st place rower but I suspect it is a timing error.
https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=139036&did=154742

You should consider taking place in the Kelowna Waterman Challenge. These guys are supporting many of the coastal races with presence, and I am planning to reciprocate. I'm confident they will put on a great event.

David Scherrer
06/03/18 #23147

What happened to Warren?

BISK
06/03/18 #23148

Thanks for the great report Bob. The rower just crushed it! The 2:00:54 time is not in error. It would be great to see some people from further afield next year and hopefully some more rowers so we can create a category for these guys.

And thank you to everyone who did come. It was a great day to be on the water.

Brent
Bowen Island Sea Kayaking

Carl Tessmann

06/04/18 #23152

Ouch.. shamed in the first sentence of Bob’s race report, and I think it hurt worse than getting thumped by Sally in the race. Well, I guess we Vancouver Islanders deserved it. Bowen was certainly one of the highlights of my paddling season last year and I’ll definitely make it happen next year. Unfortunately this year it preceded the Victoria Island Iron race next weekend. Similar to Kelowna’s Waterman event, this race includes two days of racing OC6, OC2, OC1, Surfski, SUP etc. Unfortunately, I couldn’t abandon my family both weekends and remain in good graces.

If you can make it to Victoria next weekend come join us! Saturday is dedicated to OC6 outrigger racing and Sunday is the Small boat event (surfski, OC1, OC2, SUP etc.) Starting from Cadboro Bay we can expect some challenging ocean racing conditions in a truly beautiful spot.

Island Iron OC6 - Saturday June 9: http://orpc.ca/content/index.php/races/island-iron/

Island Iron Small Boats - Sunday June 10: http://orpc.ca/content/index.php/island-iron-small-boat-2016/

OC6 racing you ask?? Well I have recently succumbed to an “if you can’t beat em, join em” philosophy. Paddling a surfski on Vancouver Island can be awfully lonely, so I joined the Comox Valley Canoe Racing club and helped rally a team of strong local athletes – some with paddling experience and some fresh meat – to invigorate our men’s competitive OC6 team. We have been working hard since the middle of winter to build fitness and cohesion in the OC6 and this coming Saturday we have two men’s boats entered in this event – one rookie boat in the Men’s open category, and one veteran masters boat. We’re all pretty excited to see how we stack up. The fun thing about this team is that nearly half us are also surfski paddlers. So I guess in a way we’re doing our best to convert OC paddlers from inside their ranks.

Anyway, hope to see some of you in Victoria next weekend!

Carl Tessmann Vancouver Island Surfski www.visurfski.ca

Bob Putnam

06/04/18 #23154

Warren went over the handlebars mountain biking a few days prior to the race. Hurt his hand - it was going numb during the race, so he pulled out at Tunstall Bay 1/2 way. Good Call, but he went the distance for post race beer drinking.