Surfski Knowledge Base

Dragon Run
Michael Gregory
11/17/13 #15153

Please, Mr Remmler, could you give us a race report? Good race for you too, well done. Mike.

Bob Putnam
11/25/13 #15172

OK Mike, I accompanied Mr. R with Team Think. Prior to our departure Mr. Rem received a letter from our airline Cathay Pacific stating that he no longer had enough air miles to qualify for the Cathay VIP Club. He was short a mere 50 air miles or so. He went to great lengths scribing complaint letters until CP customer service relented. Needless to say prior, departure we indulged and consumed the equivalent of our air fair, in Dim Sum, Chineses noodles and Scotch, We arrived in Hong Kong on the Wednesday 6 AM. Daryl has travelled across many times and had it down to a science to avoid jet lag, which included the drink fest in the Cathay Pacific lounge. After getting to our hotel we hunted around for breakfast and settled for some chinese food, noodles, beef and steamed broccoli. Not un-like china town in Vancouver.

We jumped on a Double Decker Bus for Stanley, where the staging ground, finish area for the race was and where everybody would be picking up there rental skis. We grabbed a well needed coffee in Stanley, before heading down to the beach. Just as we were about to head to the beach who should walk out of the back of the coffee shop but, Hank McGregor, Dawid and Jasper Mocke. That's something you don't see everyday!

The staging area was the Sea School a secondary school for youth at risk located right on the water. We went for a paddle with Bruce Seymour, the Think and formerly Fenn dealer in Hong Kong. The plan was to paddle out of the bay to “Kissing Whales” and back, about 10k. Conditions were sloppy and at any point you could catch a wave in almost any direction. As we got out to the Whales rock formation which looks very much like two whales kissing. Conditions got bigger 3 - 4 ft with the occasional big swell.

After the paddle Daryl and I grabbed some food from a sea side food shack that served burgers and Belgian Beer. You don't see that everyday either. Generally the weather was overcast and a bit muggy, Compared to BC/Washington there were a lot of people, everywhere. Paddling the Think Ion was a treat. It is a great DW ski and catches runs quite easily. It would be a hoot in the Columbia River Gorge!!

We took the double-decker bus back to our hotel in Hong Kong Central, where Matt Kelly was to join us. The double deckers make there way around the narrow windy seaside roads barely able to pass each other with out scraping.

Hong Kong Central was a busy place, teaming with humanity. Car dealerships were mostly Ferrari, Maclaren, Rolls Royce, Porsche and Maserati. Rolex stores were as prolific as Starbucks.

Day two - was a repeat. Racers were starting to arrive from around the world. Of the 200 or so competitors, 100 were from places other than Hong Kong. We enjoyed dinner with Sean Rice and his girlfriend Emily, at one of the supporting restaurants, Jaspas'. This was located in the restaurant/bar neighbourhood, “Lai Kwai Fung”. My benchmark of what was a busy street hit a new level and this was only Thursday Night!

Friday we didn't paddle but it was registration night at the Sea School. Bellinghamsters were noticeably absent, especially in the food line-up. Dinner was served and we schmoozed with many of the paddlers. The Big O “was in the house” with his new buzz cut!!

There is a good paddling community in Hong Kong, with several clubs and areas to store skis. Dragon boating and OC paddling are huge and surf ski paddling is growing especially with the introduction of user friendly skis like Think's Big Eze, Eze and Epic's V8.

The race is a logistical challenge and the organizers have to get all the skis and competitors to the start area which is about an hours drive. So it was an early start. All competitors have to load their own surf ski. The start of the race was pretty good. 3 horns equals 5 min to start, 2 horns = 1 minute, 1 horn = Go. I was lined up behind Sean Rice, I was hoping he wouldn't slow me down :). Sean and most of the top guys dug in at 2 horns (1minute to go) and the starter avoided a restart fiasco by quickly blasting the single “all go” horn. Needless to say Sean didn't get in my way. There is a 9 km run to “Nine Pins” with left side-on chop. Waves, were about 1 foot and I noticed Remmler slightly ahead, and I thought no problem, I'll pace myself, and catch him on the downwind. At 9 Pins you pass through a narrow channel with lots of reflective waves, and then the DW section is supposed to start. On some days with the haze its its supposed to be difficult to see the Kissing Whales destination, so race organizers had included GPS way points in the safety hand out. But visibility was good an the Whales could be seen about 10 km in the distance. As this leg passes across the shipping lane of the busy Hong Kong harbour, speedy freighters can be a concern but traffic was light. The runs were fast and I really had to kill yourself to catch a ride, and then they were difficult to link. I was having a difficult time maintaining 12 km per hr which would be required to break my target 2 hr goal and was also feeling a bit dizzy from the sloshing seas. Big 2 metre swells were rolling through from our left hand rear quarter. No problem I'll continue to pace myself.

As we got to the Kissing Whales, paddlers started to converge and it was a 5 km run to the finish. Yep and I decided to pace myself and save my efforts for next race……in April. This was Daryl's 5th race and he set a PB in the Ion. Wes Hammer, finished a respectable 17th? Jim Nosella was a bit ahead of me. Linda Warren, had decided to step up to the V10 L from her usual choice of the V10 Sport for rough conditions and paid the price. But it is all good fun.

Burgers and beer after the race at the Sea School. Then an evening party at Wagyu Restaurant where there was an open bar from 6 - 9. That's right open bar!! The streets were packed and the party was half on the street. I'll take credit for handing Oscar the Tequila that put him over the top.

Michael Gregory
11/26/13 #15175

Thanks Bob. Great race summary. Good to know about how to treat jet lag with Scotch. That was Daryls idea or yours? ;)
Mike

Bob Putnam
11/26/13 #15176

Mike,

Scotch was my idea. To be taken before and jet lag and after jet lag. Works well. Good treatment for hang overs too. Pre and Post.

I posted some photos.

I highly recommend the Dragon Run, for a great race and cultural experience. Many of the guys says its the best race on the international circuit.

Michael Gregory
11/26/13 #15177

:)