Surfski Knowledge Base

Gorge Results
lori & beau whitehead
07/20/18 #23480

https://raceday.enmotive.com/#/events/gorge-downwind-champs/results

Reivers Dustin
07/20/18 #23478

whoa. a few folks got their eye poked out. some were seen walking the freeway alongside the river with no boat and paddle in hand. there were quite a few who signed up, dressed up, registered, sat through pre-race safety meeting walked their boats and boards down to the river, looked at it, turned around and walked their gear back to their car and drove away.

Of the hardy (or lower IQ) who did the race there were many who swam. There is at least one boat (w/o paddler) rolling up river towards the next dam. There might be some boats abandoned alongside the river waiting for their paddler to come back from their hiking leg. Some very notary paddlers went swimming. Rumor is that Simon “pitch-poled”, then did a jesus-re-entry. Witnesses said he didn't actually get any water on his clothes. My roomie down here is Richard Spork who is to be kind, “seasoned”. He's a great roomie and paddler from Hawaii. Also did a brief swimming leg. Old Barnacles are trying to adopt him into the club, but he's howling and objecting that he's much too good looking. We've tried to tease some of the big dogs who swam, but they appear to mean it, “anyone can take a header”. I guess especially when they are pushing the limits. Although I notice a sparkle in their eye when they look at the other big dog who swam.

A couple stories: Seth Putnam saved some guy's flyiing boat at the start. Leash snap rolled out of the attachment just the way LB likes to show people. The guy, with Seth's help, got back in form just as the race was starting. Anna S. was 3rd fastest woman, just 20 seconds behind second woman. The Scoggins fambly found out that daughter's bodies weighing less than 80 pounds don't stay put when the wind is that big. They bailed at Draino, so actually no harm. DJ and Jonas E. can levitate a double surfski. These two surprised quite a few paddlers. For example OC legion was about as many as surfski tribe. Including Bartlett's and other OC legends. I will have dreams for months of how those OC paddlers flew by me reading waves like sorcerers. Kai's mom and dad paddled OC-2 and that must have been something to watch. In fact Kathleen P wrangled a ride on a safety boat or was talked into it. When I talked to her post-race, she was buzzed about being able to witness the skills on display from a good perspective. Carter had many safety boats and they stayed busy.

Too much to post in one shot. Except in Old Barnacle dog-pile, Dmow was top. Except notice that LB and David took unfair advantage of their old age and cunning and squeeked by Duncan and me at the finish.

Timing had problems so it will be a day or so before official results. So we are going to be telling some big lies until then.

rd

Larry Bussinger
07/21/18 #23481

Alas, LB didn’t beat RD. Alas i went over. Twice. In breaking waves. In 18” of water!? I did have my remount nailed though; I stood up and sat down on the boat.

Larry Bussinger

Reivers Dustin

07/22/18 #23483

Drove back yesterday (Sat) and thank you for all the phone calls and hand waves. Except it turns out I was NOT a celebrity. One of my boat racks slid from the high wind and the boat looked funny on my truck. People all up and down I-5 corridor were trying to tell me to check my load. I finally got it.

But for a time I was feeling real special. “They love me! .. They really love me!”

rd

Duncan Howat
07/22/18 #23491

Sooo I think the old guys got 10 runs in, none better than race day. Carter put one heck of a week together, and deserves great praise from all of us. Six days of wind helps too. That entry fee (at least this year) was the paddle bargain of the decade.One thing worries me though, those approx 300 people who decided to not go on thurs, will now probably go home and re think their approach to the game, knowing competitive paddlers ,train in real waves when they can, and come back next year un daunted ,loaded for bear, and make it really tough on those who cruised through this year. On other notes, rumor has it that a local counselor actually pitched forward out of his boat, but had presence of mind to do a front flip and stuck it and was back in the boat before it slowed down.. True story. First time we ever lost a boat off the trailer, turning a corner in the parking lot, just after getting off of 84, and only a little scratch. The BBQ's the theoretical paddle technique, but surfing got the most attention, and rightfully so . Lastly this time of year it always best to go home the back way , and stop and buy fresh picked Maryhill peaches. After that week , now what? Big Wave

Duncan Howat
07/23/18 #23492

Something to think about. This next years race could sell out in a day. Be ready if you want to do it. More thoughts coming about why this week is so worth while on so many levels. D

michaelwood
07/23/18 #23493

What's next? Over here in Strait of Juan de Fuca are fabulous downwind conditions for the next 2 months. Mike Mauch and I have been running the Freshwater Bay to Port Angeles route the last month, 13 miles. There's also Cresent Bay 4 mi west to add distance or for a shorter run. Also Dungeness Landing to Port Townsend.

Conditions can be sporty or mellow depending on strength of West ,NWwind,ocean swell,and whether flood or ebb ,and tide range.
There's good camping at Salt Creek Park which puts you right there for the PA runs.

15+W wind is good, 20-25 excellent,25-30 very sporty and fun. Especially fast with a flood. For those who found Gorge race day fun you'll like it. From a safety standpoint, bailouts are limited as you're paddling along a coastline far from a road. So usual precautions and good skills appropriate.

However, doing out/backs from Freshwater is good for all levels as there's a nice small bump that wraps around into FB to play on. And it's an easy beach launch protected from surf breaks.

FB also has boat ramp should anyone want chase or photo boat.

The 3 lonely ski and one man paddlers over here will be doing runs in the next 10 days if conditions allow and will give a report..
As for next year's sign up, I would hope Carter gives first preference to those of us who have been going every year . Or at least hold spots with a deadline for sign up.

Duncan Howat
07/23/18 #23494

As far as a guaranteed entry goes, like the Head of The Charles in Boston, which has 5000 rowers, you must finish within 5% of the winning time in your age group. Or coming from a lower age group to a older one same thing applies for your time. Then there are draws, and your either lucky or not. A bit of number work, but then they have a year round staff. Hopefully thats where the gorge is headed . Carter has got to pay at least himself. 5% on times ranging from one hour 20 to two hours fifteen is quite a bit of time to be inclusive of most serious people, but then the draw opens it up for newbie“s. I've seen it happen back there where some one is so fast that only that person qualifies. Well thats the way it goes. D

Tyler Irwin
07/23/18 #23495

I hope that's not the way it goes. I have taken part in the DW champs (two years ago), and it was a hell of a lot of fun. However, this event needs to maintain the 'first come, first serve' registration mentality for racers, regardless if you're amateur or pro, have blazing-saddle speed or you're just in it for the surf.

-Tyler

Duncan Howat
07/23/18 #23496

Nope, that does not build the outstanding reputation of the race. It’s not a casual event any more.

Tyler Irwin
07/23/18 #23497

This year's results are a good argument against having some sort of “preferred” startlist. There was a huge handful of extremely talented and capable paddlers that didn't have their best race day on Thursday. To move to a entry system based on past-year's results would move those paddlers to the outskirts, hoping for a lottery pick.

Unless I am completely mis-understanding the system you've described, I don't think this would sit well with anyone.

Yes, there has to be a level of big-water competency to race the Gorge, but to move it to invitation-only is completely unnecessary.

-Tyler

michaelwood
07/23/18 #23498

Being in the Kapuna divisions does have benefits if Carter goes to qualifiers! Another good motivation to keep improving as we grow older.

Michael Medler
07/23/18 #23499

I think it might be good to separate registration for the week-long festival from the registration for the race. Plenty of folks seemed to be more than happy enough just downwinding. I also think that if we get the chips figured out, we could just do 50-person seeded starts right off the beach with color coded numbers. That way the 60+ crowd could all tell who they were really racing against.
MM

njcooksey@ymail.com
07/23/18 #23500

Yes, that's how triathlon starts are done, Elite wave then age groups in waves with coded number so you know who to chase down later in the race.

Reivers Dustin
07/23/18 #23501

Tyler,
I'm sometimes too “motherly”, you know sort of, “it's all fun and games until someone gets their eye poked out”. Here's my thing: I saw so many folks just way over their head. Two couples paid the bucks, drove up from Lake Havasu and got in some shuttle runs. But they were no way safe out their on race day. I heard shuttle drivers talking about all the folks they saw during the week walking out because they couldn't finish the run (not on race day, but when it was “calmer”). Here's a metric: 290 people that paid, dressed up, got their chip, sat through pre-race orientation and walked their boat to the river decided after looking to walk their boat back to their car and drive away. This is silly, almost 1/3 of registrants. Especially silly when so many from Hawaii, Austrailia, etc. wanted badly to come and race, but were closed out.

Carter gives high cred to those folks who walked away. And I agree. It's a hard thing to step off. Not just the personal factors, but if someone really gets hurt it may take the event off the calendar. A lot of folks have ideas. But if you are race director and you see what goes down (as Carter did) you know in your bones it is a damn thin line between you and ghostbuster bad. Or how about when JD was running Wildside? He personally inspected every boat and paddler. Many were ejected. He refused me at first until I came up with a better leash on my initial Wildside. And no, that's not an option for 750 racers. However you vet (qualify) a racer has to be built in.

At some point this can't be like Soundrowers who takes all comers. The Gorge is a test against harsh reality. It's not as much a test against others. Being first to pay the fee don't seem right for this event. It's just too gnar.
rd

Michael Gregory
07/23/18 #23502

Seems as though I recall, years ago, race officials required recent racing history to qualify for entry to the race. MG

Steve Scoggins
07/23/18 #23503

I have a “sixth sense” feeling that Carter will do whatever he wants.

While we are at it, The Western Hemisphere Flat Water Surfski/Outrigger Championships is coming up soon at Lake Samish. Aka Salmon Row. Registration is open and will be capped at 1000, winky smile. Feel free to send me your racing credentials for your seeded start. I'm joking. Don't do that. But please do register.
https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=125511

Steve

Gorge 2018
Waterman Larry
07/23/18 #23504

I'm glad to hear you folks talk about the difficulty of this race. It was my first and I only got launched once. I don't think I would have been allowed to register in a qualification situation as I hadn't paddled a racing surfski until a few days before the race. I just hope we have conditions like that every year as some of the surf rides were truly unbelievable. I was hooting and hollering at the others on the waves but they just kept their heads down and pushed on. What fun! I took a good minute relaxing in the water before the remount and watched several competitors fly by. My My, you guys take this stuff seriously.

Oh yeah, I think I was the only paddler with a helmet. And I was glad to have it through the middle section which was as big hydraulically as I have seen. I plan to avoid that line in the future in winds over 35.

At start time, Viento was average 34 miles per hour. Some of the gusts in the narrows were pushing 45.

Could any of you fast guys tell me what was the best line that day? I think I hugged the Oregon side too much.

Thanks to Reivers and the other Whatcom paddlers who let me paddle with them a couple of evenings prior to the race. Without your encouragement, I would have left my entrance in the short course. After doing my first group paddle with you guys, I changed my registration to the long course. It was awesome!

Thanks again to Kirk C for providing me with a proper racing ski just in time for the event. I am still not used to it, but getting less tippy every day. (Huki S1-X)

Larry Goodson

John Rybczyk
07/23/18 #23507

More telling, last year when conditions were calm, 100 registrants still chose not to race (396 did race). I'm no mathematician, but that's about 20%. Therefore, if race slots are truly the limiting factor, then it might make sense to have race, no-race option at registration to accommodate more paddlers. Also, I acknowledge that it's very easy for me to pontificate from afar when I don't actually lift a finger with regards to putting on the race. Although I had a hoot doing the race this year, if for no other reason than to provide Beau with a free “gong show,” I'm really more interested in the week-long shuttle/festival experience. I think the price is a bargain either way, race or no. Great job by Carter and crew.

Johnr

allipp@…
07/23/18 #23508

Somehow the numbers don't add up. Or actually they add up to too many! 481 paddlers (or teams) are shown to have finished the race, add another 290 that are supposed to have backed out on race day, and that adds up to 771. Presumably at least another hundred or more paddlers that had already signed up didn't show.. that comes out to nearly 900. I thought the race was capped at 750?

Paul Reavley
07/23/18 #23509

Here's another vote for allowing separate festival and race entry. And the provision of serious beach anchors for the vendor tents.

Gorge 2018 Video
lori & beau whitehead
07/21/18 #23482
Edited 07/23/18

Rolled back into Bellingham around midnight last night, thoroughly satisfied & wiped out after 48 miles of downwinding in 3 days. The Gorge really delivered (except for the 6 mans) this year. I've had better races for sure, and there's a lot of room to improve, but like Romo says; “nothing ruins a good downwinder like turning it into a race.” Hard to believe after all of Carters warnings of big conditions, the absolute gong show I paddled through when we started catching the back of the skis. I think I asked 3 swimmers if they were ok. Maybe it was a language barrier. Utterly amazed, (but not really surprised) At Ana's 3rd place against the best in the world. That's my kids babysitter! Dang.

Took the GoPro out on Friday when we ran the whole course again in the morning… Swell City was massive (at least by my standards) but that dang lens makes it look kinda Rated PG. Hope everyone makes it back safe & sound.

https://vimeo.com/281090936

Gorge Recovery
Dennis Mowry
07/25/18 #23532

It was a great week. I guess I wore myself out at the Gorge, slept a bunch two days afterwards.

Maybe I also wore out a few of the others with the tight quarters, all the exciting runs, competitive spirit and being over caffeinated.
I think it would be great to be able to find a place where we could all stay in or around the same place rather than be spread out all over the place. I know it would be tough to get more in the van. Maybe a few larger evening gatherings?

Looking forward to next year,
:D'