Surfski Knowledge Base

Dylan Thomas <surfskikauai@…>
04/25/12 #12361

Friday 20th April 2012, and seven determined Surfski racers convened at the house of another Surfski enthusiast, and host for the night, Terry Wells, with his lovely wife Carol. The excitement was in the air as the night drew on and the frisky paddlers chattered like sixth graders on a school outing. The event dawning with the rise of tomorrow’s sun was to be the 10th Annual Kauai World Challenge 34 mile relay race.

With dinner down, details ironed out for shuttles, designated legs assigned and nervous energy the group of paddlers from Oahu, Newport, Sausalito, Berkeley and Kauai bid their host adieu and reached for there dreams.

Fast forward to 8am Saturday morning and the start horn sent Michelle Jackson plowing forth in the first leg of the day to meet her race partner Kristen Podolak. With winds on the beam as suspected and a distinct chop the paddling was technical and challenging. Not much after, with an earlier then advertised start, at 8.50am, whilst Carter Johnson was taking a cooling dip next to his Fenn Elite and Wes De Silva was plugging his waterproof ear buds in, the elite start took place and Ed Joy raced into poll position. Ed was en route to change with Zsolt Szadovsky, Carter was set to change with Rich Sprout and Wes had his sights set on meeting Dylan Thomas.

The first five mile legs, a rapid succession of sprints whizzed by without too much incident barring a few swamping’s and knockdowns from rogue breakers on the inside reefs.

As the race progressed into the 3rd leg, the first of two 12 mile legs, the ladies held the second position in the women’s start and Surfskiers held positions 1, 5 and 6, in the elite start and they would continue on to cross the line at the Salt Pond finish in the same order.

For Kauai based Surfski paddlers, it was both honorable and rewarding to paddle with offshore paddlers. Thanks goes out to all those who aided in making this a reality for Surfski paddlers longing to join this enjoyable annual event. A special note of thanks to shuttlers Pam de Silva, Michelle Thomas, Jules Cannon and Ron Winegar, and our dinner hosts Terry and Carol Wells.

To all mainland paddlers an early note that direct flights to Kauai originate from LAX, SFO, SEA and many other hubs and I encourage you all to make this a calendar race for yourselves.

And Finally a very big CONGRATULATIONS to Team Epic - Ed Joy and Zsolt Szadovsky – Kauai World Challenge 2012 Overall Winners.

A hui hou.

Dylan Thomas