Surfski Knowledge Base

Lake Whatcom Classic

Larry Goolsby 05/04/08 #4343
Wow, what a weekend. For those of you that live out of town and weren't able to attend either of the races for the Think Evo Surfski Challenge,
let me recap.

The races were back to back with Saturday's Lake Whatcom Classic and Sunday's Tour de Indian Arm up at Deep Cove in British Columbia. The Friday before the Classic, 7 members of the Canadian team came down and spent the night at my house. We had a great time and it was good to finally meet Ron Williams and Nathan that I had heard so much about. John George and Ben Fast were also in this group and these were the guys that got Shaun and I interested in double surfski racing. Ian McKenzie and Kathleen Peteriet were also in this group as was a new paddler named Lena.

On Saturday morning, we awoke to rain. That nasty dreary northwest kind of rain that can dampen spirits. However, according to the weather liars, this rain was supposed to be only for a short period in the morning and the winds were supposed to be above 12 knts. Wrong. It rained all the way through the race and there was very little wind. Three of the top Canadian paddlers got stuck at the border and missed the Classic altogether. At the start of the race, all the top paddlers were jockeying for a position behind a faster boat in order to get a good draft ride. Shaun and I chose Brian and Daves Outrigger (you wouldn't think a tandem outrigger is fast till you see these guys). Meanwhile, Brian and Dave chose to draft off John and Ben who were our counterparts on the Canadian team. Shaun and I had a great draft and although we were tempted to jump over to some of the rowing shells, nobody ever passed us and stayed ahead of us. After rounding the island, we moved forward and let Brian and Dave draft us and got into a higher speed mode and left all the other boats that were drafting us behind.

We did manage to catch Don K, just before the finish line and ended up being the first tandem across the finish line. Ian was the first kayak (K1) across the line with Joost being the first surfski across the line. Had Ian paddled his ski, it would have removed a 22nd place paddler from the Canadian team and the Canadians would have been 22 points richer while each American would have lost a position and we would have been down 10 points. The final score from day one was US 96 and Canada 157. In this case, the lowest score wins. The amazing event in this race was Ian's performance of drafting national level rowers and coming in with a time around 1:30 for this 12.5 mile course.

Tour de Indian Arm

The next day was the second part of the challenge with only 1 double team and 6 male paddlers going north for the US team. This shortfall almost cost us the Challenge. This day was almost the opposite of Saturday's race (sunshine) except that the distance was almost the same. This particular year the course was changed to go down the arm towards the Narrows Bridge and then back up again. The tide was a flood tide so there was lots of currents. The first surprise was that Ben and John were there and they were going to paddle a Huki S2-X together. We were relieved to see that Mike F. and Reid weren't going to be in the double and we figured that the tandem race was going to be a repeat of Saturday's race. Wrong! At the start of the race, Ben and John shot out like a rocket and even Ian had to paddle hard to catch them. Shaun and I were taken back by their speed but figured that they couldn'tmaintain this level for the entire race. Wrong again! We drafted them for the first few miles but when we got out in the open areas with lots of currents and boat wakes, they walked away from us and we had to paddle the course alone. Meanwhile Don K, and Ian were staying close to the Canadian tandem and pulling away with it. The course was very scenic but the conditions were flat with boat wakes coming from all directions.

About 2/3rds the way through the race, Shaun and I realized that we were outdone and decided to just enjoy the race. As we neared the last turn around the island, we saw that John and Ben were closer than they were for a long time and resumed our pursuit. However, this final crossing was the worst when it came to boat wakes and we were getting them from all directions. We were even getting boat wakes coming from the finish line and there weren't any power boats moving about. I was actually starting to think that Bob Putnam had a wave machine hidden under the Government dock and was sending out waves to thwart the US team. Curse you Bob! Ian was the first across the line with Don second, John and Ben third, with us coming in 20 seconds behind them. Dean was the next boat behind us with Deon, Mike. F. and Jeff R behind him. It was a great race but those of us that had done the Classic the day before were happy to get our feet back on dry land. Bob threw a burger feed for us and there was even beer available (gotta love those Canadians). The final tally was US 242 and Canada 264. We beat them by 22 points and that would have been a lot different if Ian had paddled a ski the first day and the trio of terrorists had made it to the Classic for Saturdays race. I think Daryl Remmler said something about all US team members getting a new car if they show up for the Bowen Island race.

Two great races, two great teams and all of us walked away with new friendships.
Larry G.

Posted by bckcrainbow on May 5, 2008 (https://surfskibc.wordpress.com/2008/05/)

Team USA

The hand carved Think International Surfski Challenge trophy was accepted for Team USA by Reivers, Larry, Mike, Shaun, Dean and Larry.

Team Canada put in a strong showing on their home water against a depleted Team USA that was missing four paddlers on the day, including both women paddlers. Team USA’s shortcomings helped Canada make a big comeback with a 105 to 148 advantage on the day. Despite the handicap going into day 2 of the event, Team USA’s lead on day 1 was too big to overcome, taking victory in the 1st annual Think International Surfski Challenge by a 244 to 262 advantage.

Congratulations to Team USA, and to all of the US and Canadian surfski paddlers who took part in what we hope will be an annual highlight event on our community’s racing calendar.